New Living Translation
2 Kings 6:28
28But then the king asked, “What is the matter?” She replied, “This woman said to me: ‘Come on, let’s eat your son today, then we will 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
26One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, “Please help me, my lord the king!” 27He answered, “If the Lord doesn’t help you, what can I do? I have neither food from the threshing floor nor wine from the press to give you.” But then the king asked, “What is the matter?” She replied, “This woman said to me: ‘Come on, let’s eat your son today, then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Kill your son so we can eat him,’ but she has hidden her son.” 30When the king heard this, he tore his clothes in despair. And as the king walked along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing burlap under his robe next to his skin.
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 21:17But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
- Judges 18:23They were shouting as they caught up with them. The men of Dan turned around and said to Micah, “What’s the matter? Why have you called these men together and chased after us like this?”
- 1 Samuel 1:8“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”
- 2 Samuel 14:5“What’s the trouble?” the king asked. “Alas, I am a widow!” she replied. “My husband is dead.
- Psalms 114:5What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way? What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?
- Isaiah 22:1This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision: What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops?
- Leviticus 26:29Then you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.
- Deuteronomy 28:53“The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.
- Isaiah 9:20They will attack their neighbor on the right but will still be hungry. They will devour their neighbor on the left but will not be satisfied. In the end they will even eat their own children.
- Isaiah 49:15“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!
- Lamentations 4:10Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege.
- Ezekiel 5:10Parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter to the winds the few who survive.
- Matthew 24:18A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat.
- Luke 23:29For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’
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
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