John Gill Commentary 2 Kings 7

Then Elisha said, hear the word of the Lord
This he said to the king and those that were with him:

thus says the Lord, tomorrow, about this time ;
which very probably was the forenoon:

shall a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel ;
"a seah", the measure here spoken of, or "saturn", according to some ^F18 , was a gallon and an half; but Bishop Cumberland ^F19 makes it two wine gallons and an half; and a shekel, according to his accurate computation, was two shillings and four pence farthing, and near the eighth part of one {t}:

and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria ;
where the market was kept; the same sort of measure and of money is here used as before; and we learn from hence that a measure of wheat was equal to two of barley.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: Godwin, ut supra. (Moses & Aaron, B. 6. c. 9.)
• F19: Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 3. p. 86.

Then a lord, on whose hand the king leaned
Not figuratively, in whom the king confided, but literally, on whose hand he rested, and by whom he was supported, being a form and matter of state, while he and Elisha were talking together, or on whom he leaned as he came to him; this was a principal lord, the third to the king, as his title seems to denote; the word by which the Septuagint renders it is by Suidas ^F21 interpreted of such that held three spears in the hand together; and this was an honourable post, for a king to lean on him; such state was used by the king of Syria, (2 Kings 5:18) and by the kings and queens of Persia; so Gorionides ^F23 says of Esther, that on the third day; she put on her beautiful garments and glorious ornaments, and took two of her maidens with her, and put her right hand on one of them, and leaned upon her in a royal manner, or as was the manner of kings: the same

answered the man of God ;
the prophet of the Lord, as the Targum:

and said, behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this
thing be?
it is impossible it should be, if he was to open the windows of heaven as at the flood, and let down showers of wheat and barley, in like manner as he rained manna in the wilderness:

and he said ;
the prophet in reply to him:

behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat thereof ;
wheat and barley sold at the above price, but should not taste of it, as a punishment of his unbelief.

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: In voce (tristatai).
• F23: Heb. Hist. l. 2. c. 4.

And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate ,
&c.] 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 ^F24 , 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.

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 47. 1. & Sanhedrin, fol. 107. 2.

If we say we will enter into the city
Contrary to the law which forbid them:

then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there ;
not being able to obtain food to preserve life:

and if we sit here, we die also ;
having nothing to eat to support nature:

now therefore let us come, and fall unto the host of the Syrians ;
put ourselves into their hands, and lie at their mercy:

if they save us alive, we shall live ;
if they do not put us to death, but give us bread to eat, our lives will be preserved:

and if they kill us, we shall but die ;
which we must inevitably do, whether we stay here, or go into the city.

And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians, The dusk of the evening, or the evening twilight, as appears from (2 Kings 7:9 2 Kings 7:12) ,

and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria ; not the further part of it, but the edge or border of it nearest to them:

behold, there was no man there ; no sentinel or guard, which they expected, and to whom they would have surrendered themselves.