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2 Kings 6:25
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So there was a severe famine in Samaria, and they continued the siege against it until a donkey’s head sold for thirty-four ounces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for two ounces of silver.
There was a great famine in Shomron: and, 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.
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 cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver.
There was a shortage of food in Samaria. It was so bad that a donkey's head sold for about two pounds of silver, and half of a pint of dove's dung sold for about two ounces of silver.
Now there was a great famine in Samaria; and they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver.
So there was a severe famine in Samaria; and behold, they kept besieging it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver.
So there was a great famine in Samaria: for loe, they besieged it vntill an asses head was at foure score pieces of siluer, and the fourth part of a kab of doues doung at fiue pieces of siluer.
Now there was a great famine in Samaria. And behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver.
They kept up the attack until there was nothing to eat in the city. In fact, a donkey's head cost about two pounds of silver, and a small bowl of pigeon droppings cost about two ounces of silver.
At the time, there was a severe famine in Shomron; and they maintained their siege until a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver and half a pint of doves' dung for five pieces of silver.
And there was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was worth eighty silver-pieces, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung five silver-pieces.
The soldiers would not let people bring food into the city, so there was a time of terrible hunger in Samaria. It was so bad in Samaria that a donkey's head was sold for 80 pieces of silver and one pint of dove's dung sold for five pieces of silver.
And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until an asss head was sold for eighty pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of doves dung for five pieces of silver.
As a result of the siege the food shortage in the city was so severe that a donkey's head cost eighty pieces of silver, and half a pound of dove's dung cost five pieces of silver.
There was a great famine in Samaria, and behold, a siege was against it, until the head of a donkey went for eighty shekels of silver, and one fourth of the measure of the dung of doves went for five shekels of silver.
And there was a great famine in Samaria. And behold! They were laying siege to it until the head of an ass was at eighty silver pieces , and a fourth of a cab of dove's dung at five silver pieces .
& there was a greate derth at Samaria. But they layed sege to the cite so longe, tyll an Asses heade was worth foure score syluer pes, and the fourth parte of a Cab of doues donge worth fyue syluer pens.
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.
And they became very short of food in Samaria; for they kept it shut in till the price of an ass's head was eighty shekels of silver, and a small measure of doves' droppings was five shekels of silver.
But there was a great dearth in Samaria: and beholde, they besieged it, vntill an asses head was sold for fourescore siluer pence, and the fourth part of a cab of doues doung for fiue peeces of siluer.
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.
And there was a great famine in Samaria: and behold, they besieged it, vntill an asses head was solde for fourescore pieces of siluer, and the fourth part of a kab of doues doung for fiue pieces of siluer.
And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was valued at fifty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung at five pieces of silver.
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.
So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove's dung sold for five shekels of silver.
And greet hungur was maad in Samarie; and so long it was bisegid, til the heed of an asse were seeld for fourescore platis of siluer, and the fourthe part of a mesure clepid cabus of the crawe of culueris was seeld for fyue platis of siluer.
and there is a great famine in Samaria, and lo, they are laying siege to it, till the head of an ass is at eighty silverlings, and a forth of the cab of dovesdung at five silverlings.
And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, look, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for 80 [pieces] of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five [pieces] of silver.
And there was a great famine in Samaria: and behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was [sold] for eighty [pieces] of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five [pieces] of silver.
There was a great famine in Samaria: and, 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.
And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.
As a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove's dung sold for five pieces of silver.
There was a time of no food in Samaria. The Syrian army gathered around it, until a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver. A half cup of dove's waste sold for five pieces of silver.
As the siege continued, famine in Samaria became so great that a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver.
And there came to be, a great famine, in Samaria, and lo! they continued the siege against it, - until an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and one pint of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeons’ dung, for five pieces of silver.
And there was a great famine in Sama'ria, as they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver.
There was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
a great famine: 2 Kings 6:28, 2 Kings 6:29, 2 Kings 7:4, 2 Kings 25:3, 1 Kings 18:2, Jeremiah 14:13-15, Jeremiah 14:18, Jeremiah 32:24, Jeremiah 52:6
an ass's head: If the pieces of silver were drachms, the whole would amount to about 2£ 9s; which was a great price for so mean a part of this unclean animal. Ezekiel 4:13-16
dove's dung: This probably denotes, as Bochart, Scheuchzer, and others suppose, a kind of pulse, or vetches, which the Arabs still call pigeon's dung. "They never," says Dr. Shaw (Travels, p. 140), "constitute a dish by themselves, but are strewed singly as a garnish over cuscasowe, pillowe, and other dishes. They are besides in the greatest repute after they are parched in pans and ovens; then assuming the name leblebby;" and he thinks they were so called from being pointed at one end, and acquiring an ash colour in parching.
Reciprocal: Genesis 12:10 - was a Genesis 41:55 - famished 2 Samuel 21:1 - a famine 1 Kings 8:37 - in the land famine 1 Kings 16:17 - besieged Tirzah 2 Kings 7:1 - a measure of fine flour 2 Kings 18:27 - eat 2 Chronicles 6:28 - if there be dearth Psalms 59:15 - for meat Isaiah 36:12 - that they may Lamentations 1:11 - seek Ezekiel 5:16 - and will Amos 4:6 - and want
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And there was a great famine in Samaria,.... No care, perhaps, having been taken to lay up stores against a siege:
and, behold, they besieged it until an ass's head was [sold] for fourscore [pieces] of silver; shekels, as the Targum explains the word in the next clause, which amounted to about nine or ten pounds of our money; a great price for the head of such a creature, by law unclean, its flesh disagreeable, and of that but very little, as is on an head:
and the fourth part of a cab of doves' dung for five pieces of silver; some of the Jewish writers say h, this was bought for fuel, which was scarce: Josephus says i, for salt, and so Procopious Gazaeus, and Theodoret; others, for dunging the lands, which is the use of it in Persia k for melons; neither of which are probable; most certainly it was for food; but as doves' dung must be not only disagreeable, but scarce affording any nourishment, something else must be meant; some have thought that the grains found in their crops, or in their excrements, undigested, and picked out, are meant; and others, their crops or craws themselves, or entrails; but Bochart l is of opinion, that a sort of pulse is meant, as lentiles or vetches, much the same with the kali or parched corn used in Israel, see 1 Samuel 17:17 and a recent traveller m observes, that the leblebby of the Arabs is very probably the kali, or parched pulse, of the Scriptures, and has been taken for the pigeons' dung mentioned at the siege of Samaria; and indeed as the "cicer" (a sort of peas or pulse) is pointed at one end, and acquires an ash colour by parching, the first of which circumstances answers to the figure, the other to the usual colour of pigeons' dung, the supposition is by no means to be disregarded: a "cab" was a measure with the Jews, which held the quantity of twenty four egg shells; according to Godwin n, it answered to our quart, so that a fourth part was half a pint; and half a pint of these lentiles, or vetches, or parched pulse, was sold for eleven or twelve shillings.
h R. Jonah in Ben Melech, Kimchi & Abarbinel in loc. i Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4. sect. 4. k Universal History, vol. 5. p. 90. l Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 7. col. 44, &c. m Shaw's Travels, p. 140. n Moses & Aaron, B. 6. c. 9.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
As the donkey was âunclean,â it would not be eaten except in the last resort; and its head would be its worst and cheapest part.
Cab - This measure is not mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. According to the rabbinical writers it was the smallest of all the dry measures in use among the Jews, being the sixth part of a seah, which was the third part of an ephah. If it was about equal to two of our quarts, the âfourth part of a cabâ would be about a pint.
Doveâs dung - Most commentators understand by this expression a sort of pulse which is called âdoveâs dung,â or âsparrowâs dungâ in Arabic. But it is possible that the actual excrement of pigeons is meant. The records of sieges show that both animal and human excrement have been used as food - under circumstances of extreme necessity.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 2 Kings 6:25. And, behold, they besieged it — They had closed it in on every side, and reduced it to the greatest necessity.
An ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver — I suppose we are to take the ass's head literally; and if the head sold for so much, what must other parts sell for which were much to be preferred? The famine must be great that could oblige them to eat any part of an animal that was proscribed by the law; and it must be still greater that could oblige them to purchase so mean a part of this unclean animal at so high a price. The piece of silver was probably the drachm, worth about seven pence three farthings of our money; the whole amounting to about two pounds nine shillings.
And the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung — The cab was about a quart or three pints. Dove's dung, ×ר××× ×× chiriyonim. Whether this means pigeon's dung literally, or a kind of pulse, has been variously disputed by learned men. After having written much upon the subject, illustrated with quotations from east, west, north, and south, I choose to spare my reader the trouble of wading through them, and shall content myself with asserting that it is probable a sort of pease are meant, which the Arabs to this day call by this name. "The garvancos, cicer, or chick pea," says Dr. Shaw, "has been taken for the pigeon's dung, mentioned in the siege of Samaria; and as the cicer is pointed at one end, and acquires an ash colour in parching, the first of which circumstances answers to the figure, the second to the usual colour of dove's dung, the supposition is by no means to be disregarded."
I should not omit saying that dove's dung is of great value in the East, for its power in producing cucumbers, melons, &c., which has induced many learned men to take the words literally. Bochart has exhausted this subject, and concludes that a kind of pulse is meant. Most learned men are of his opinion.
