II Kings 7:15
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And they tracked them as far as the Jordan, and indeed, the whole way was littered with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in haste. So the scouts returned and told the king.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Elisha announced to him the word of the Lord: "At the (this) time to-morrow a seah of wheaten flour (סלת, see at Kg1 5:2) will be worth a shekel, and two seahs of barley a shekel in the gate, i.e., in the market, at Samaria." A seah, or a third of an ephah = a Dresden peck (Metze), for a shekel was still a high price; but in comparison with the prices given in Kg2 6:25 as those obtained for the most worthless kinds of food, it was incredibly cheap. The king's aide-de-camp (שׁלישׁ: see at Sa2 23:8; נשׁען למּלך אשׁר, an error in writing for נשׁ המּלך אשׁר, cf. Kg2 7:17, and for the explanation Kg2 5:18) therefore replied with mockery at this prophecy: "Behold (i.e., granted that) the Lord made windows in heaven, will this indeed be?" i.e., such cheapness take place. (For the construction, see Ewald, 357, b.) The ridicule lay more especially in the "windows in heaven," in which there is an allusion to Gen 7:11, sc. to rain down a flood of flour and corn. Elisha answered seriously: "Behold, thou wilt see it with thine eyes, but not eat thereof" (see Kg2 7:17.). The fulfilment of these words of Elisha was brought about by the event narrated in Kg2 7:3.
Open source ↗Relief is here brought to Samaria and her king, when the case is, in a manner, desperate, and the king despairing. I. It is foretold by Elisha, and an unbelieving lord shut out from the benefit of it (Kg2 7:1, Kg2 7:2). II. It is brought about, 1. By an unaccountable fright into which God put the Syrians (Kg2 7:6), which caused them to retire precipitately (Kg2 7:7). 2. By the seasonable discovery which four lepers made of this (Kg2 7:3-5), and the account which they gave of it to the court (Kg2 7:8-11). 3. By the cautious trial which the king made of the truth of it (Kg2 7:12-15). III. The event answered the prediction both in the sudden plenty (Kg2 7:16), and the death of the unbelieving lord (Kg2 7:17-20); for no word of God shall fall to the ground.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold— the idols they made to worship.
So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.
What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.
Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king’s bounty.