God’s Word Translation
2 Kings 6:28
28Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman told me, ‘Give up your son. Let’s eat him today. We’ll eat my son tomorrow.’
2 Kings 6:28 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
- New International Version (NIV)Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the king asked her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
Context of 2 Kings 6:28
26As the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, Your Majesty!” 27He answered, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, how can I help you? I can’t give you something from the threshing floor or the winepress.” Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman told me, ‘Give up your son. Let’s eat him today. We’ll eat my son tomorrow.’ 29So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day I told her, ‘Give up your son. We’ll eat him,’ but she hid her son.” 30When the king heard the woman say this, he tore his clothes ⌞in distress⌟. As he was walking on the city wall, the people saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.
Read all of 2 Kings 62 Kings 6:28 word by word
וַיֹּֽאמֶר־לָ֥הּ הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מַה־לָּ֑ךְ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר הָאִשָּׁ֨ה הַזֹּ֜את אָמְרָ֣ה אֵלַ֗י תְּנִ֤י אֶת־בְּנֵךְ֙ וְנֹאכְלֶ֣נּוּ הַיּ֔וֹם וְאֶת־בְּנִ֖י נֹאכַ֥ל מָחָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 2 Kings 6:28
- Genesis 21:17God heard the boy crying, and the Messenger of God called to Hagar from heaven. “What’s the matter, Hagar?” he asked her. “Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying from the bushes.
- Judges 18:23They shouted at them. But the people of Dan turned around and said to Micah, “What’s your problem? Why did you call your neighbors together to attack us?”
- 1 Samuel 1:8Her husband Elkanah would ask her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why haven’t you eaten? Why are you so downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”
- 2 Samuel 14:5The king asked her, “What can I do for you?” She answered, “I’m a widow; my husband is dead.
- Psalms 114:5Red Sea, why did you run away? Jordan River, what made you turn back?
- Isaiah 22:1This is the divine revelation about the valley of Vision. What’s the matter with you? Why do all of you go up on the roofs?
- Leviticus 26:29You will eat the bodies of your sons and daughters.
- Deuteronomy 28:53Because of the hardships your enemies will make you suffer during the blockade, you will eat the flesh of your own children, the sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.
- Isaiah 9:20On the right, one gobbles up food and is still hungry. On the left, another eats and is never full. Each person eats the flesh from his own arm.
- Isaiah 49:15Can a woman forget her nursing child? Will she have no compassion on the child from her womb? Although mothers may forget, I will not forget you.
- Lamentations 4:10The hands of loving mothers cooked their own children. The children were used for food by my people when they were being destroyed ⌞by a blockade⌟.
- Ezekiel 5:10That is why parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter whoever is left to the wind.
- Matthew 24:18Those who are in the field should not turn back to get their coats.
- Luke 23:29The time is coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the women who couldn’t get pregnant, who couldn’t give birth, and who couldn’t nurse a child.’
Commentaries on 2 Kings 6:28
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28The king had assumed that the cry of the woman was for food. Her manner indicated that it was not so. He therefore proceeded to inquire what she wanted of him. This woman - Both women, it would seem, were present; and the aggrieved one pointed to the other.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-33Verses 24-33 Learn to value plenty, and to be thankful for it; see how contemptible money is, when in time of famine it is so freely parted with for any thing that is eatable! The language of Jehoram to the woman may be the language of despair. See the word of God fulfilled; among the threatenings of God's judgments upon Israel for their sins, this was one, that they should eat the flesh of their own children, De 28:53-57. The truth and the awful justice…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26-29Cannibalism (the act of eating human flesh) in extreme times was part of God’s warning of judgment for unfaithfulness and disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:53, 57). It also happened during the siege that led to Jerusalem's fall (Lamentations 4:9–10).Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Kings 6:28
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Kings 6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries