Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 6:25

"And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass`s head was sold for fourscore [pieces] of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove`s dung for five [pieces] of silver." — 2 Kings 6:25 (ASV)

And there was. — There arose. This occurred as a result of the siege.

Besieged. — Were besieging.

Fourscore pieces. — Eighty shekels — i.e., about £10. An ass’s flesh would not ordinarily be eaten at all, and the head of any animal would be the cheapest part. Plutarch mentions that during a famine among the Cadusians an ass’s head could hardly be obtained for sixty drachmas (about £2. 10s.), though ordinarily the entire animal could be bought for about half that sum. Pliny relates that when Hannibal was besieging Casalinum, a mouse was sold for 200 denarii (about £6 5s.).

The fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung. — The cab was the smallest Hebrew dry measure. It held, according to the Rabbis, one-sixth of a seah (2 Kings 7:1), or a little over a quart (ξέστης — Josephus, Antiquities 9.4, § 4). The term dove’s dung, in all probability, denotes some kind of common vegetable produce, perhaps a sort of pulse or peas, which was ordinarily very cheap. Such a designation is not unparalleled.

The Arabs call the herb kali “sparrow’s dung”; and Assafœtida is, in German, “devil’s dung.” In some places in England, a species of wild hyacinth is called “dead man’s hands,” from the livid markings on the flower. The shape and color of the species of pulse mentioned in the text may similarly account for its name. It naturally follows that as long as there were any “doves” left in the city, it would not be necessary to eat their dung. When Josephus wrote that dung was eaten in the siege of Jerusalem, he probably had the present passage in his mind.

Five pieces of silver. — Five (shekels in) silver; about 12s. 6d.