Bible Strands
2 Kings 7:8
When the lepers reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they carried off the silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. On returning, they entered another tent, carried off some items from there, and hid them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the leprous men arriving at the deserted Aramean camp at twilight after the enemy fled in panic.
The words — The text highlights מְצֹרָעִים (m'tzo'ra'im), rendered “the [people] having a skin disease,” identifying the agents who approach the abandoned camp. The verb וַיָּבֹאוּ (va-yavo') appears twice, literally “and they came/went,” tracking their cautious entry into successive tents.
The thread — The pattern of discovering and concealing plunder recurs in Joshua 7:21, where Achan hides stolen goods, and 2 Kings 5:24, where Gehazi stores gifts in his house. Matthew 13:44 later uses the motif of hidden treasure to illustrate the kingdom of heaven.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that hidden provision requires immediate disclosure rather than private retention. It confronts the reader with the choice between hoarding unexpected relief and reporting it to those in authority.
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 when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
Cross-references
- Joshua 7:21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
- Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.
- 2 Kings 5:24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the gifts from the servants and stored them in the house. Then he dismissed the men, and they departed.
- Jeremiah 41:8 But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others.
- Matthew 25:18 But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.