2 Kings 6:26 kjv
And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
2 Kings 6:26 nkjv
Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!"
2 Kings 6:26 niv
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, "Help me, my lord the king!"
2 Kings 6:26 esv
Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!"
2 Kings 6:26 nlt
One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, "Please help me, my lord the king!"
2 Kings 6 26 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lev 26:29 | "You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters." | Prophecy of eating children as siege judgment |
| Deut 28:53 | "You shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters…" | Divine curse for disobedience, extreme famine |
| Deut 28:57 | "her afterbirth that comes from between her legs… in her secret starvation" | Details of cannibalism in siege for extreme need |
| Jer 19:9 | "I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters." | Prophetic judgment involving cannibalism |
| Lam 2:20 | "Shall women eat their offspring, children of every span?" | Jerusalem siege, mothers eating children |
| Lam 4:10 | "The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children." | Extreme starvation in Jerusalem's siege |
| Ezek 5:10 | "Therefore fathers among you shall eat their sons, and sons shall eat their fathers." | Judgment upon Jerusalem for defiling sanctuary |
| Neh 5:1 | "Now there arose a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brothers." | Cry for help to authorities during distress |
| Neh 5:5 | "And now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers; our children as their children… our daughters have been brought into subjection." | Societal collapse, children sold/mortgaged |
| 1 Ki 17:12 | "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing but a handful of flour… and a little oil." | Example of dire famine, near starvation |
| Joel 1:17-18 | "The seed shrivels under the clods… How the beasts groan!" | Description of widespread famine and suffering |
| Jer 14:1-6 | "Judah mourns… the cry of Jerusalem has gone up." | Widespread drought and famine leading to desperation |
| Isa 9:20 | "They shall devour on the right and be hungry, and on the left and not be satisfied; each shall devour the flesh of his own arm." | Self-destructive internal strife during judgment |
| 1 Sam 30:6 | "David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him…" | Leader facing extreme distress from desperate people |
| 2 Sam 12:31 | "He brought out the people who were in it and set them to work with saws and iron picks and axes." | Horrors of siege warfare against cities (post-siege context) |
| 2 Chr 33:10-13 | "Manasseh suffered distress and entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly…" | King in distress eventually seeks God's help |
| Ps 22:5 | "To you they cried and were delivered; in you they trusted and were not put to shame." | Trusting God in extreme distress |
| Ps 107:6 | "Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress." | Universal theme of crying to God in trouble |
| Hab 3:16-17 | "Rottenness enters my bones… Though the fig tree should not blossom…" | Trust in God amidst severe deprivation and hardship |
| Amos 8:11 | "I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD." | Metaphorical famine related to spiritual lack |
| Mk 13:8 | "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines." | Famines as signs of the end times / severe distress |
| Rev 6:8 | "And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and famine and pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth." | Famine as a consequence of divine judgment (eschatological) |
2 Kings 6 verses
2 Kings 6 26 Meaning
2 Kings 6:26 portrays a moment of extreme desperation during the Aramaean siege of Samaria. It describes the king of Israel, identified elsewhere as Joram (or Jehoram), inspecting the city walls. While doing so, he is directly confronted by a woman who cries out to him, begging for his help. Her plea, "Help, my lord, O king!" (Hebrew: hoshieni Adonai HaMelekh), underscores the profound distress and societal breakdown occurring within the besieged city, indicating that all other forms of aid and support have failed. It is a desperate appeal to the highest earthly authority for immediate deliverance from an unendurable situation.
2 Kings 6 26 Context
The verse takes place during a severe siege of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, by the Aramean army led by King Ben-Hadad. The city had been under siege for an extended period, leading to a catastrophic famine within its walls. Food scarcity was so extreme that people resorted to purchasing items considered utterly worthless, like a donkey's head for eighty shekels of silver, and dove's droppings for five shekels of silver (2 Ki 6:25). This dire situation caused immense suffering and a complete breakdown of societal norms, setting the stage for the desperate and shocking appeal described in verse 26. The king, Joram (Jehoram), was the reigning monarch of Israel, a wicked king who did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Ki 3:2). Despite his failings, the desperate people still turned to him as the highest authority in their time of extreme distress, highlighting their last hope and the extent of their anguish.
2 Kings 6 26 Word analysis
- As the king of Israel: Refers to Joram (Jehoram), son of Ahab. His presence on the wall signifies his responsibility for the city's defense and welfare, as well as his direct exposure to the people's suffering, implying he had full knowledge of the famine's severity.
- was passing by: Hebrew ʿōvēr (עֹבֵר), an active participle meaning 'passing over,' 'crossing,' or 'going about.' It suggests an ongoing act of inspection or patrol along the defenses. This shows the king's direct observation and witness to the suffering.
- on the wall: Hebrew ʿal-hachōmāh (עַל-הַחוֹמָה), literally "upon the wall." This was a defensive position, a vantage point for observing the enemy or the city. It also signifies the vulnerability of the besieged city, whose survival depended on its walls holding out against the siege.
- a woman cried out to him: Hebrew tsāʿaq (צָעֲקָה) means to "shriek," "lament," or "cry aloud for help," often implying distress or an appeal for intervention, common when appealing to human or divine authority for justice or relief. Her action shows the extent of her desperation and the absence of any other recourse.
- saying, 'Help, my lord, O king!': The plea is concise, direct, and urgent. "Help" (Hebrew: hoshieni, הוֹשִׁעֵנִי), from the root yāšaʿ, means "to save," "to deliver," or "to provide aid." It is an imperative, demanding immediate action. Her address, "my lord, O king!" (Hebrew: adonai ha melekh) is both respectful and insistent, acknowledging his authority while simultaneously pressuring him for a solution to an unbearable crisis that has surpassed all conventional bounds. This cry is a last resort to the only authority she believes might still hold power or responsibility in a city facing absolute collapse.
2 Kings 6 26 Bonus section
This verse serves as a crucial setup, introducing the raw, unbearable human condition that precedes one of the most shocking acts recounted in scripture. It portrays the ethical erosion that inevitably occurs under extreme duress, where survival overrides all other considerations. The fact that the woman directly approaches the king, and that the king is "on the wall" observing, underscores the widespread knowledge of the desperation, making it a public display of societal collapse rather than a private hardship. It foreshadows the next verse's horrific revelation, fulfilling the warnings in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 concerning the dire consequences of Israel's disobedience, where parents would eat their own children during severe sieges as a divine judgment.
2 Kings 6 26 Commentary
2 Kings 6:26 vividly portrays the depths of human despair during the horrific siege of Samaria. It highlights the direct confrontation between a suffering citizen and the king, symbolizing the complete breakdown of leadership and societal order. The king, although in a position of authority and visually assessing the dire situation from the city wall, is essentially helpless in the face of such profound human anguish and an overwhelming enemy siege. The woman's cry, "Help, my lord, O king!", is not just a plea for succor but an indictment of a leadership unable to alleviate extreme suffering, echoing the dire prophecies of judgment on a disobedient nation where the most unimaginable acts would occur (as revealed in the next verse). This verse sets the stage for one of the most shocking and gruesome revelations in the Bible, demonstrating the ultimate consequences of severe famine and God's judgment, as life itself becomes unbearable. It implicitly asks where God's presence is in such suffering and serves as a powerful reminder of humanity's vulnerability when divorced from divine favor and basic provisions.