Back to 2 Kings 6

2 Kings 6:26-29

As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From of the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” The king said to her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”

World English Bible · Public Domain
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2 Kings 6:26-29 sits inside this longer paragraph.

After this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From of the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” The king said to her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

    He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From of the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”

    The king said to her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

    So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”

  • KJV King James Version

    And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.

    And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?

    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.

    So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying: 'Help, my lord, O king.'

    And he said: 'If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the threshingfloor, or out of the winepress?'

    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.

    So we boiled my son, and did eat him; and I said unto her on the next day: Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she hath hid her son.'

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Cross-references (31)

  • Psalms 118:8-9 (v27) It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in man. It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in…
  • Leviticus 26:29 (vv28–29) You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
  • Deuteronomy 28:53 (v29) You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and…
  • 2 Samuel 14:4 (v26) When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, showed respect, and said, “Help, O king!”
  • 2 Samuel 14:5 (v28) The king said to her, “What ails you?” She answered, “Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead.
Show all 29 cross-references
  • Deuteronomy 28:57 (v29) toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack…
  • Judges 18:23 (v28) As they called to the children of Dan, they turned their faces, and said to Micah, “What ails you, that you come with such a company?”
  • 1 Kings 3:26 (v29) Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, “Oh, my lord, give her the…
  • Psalms 124:1-3 (v27) If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, let Israel now say, if it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, when men rose up against…
  • Isaiah 10:3 (v26) What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you…
  • Lamentations 4:10 (v28) The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
  • Luke 18:3 (v26) A widow was in that city, and she often came to him, saying, ‘Defend me from my adversary!’
  • Acts 21:28 (v26) crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place. Moreover,…
  • Isaiah 49:15 (vv28–29) “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not…
  • Genesis 21:17 (v28) God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be…
  • Deuteronomy 28:53-57 (v28) You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and…
  • 1 Samuel 1:8 (v28) Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten…
  • Psalms 60:11 (v27) Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain.
  • Psalms 62:8 (v27) Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.
  • Psalms 114:5 (v28) What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back?
  • Psalms 127:1 (v27) Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.
  • Psalms 146:3 (v27) Don’t put your trust in princes, in a son of man in whom there is no help.
  • Isaiah 9:20-21 (v28) One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the…
  • Isaiah 22:1 (v28) The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
  • Isaiah 66:13 (v29) As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
  • Jeremiah 17:5 (v27) Yahweh says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, relies on strength of flesh, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.
  • Ezekiel 5:10 (v28) Therefore the fathers will eat the sons within you, and the sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you; and I will…
  • Matthew 24:18-21 (v28) Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!…
  • Luke 23:29 (v28) For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never…

29 distinct cross-references across this passage (31 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (16 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v27 Meaning, any kind of vittle, as corn and wine,…

Meaning, any kind of vittle, as corn and wine, etc.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv26–29 2Ki 6:26 And as the king of Israel was…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv26, 27, 29 Passing by upon the wall, to give necessary order…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv26–29 And the king said unto her, what aileth thee?....…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv27, 29 Whence shall I help thee - Dost thou ask…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv27, 29 Verse 27. If the Lord do not help thee]…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv26, 28 2Ki 6:26-27. The king of Israel was passing on…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv26–29 The walls of fortified towns had a broad space…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv27, 29 Save (salvat.) Many ancient manuscripts read salvet, conformably to…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv26, 29 as the king was passing--to look at the defenses,…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv27, 29 27. Out of the barnfloor — Can I gather…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv26–29 26. the king of Israel was passing by upon…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv26–29 (26) The king . . . was passing by…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv26–29 And as the King of Israel was passing by…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v27 He said
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v26 6:26-29 Cannibalism under severe conditions was part of God’s…
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