Глава 7

1–20. A miraculous end to the siege of Samaria and famine according to the word of the prophet Elisha. 2 Kings 7:1. And Elisha said, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow at this time a measure of fine flour will be a shekel, and two measures of barley will be a shekel at the gate of Samaria. 2 Kings 7:2. And the dignitary, on whose hand the king leaned, answered the man of God and said: Even if the Lord opened the windows in heaven, then could this be? And he said: You will see with your eyes, but you will not eat it. “The Prophet, when they threatened him with death, begged the Lord and immediately stopped the siege” (Blessed Theodoret, question 22). The prophet speaks to the king and the elders of the people (cf. 2 Kings 6:32–33) about the upcoming extraordinary cheapness of bread precisely “at the gates of Samaria” - at the gate where all public life, among other things, trade, was concentrated in the East. Measure, Heb. seatalish, Greek τριστάτης, see note. to (1 Kings 9:22). The accepted Hebrew text says lamelech, “to the king,” which makes no sense; in plural codes: “hammelech”, i.e. “king” (codes 70, 149, 174, 224 in Kennicott and others). The question of a dignitary to the prophet is the voice of unbelief and mockery, which will soon be severely punished (2 Kings 7:19–20). 2 Kings 7:3. Four lepers were at the entrance to the gate and they said to each other: why should we sit here, waiting for death? 2 Kings 7:4. If we decide to go to the city, then there will be famine in the city, and we will die there; if we sit here, we will also die. Let us better go to the Syrian camp. If they leave us alive, we will live, and if they kill us, we will die. 2 Kings 7:5. And they rose at dusk to go to the camp of Syria. And they came to the edge of the Syrian camp, and behold, there was not a single man there. 2 Kings 7:6. The Lord made the Syrian camp hear the sound of chariots and the neighing of horses, the noise of a large army. And they said to one another, “The king of Israel has surely hired the kings of Hittite and Egypt against us to come against us.” 2 Kings 7:7. And they got up and ran into the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, the whole camp as it was, and ran to save themselves. 2 Kings 7:8. And those lepers came to the edge of the camp, and entered into one tent, and ate and drank, and took from there silver, and gold, and clothes, and went and hid them. They went to another tent, and there they took it, and went and hid it. According to the Talmud (Sanhedr. 107, c.), the 4 lepers mentioned here were Gehazi and his 3 sons (cf. 2 Kings 5:27). According to the law, lepers were strictly isolated from society (Lev.13:46; Num.5:2 et seq.), which is why these four lepers sat only at the gates of the city; now, during the famine, they were especially left to starve to death. This prompted them to make a desperate decision to go (at dusk, so as not to be noticed in Samaria) to the camp of the Syrians, and they, to surprise and joy, found it abandoned by the Syrians as suddenly and miraculously as after the Assyrian army suddenly and miraculously lifted the siege from Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:7,32-36). Art. 6–7 constitute an interstitial note explaining the reason for the Syrians' retreat. – “Kings of the Hittites” (v. 6): not the Hittites - subjects of the Israelites (1 Kings 9:20), but an independent and strong tribe in the north of Palestine (1 Kings 10:29), which even before the Jews entered it constituted a powerful kingdom that stood in vassal relations with Egypt, as is known from the Tell Amarna correspondence. 2 Kings 7:9. And they said to each other: this is not how we do things. This day is a day of glad tidings; if we slow down and wait for the morning light, then guilt will fall on us. Let us go and notify the royal house. 2 Kings 7:10. And they came and called the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying: We went into the camp of Syria, and behold, there was neither a man nor the voice of a man, but only horses tied, and donkeys tied, and tents, what should they do? 2 Kings 7:11. And they called the gatekeepers, and they conveyed the news to the royal palace itself. 2 Kings 7:12. And the king arose at night and said to his servants: I will tell you what the Syrians are doing to us. They know that we are suffering from hunger, and they left the camp to hide in the field, thinking like this: “when they leave the city, we will capture them alive and invade the city.” 2 Kings 7:13. And one of the servants with him answered and said: Let them take five of the remaining horses that remained in the city, and let us send and see. 2 Kings 7:14. And they took two pairs of horses harnessed to chariots. And the king sent the Syrian army after him, saying, “Come and see.” 2 Kings 7:15. And they followed him to the Jordan, and the whole road was covered with clothes and things that the Syrians had abandoned during their hasty escape. And the messengers returned and reported to the king. Having satisfied their own need for satiation and even the passion of greed (v. 8), the lepers remember their civic duty - to bring to the attention of the king and the population the good news that the danger has passed and that the Syrians have left abundant supplies. In response to the king’s expressed distrust of the reality of the fact and the suspicion of military cunning on the part of the Syrians (v. 12), those close to him proposed to first check the validity of the removal of the Syrians (verses 13–15). 2 Kings 7:16. And the people went out and plundered the camp of Syria, and there was a measure of fine flour for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. 2 Kings 7:17. And the king placed that dignitary, on whose hand he was leaning, at the gate; and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as said the man of God who spoke when the king came to him. 2 Kings 7:18. When the man of God spoke to the king like this: “Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel will be at this time tomorrow at the gates of Samaria,” 2 Kings 7:19. Then this dignitary answered the man of God and said: “Even if the Lord opened the windows in heaven, then could this be?” And he said: “You will see with your eyes, but you will not eat it.” 2 Kings 7:20. And so it happened to him; and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died. When there was no doubt about the flight of the enemies, the hungry people rushed to plunder the enemy camp, and the dignitary appointed for order, who did not believe the prediction of the prophet Elisha (v. 19; cf. 2), died. You might be interested in: