2 Kings 7:6
in 2 Kings 7For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
KJV
For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
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This verse in 2 Kings 7
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
they arose at twilight and went to the camp of the Arameans
on 2 Kings 7:5-7
The text gives the cause, “the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army”. Elisha's servant saw a real host of fire at 6:17, and here the enemy hears an army that was never there.
This site's exposition
the sound of chariots, horses
Matthew Henry observes that God can make men who refuse to fear Him tremble at the shaking of a leaf. The army that had starved Samaria broke at a sound. The LORD sent the sound, and the Arameans supplied the army.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), not by might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts, striking terror upon the spirits of the besiegers. Here was not a sword drawn against them, not a drop of blood shed, it was not by thunder or hailstones that they were discomfited, nor were they slain, as Sennacherib's army before Jerusalem, by a destroying angel; but, 1.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
THE story of four leprous men inserted in the Book of the Kings of Israel—is it not amazing? No, it is not amazing for the Bible. If you were to take out of the Scriptures all the stories that have to do with poor afflicted men and women, what a very small book the Bible would become, especially if together with the stories, you removed all the Psalms of the sorrowful, all the promises for the distressed and all the passages which belong to the children of grief! This Book, indeed, for the most part is made up of the annals of the poor and despised! Think for a minute what space is occupied with the life of the man who was separated from his brothers, sold for a slave and put in prison in Egypt! What a large part of the Bible is occupied by the writings of one who was a babe exposed on the Nile and afterwards kept a flock for 40 years in the wilderness! We could not part with the account of the man who lost all his property and children in one day—and sat among the ashes, covered with sore boils. We could not spare the story of the two widows who came together empty-handed from the land of Moab, one of whom went to glean in the fields of Boaz. Nor the history of that woman of a sorrowful spirit and her little boy, around whom the hope of Israel gathered in the dark days of Eli's feeble rule. Page after page of Holy Writ is enriched with the experience of that youth who was taken from tending the flock to become the champion of his country and was afterwards hunted like a partridge upon the mountain by the envious king. We could not give up the history of the Prophet of sorrow, nor of the fugitive who was cast into the sea, nor even the minor incidents of the widow of Sarepta and her barrel of meal—and the Prophet's widow whose creditor was about to seize her children for her husband's debts. Nor do lepers fall behind.
THE story of four leprous men inserted in the Book of the Kings of Israel—is it not amazing? No, it is not amazing for the Bible. If you were to take out of the Scriptures all the stories that have to do with poor afflicted men and women, what a very small book the Bible would become, especially if together with the stories, you removed all the Psalms of the sorrowful, all the promises for the distressed and all the passages which belong to the children of grief!
The Lord had made the - Syrians to hear a noise - This threw them into confusion; they imagined that they were about to be attacked by powerful auxiliaries, which the king of Israel had hired against them.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
It is a matter of no importance whether we say that the miracle by which God now performed deliverance for Samaria consisted in a mere illusion of the sense of hearing (compare 2Ki 6:19-20); or whether there was any objective reality in the sound (compare the marginal references). The king of Israel hath hired - The swords of mercenaries had been employed by the nations bordering on Palestine as early as the time of David 2Sa 10:6; 1Ch 19:6-7. Hence, the supposition of the Syrians was far from improbable. The kings of the Hittites - The Hittites, who are found first in the south Gen 23:7, then in the center of Judea Jos 11:3, seem to have retired northward after the occupation of Palestine by the Israelites. They are found among the Syrian enemies of the Egyptians in the monuments of the 19th dynasty (about 1300 B.C.), and appear at that time to have inhabited the valley of the Upper Orontes. In the early Assyrian monuments they form a great confederacy, as the most powerful people of northern Syria, dwelling on both banks of the Euphrates, while at the same time there is a second confederacy of their race further to the south, which seems to inhabit the anti-Lebanon between Hamath and Damascus. These southern Hittites are in the time of Benhadad and Hazael a powerful people, especially strong in chariots; and generally assist the Syrians against the Assyrians. The Syrians seem now to have imagined that these southern Hittites had been hired by Jehoram. The kings of the Egyptians - This is a remarkable expression, since Egypt elsewhere throughout Scripture appears always as a centralised monarchy under a single ruler. The probability is that the principal Pharaoh had a prince or princes associated with him on the throne, a practice not uncommon in Egypt. The period, which is that of the 22nd dynasty, is an obscure one, on which the monuments throw but little light.
The words behind it
29 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאדֹנָ֞י | vadonai | and [the] Lord | H136 → | |
| הִשְׁמִ֣יעַ׀ | hishmia' | he had caused to hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַחֲנֵ֣ה | machaneh | [the] camp of | H4264 → | 215 times |
| אֲרָ֗ם | ʾaram | Aram | H758 → | 143 times |
| ק֥וֹל | kol | a sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| רֶ֙כֶב֙ | rekhev | chariotry | H7393 → | 119 times |
| ק֣וֹל | kol | a sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| ס֔וּס | sus | horse[s] | H5483 → | 140 times |
| ק֖וֹל | kol | a sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| חַ֣יִל | chayil | an army | H2428 → | 246 times |
| גָּד֑וֹל | gadol | large | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אָחִ֗יו | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | 630 times |
| הִנֵּ֣ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| שָֽׂכַר־ | sakhar- | he has hired | H7936 → | |
| עָלֵינוּ֩ | ʾaleinu | on us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מֶ֨לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַלְכֵ֧י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| הַחִתִּ֛ים | hachitim | the Hittites | H2850 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַלְכֵ֥י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| מִצְרַ֖יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| לָב֥וֹא | lavo' | to come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עָלֵֽינוּ׃ | ʾaleinu | on us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וַאדֹנָ֞יand [the] Lord
vadonaiH136 →
הִשְׁמִ֣יעַ׀he had caused to hear
hishmia'H8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַחֲנֵ֣ה[the] camp of
machanehH4264 →215 times
אֲרָ֗םAram
ʾaramH758 →143 times
ק֥וֹלa sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
רֶ֙כֶב֙chariotry
rekhevH7393 →119 times
ק֣וֹלa sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
ס֔וּסhorse[s]
susH5483 →140 times
ק֖וֹלa sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
חַ֣יִלan army
chayilH2428 →246 times
גָּד֑וֹלlarge
gadolH1419 →526 times
וַיֹּאמְר֞וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אִ֣ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אָחִ֗יוbrother his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
הִנֵּ֣הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
שָֽׂכַר־he has hired
sakhar-H7936 →
עָלֵינוּ֩on us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
מֶ֨לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֜לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַלְכֵ֧י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
הַחִתִּ֛יםthe Hittites
hachitimH2850 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
מַלְכֵ֥י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
מִצְרַ֖יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
לָב֥וֹאto come
lavo'H935 →2568 times
עָלֵֽינוּ׃on us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
it leads to
- Psalms 20:7
Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 17:16
But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way…
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Isaiah 36:9
For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
- Psalms 20:7
Through
2 Samuel 5:24As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the LORD has marched out before you to strike the camp…
it leads to
- Judges 4:14
Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor…
- Judges 7:15
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your…
- Judges 4:14
Through
Psalms 14:5There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is in the company of the righteous.
it leads to
- Psalms 112:2
His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
- Psalms 112:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1903: “Who Found It Out?” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.