Bible Strands
2 Kings 7:16
Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. It was then that a seah of fine flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Israelite people act immediately after the scouts report the abandoned Aramean camp to the king. They rush out to seize the enemy's supplies at the precise moment the divine intervention occurs.
The words — The text highlights וַ/יָּבֹ֕זּוּ (va/i.ya.Vo.zu), meaning "and they plundered," and סְאָה\־ (se.'ah-), a measured unit of grain. These terms anchor the narrative shift from military pursuit to sudden economic abundance.
The thread — This event fulfills the specific grain price prophecy recorded in 2 Kings 7:1. The rapid gathering of spoils mirrors the locust-like accumulation described in Isaiah 33:4.
Why it lands — The passage demands verification that the reported prices are direct confirmations of divine speech rather than market conditions. It requires the reader to align present reality with prior prophetic declarations.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 7:1 Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”
- Isaiah 33:4 Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
- Isaiah 33:23 Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder.
- Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- 1 Samuel 17:53 When the Israelites returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.
- 2 Chronicles 14:12 So the LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and the Cushites fled.
- 2 Chronicles 20:25 Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to carry off the plunder, and they found on the bodies an abundance of goods and valuables—more than they could carry away. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much.
- Job 27:16 Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Psalms 68:12 “Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.
- Isaiah 33:1 Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.