2 Kings 7:3

And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) And there were four leprous men.—Literally, And four men were lepers.

At the entering in of the gate.—And so outside of the city. (Comp. Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 5:2-3.) Rashi says they were Gehazi and his sons (!)

Why sit we?—Or, Why are we abiding? Nobody brought them food any longer, owing to the pressure of the famine.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 7:3-5. There were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate — Namely, of the city, out of which they were shut by virtue of God’s law. They had either had their dwelling-place near the gate, or had come near it for fear of the Syrian army. They said one to another, Why sit we here till we die? — None passed through the gate to relieve them, and they were ready to perish with hunger. Should they go into the city, there was nothing to be had there, they must die in the streets; should they sit still, they must pine to death in their cottage: they therefore determine to go over to the enemy, and throw themselves upon their mercy; for death seemed unavoidable every other way. They rose up, therefore, in the twilight — In the evening twilight, as appears from 2 Kings 7:9; 2 Kings 7:12. To go to the camp of the Syrians — Which, to their great surprise and joy, they found wholly deserted, not a man being to be seen or heard in it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:3-11 God can, when he pleases, make the stoutest heart to tremble; and as for those who will not fear God, he can make them fear at the shaking of a leaf. Providence ordered it, that the lepers came as soon as the Syrians were fled. Their consciences told them that mischief would befall them, if they took care of themselves only. Natural humanity, and fear of punishment, are powerful checks on the selfishness of the ungodly. These feelings tend to preserve order and kindness in the world; but they who have found the unsearchable riches of Christ, will not long delay to report the good tidings to others. From love to him, not from selfish feelings, they will gladly share their earthly good things with their brethren.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The position of the lepers is in accordance with the Law of Moses (marginal references); and shows that the Law was still observed to some extent in the kingdom of Israel.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. there were four leprous men—The account of the sudden raising of the siege and the unexpected supply given to the famishing inhabitants of Samaria, is introduced by a narrative of the visit and discovery, by these poor creatures, of the extraordinary flight of the Syrians.

leprous men at the entering in of the gate—living, perhaps, in some lazar house there (Le 13:4-6; Nu 5:3).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

At the entering in of the gate, to wit, of the city, out of which they were shut by virtue of God’s law, Leviticus 13:46 14:3 either the the dwelling place of the lepers was near the gate, or they were come very near to the gate, for fear of the Syrians.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate,.... Of the city of Samaria; lepers, according to the law, being obliged to be without the city and camp, Leviticus 13:46 these might have a dwelling assigned them near the gate; or they might get as near to it as they could, partly to obtain relief from the city, and partly for fear of the Syrians; these, the Jews say (x), were Gehazi and his three sons, see 2 Kings 5:27.

and they said one to another, why sit we here until we die? being ready to perish with hunger.

(x) T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 47. 1. & Sanhedrin, fol. 107. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

And there were four leprous men at the {e} entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

(e) For it was commanded in the law that they should dwell apart, and not among their brethren, Le 13:46.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3–11. Four lepers discover that the Syrian camp is deserted, and bring word unto the city (Not in Chronicles)

3. at the entering in of the gate] Lepers were not allowed to come into the city even in the time of war. On this regulation concerning them see Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 5:2-3.

until we die] As long as there had been enough, these lepers had their supply from friends in the city, but that had now come to an end. In such a dreadful famine the needs of the outcast lepers could be little regarded.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 3-16. - The mode in which Elisha's prophecy of relief and deliverance was fulfilled is now set forth. Four lepers, excluded from the city, and on the point of perishing of hunger, felt that they could be no worse off, and might better their condition, if they deserted to the Syrians. They therefore drew off from the city at nightfall, and made for the Syrian camp. On arriving, they found it deserted. The entire host, seized with a sudden panic, had fled, about the time that they began their journey. The lepers' first thought was to enrich themselves by plunder, but after a while it occurred to them that, unless they hastened to carry the good news to Samaria, inquiry would be made, their proceedings would be found out, and they would be severely punished. So they returned to the capital, and reported what they had discovered. Jehoram, on receiving the news, feared that the Syrians had prepared a trap for him, and declined to move. He consented, however, to send out scouts to reconnoiter. The scouts found evident proof that the entire army had actually fled and was gone, whereupon there was a general raid upon the camp and its stores, which were so abundant that Elisha's prophecy was fulfilled ere the day ended. Verse 3. - And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate; or, at the entrance to the gate-house. Lepers were forbidden by the Law to reside within cities (Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 5:3). They were thrust out when the disease developed itself, and forced to dwell without the walls. No doubt their friends within the city ordinarily supplied them with food; and hence they congregated about the city gates. And they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? In the extreme scarcity, it is probable that no food was brought to them, the inmates of the city having barely enough wherewith to sustain themselves (2 Kings 6:25). Thus they were on the point of perishing. 2 Kings 7:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Four men were before the gate as lepers," or at the gateway, separated from human society, according to the law in Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 5:3, probably in a building erected for the purpose (cf. 2 Kings 15:5), just as at the present day the lepers at Jerusalem have their huts by the side of the Zion gate (vid., Strauss, Sinai u. Golgatha, p. 205, and Tobler, Denkbltter aus Jerus. p. 411ff.). These men being on the point of starvation, resolved to invade the camp of the Syrians, and carried out this resolution בּנּשׁף, in the evening twilight, not the morning twilight (Seb. Schm., Cler., etc.), on account of 2 Kings 7:12, where the king is said to have received the news of the flight of the Syrians during the night. Coming to "the end of the Syrian camp," i.e., to the outskirts of it on the city side, they found no one there. For (2 Kings 7:6, 2 Kings 7:7) "the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and horses, a noise of a great army," so that, believing the king of Israel to have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to fall upon them, they fled from the camp in the twilight אל־נפשׁם, with regard to their life, i.e., to save their life only, leaving behind them their tents, horses, and asses, and the camp as it was. - The miracle, by which God delivered Samaria from the famine or from surrendering to the foe, consisted in an oral delusion, namely, in the fact that the besiegers thought they heard the march of hostile armies from the north and south, and were seized with such panic terror that they fled in the greatest haste, leaving behind them their baggage, and their beasts of draught and burden. It is impossible to decide whether the noise which they heard had any objective reality, say a miraculous buzzing in the air, or whether it was merely a deception of the senses produced in their ears by God; and this is a matter of no importance, since in either case it was produced miraculously by God. The kings of the Hittites are kings of northern Canaan, upon Lebanon and towards Phoenicia; חתּים in the broader sense for Canaanites, as in 1 Kings 10:29. The plural, "kings of the Egyptians," is probably only occasioned by the parallel expression "kings of the Hittites," and is not to be pressed.