New International Version
2 Kings 7:2
2The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”
2 Kings 7:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, "If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" But he said, "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."
- New King James Version (NKJV)So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn’t happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven!” But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!”
Context of 2 Kings 7:2
1Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!” 3Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
Read all of 2 Kings 72 Kings 7:2 word by word
וַיַּ֣עַן הַשָּׁלִ֡ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־לַמֶּלֶךְ֩ נִשְׁעָ֨ן עַל־יָד֜וֹ אֶת־אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ הִנֵּ֣ה יְהוָ֗ה עֹשֶׂ֤ה אֲרֻבּוֹת֙ בַּשָּׁמַ֔יִם הֲיִהְיֶ֖ה הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנְּכָ֤ה רֹאֶה֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ וּמִשָּׁ֖ם לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽל׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Then a lordשָׁלִישׁshâlîysh shâlôsh shâlôsh · officerH7991
- on whose handיָדyâd · handH3027
- the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- leanedשָׁעַןshâ‛an · to leanH8172
- answeredעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
- the manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
- of Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- would makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- windowsאֲרֻבָּה'ărubbâh · windowH699
- in heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
- might this thingדָּבָרdâbâr · word: thingH1697
- Behold, thou shalt seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- with thine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- but shalt not eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
Cross-references for 2 Kings 7:2
- 2 Kings 5:18But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”
- Genesis 18:12So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- Numbers 11:21But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’
- Psalms 78:19They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?
- Genesis 7:11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
- Malachi 3:10Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
- 2 Kings 7:17Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house.
- Deuteronomy 3:27Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan.
- 2 Chronicles 20:20Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”
- Isaiah 7:9The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’ ”
- Romans 3:3What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?
- 2 Timothy 2:13if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
- Hebrews 3:17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?
Commentaries on 2 Kings 7:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Then a lord - שליש shalish . This word, as a name of office, occurs often, and seems to point out one of the highest offices in the state. So unlikely was this prediction to be fulfilled, that he thought God must pour out wheat and barley from heaven before it could have a literal accomplishment. But shalt not eat thereof - This was a mere prediction of his death, but not as a judgment for his unbelief; any person in his circumstances might have spoken as…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2A lord - Rather, “the captain,” as in Exodus 14:7; 1 Kings 9:22; etc. The term itself, שׁלישׁ shâlı̂ysh (derived from שׁלושׁ shâlôsh “three,”) may be compared with the Latin “tribunus.” Windows - Rather, “sluices” (compare Genesis 7:11). The “lord” means to say “If Yahweh were to open sluices in heaven, and pour down grain as He poured down rain in the time of the Deluge, even then could there be such abudnance as thou speakest of?”Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Joram's officer did not believe, so he missed out on God's blessings.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. a lord on whose hand the king leaned--When an Eastern king walks or stands abroad in the open air, he always supports himself on the arm of the highest courtier present. if the Lord would make windows in heaven--The scoffing infidelity of this remark, which was a sneer against not the prophet only, but the God he served, was justly and signally punished (see 2Ki 7:20).Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Kings 7:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Kings 7
- 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
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