TRV
Translation
King James Version
Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
Complete Jewish Bible
So they jumped up and fled in the twilight, leaving their tents, horses, donkeys and the whole camp just as it was, and ran for their lives.
Berean Standard Bible
Thus the Arameans had arisen and fled at twilight, abandoning their tents and horses and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had run for their lives.
American Standard Version
Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
World English Bible Messianic
Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Wherefore they arose, and fled in the twilight, and left their tentes and their horses, and their asses, euen the campe as it was, and fledde for their liues.
Young's Literal Translation
And they rise and flee in the twilight, and forsake their tents, and their horses, and their asses--the camp as it is --and flee for their life.
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Commentary on 2 Kings 7 verses 3–11
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?
4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.
6 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.
7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.
10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.
We are here told,
I. How the siege of Samaria was raised in the evening, at the edge of night (Kg2 7:6, Kg2 7:7), 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. The Lord made them to hear a noise of chariots and horses. The Syrians that besieged Dothan had their sight imposed upon, Kg2 6:18. These had their hearing imposed upon. For God knows how to work upon every sense, pursuant to his own counsels as he makes the hearing ear and the seeing eye, so he makes the deaf and the blind, Exo 4:11. Whether the noise was really made in the air by the ministry of angels, or whether it was only a sound in their ears, is not certain; which soever it was, it was from God, who both brings the wind out of his treasures, and forms the spirit of man within him. The sight of horses and chariots had encouraged the prophet's servant, Kg2 6:17. The noise of horses and chariots terrified the hosts of Syria. For notices from the invisible world are either very comfortable or very dreadful, according as men are at peace with God or at war with him. 2. Hearing this noise, they concluded the king of Israel had certainly procured assistance from some foreign power: He has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians. There was, for aught we know but one king of Egypt, and what kings there were of the Hittites nobody can imagine; but, as they were imposed upon by that dreadful sound in their ears, so they imposed upon themselves by the interpretation they made of it. Had they supposed the king of Judah to have come with his forces, there would have been more of probability in their apprehensions than to dream of the kings of the Hittites and the Egyptians. If the fancies of any of them raised this spectre, yet their reasons might soon have laid it: how could the king of Israel, who was closely besieged, hold intelligence with those distant princes? What had he to hire them with? It was impossible but some notice would come, before, of the motions of so great a host; but there were they in great fear where no fear was. 3. Hereupon they all fled with incredible precipitation, as for their lives, left their camp as it was: even their horses, that might have hastened their flight, they could not stay to take with them, Kg2 7:7. None of them had so much sense as to send out scouts to discover the supposed enemy, much less courage enough to face the enemy, though fatigued with a long march. The wicked flee when none pursues. God can, when he pleases, dispirit the boldest and most brave, and make the stoutest heart to tremble. Those that will not fear God he can make to fear at the shaking of a leaf.
II. How the Syrians' flight was discovered by four leprous men. Samaria was delivered, and did not know it. The watchmen on the walls were not aware of the retreat of the enemy, so silently did they steal away. But Providence employed four lepers to be the intelligencers, who had their lodging without the gate, being excluded from the city, as ceremonially unclean: the Jews say they were Gehazi and his three sons; perhaps Gehazi might be one of them, which might cause him to be taken notice of afterwards by the king, Kg2 8:4. See here, 1. How these lepers reasoned themselves into a resolution to make a visit in the night to the camp of the Syrians, Kg2 7:3, Kg2 7:4. They were ready to perish for hunger; none passed through the gate to relieve them. Should they go into the city, there was nothing to be had there, they mist 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: if they killed them, better die by the sword than by famine, one death than a thousand; but perhaps they would save them alive, as objects of compassion. Common prudence will put us upon that method which may better our condition, but cannot make it worse. The prodigal son resolves to return to his father, whose displeasure he had reason to fear, rather than perish with hunger in the far country. These lepers conclude, "If they kill us, we shall but die;" and happy they who, in another sense, can thus speak of dying. "We shall but die, that is the worst of it, not die and be damned, not be hurt of the second death." According to this resolution, they went, in the beginning of the night, to the camp of the Syrians, and, to their great surprise, found it wholly deserted, not a man to be seen or heard in it, Kg2 7:5. Providence ordered it, that these lepers came as soon as ever the Syrians had fled, for they fled in the twilight, the evening twilight (Kg2 7:7), and in the twilight the lepers came (Kg2 7:5), and so no time was lost. 2. How they reasoned themselves into a resolution to bring tidings of this to the city. They feasted in the first tent they came to (Kg2 7:8) and then began to think of enriching themselves with the plunder; but they corrected themselves (Kg2 7:9): "We do not well to conceal these good tidings from the community we are members of, under colour of being avenged upon them for excluding us from their society; it was the law that did it, not they, and therefore let us bring them the news. Though it awake them from sleep, it will be life from the dead to them." Their own consciences told them that some mischief would befal them if they acted separately, and sought themselves only. Selfish narrow-spirited people cannot expect to prosper; the most comfortable advantage is that which our brethren share with us in. According to this resolution, they returned to the gate, and acquainted the sentinel with what they had discovered (Kg2 7:10), who straightway brought the intelligence to court (Kg2 7:11), and it was not the less acceptable for being first brought by lepers.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 3–11. Public domain.
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Ephrem the SyrianAD 373
ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 7:3
Even though the four lepers are loathsome, if we symbolically recognize in them the fact that they announced goods for the inhabitants of their city, they do no wrong to the symbol but correctly represent the four holy Evangelists. Indeed, we must bear in mind that through their books the grace of our Savior and source of life Jesus Christ was known, and freedom was given to all people according to his divine plan. And so those whose flesh was leprous shone in their interior look with the splendor of their righteousness. In addition, they symbolically represent the first attitude of the apostles in the fact that leprosy had corrupted their skin. But they also represent them in the fact that their interior was adorned with righteous behavior because the old man has been transformed by the coming of the Holy Spirit and renewed. Therefore they have clothed themselves with the garment shining with the colors of heaven and have been sent to show the work of the hands of God.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Second Kings 7:7 powerfully depicts the divinely orchestrated flight of the Aramean army, which had been besieging Samaria. Overwhelmed by a supernatural sound that instilled profound panic, the enemy forces abandoned their entire camp—including all their provisions, horses, and donkeys—in the twilight hours, fleeing desperately for their lives. This sudden and complete retreat marked the pivotal moment of deliverance for the famine-stricken city of Samaria, transforming a situation of extreme desperation into one of immediate abundance and salvation, accomplished entirely through God's unseen intervention.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse serves as the dramatic culmination of a narrative arc detailing the severe siege of Samaria by the Arameans, which had plunged the city into horrific famine and desperation, even leading to instances of cannibalism as tragically recounted in 2 Kings 6:24-29. Amidst this dire crisis, the prophet Elisha boldly prophesied that by the very next day, food would be plentiful and cheap in Samaria, a declaration met with skepticism by a royal officer (2 Kings 7:1-2). The seemingly impossible fulfillment of this prophecy hinges entirely on the events of 2 Kings 7:7. Immediately preceding this verse, four desperate lepers, facing starvation, decide to surrender to the Arameans, only to discover the abandoned camp (2 Kings 7:3-5). The reason for the Arameans' flight is explicitly stated in 2 Kings 7:6, where "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," leading them to believe Israel had hired vast armies from the Hittites and Egyptians. Thus, 2 Kings 7:7 details the immediate and chaotic result of this divine intervention, setting the stage for the lepers' discovery and the subsequent miraculous end of the famine.
Historical & Cultural Context: Samaria, as the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, was a strategically vital city, yet its location often made it vulnerable to siege warfare. Siege warfare in the ancient Near East was a brutal and prolonged military tactic, designed to exhaust and starve out the inhabitants until they surrendered or were annihilated. The account in 2 Kings 6 vividly portrays the extreme suffering endured by the besieged, highlighting the severity of the famine that drove people to unimaginable acts, such as boiling their own children for food, underscoring the desperate circumstances. The Arameans (Syrians), particularly under kings like Ben-Hadad, were frequent adversaries of Israel during this period, engaging in numerous border skirmishes and larger military campaigns. The belief that Israel might hire powerful foreign armies (like the Hittites and Egyptians, who were significant regional powers) was a plausible strategic concern in the geopolitical landscape of the time. This made the "noise" a believable, albeit divinely orchestrated, threat that would prompt such a panicked retreat. The act of abandoning an entire camp, including valuable animals, tents, and provisions, underscores the extreme terror and disarray that gripped the Aramean forces, as such resources were crucial for military campaigns and survival.
Key Themes: The central theme powerfully illuminated by 2 Kings 7:7 is Divine Intervention and Deliverance. This verse demonstrates God's absolute sovereignty over nations and His profound ability to deliver His people from overwhelming odds without any human military effort. The Arameans' flight is not a result of Israelite strength or strategy but of God's direct, unseen action, showcasing His omnipotence and faithfulness to His covenant. Another prominent theme is The Power of Fear and Panic. The verse emphasizes the irrational and overwhelming terror that seized the Syrian army, causing them to abandon military discipline, strategic thinking, and valuable possessions in favor of sheer self-preservation. Their haste, "fled for their life," underscores a primal instinct for survival that overrode all other considerations. Finally, this dramatic flight directly paves the way for the Fulfillment of Prophecy. Elisha's seemingly impossible prophecy of abundance (2 Kings 7:1) is immediately and concretely realized through the abandoned Syrian camp, which became the miraculous source of the promised provisions, transforming scarcity into immediate plenty for the starving city of Samaria.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The narrative of 2 Kings 7:7 employs several powerful Literary Devices to convey the dramatic and miraculous nature of the event. Irony is profoundly evident, as the mighty Aramean army, which had successfully besieged Samaria and brought it to the brink of collapse, flees in terror from an unseen, non-existent enemy. Their strength and military prowess are rendered utterly useless by a divinely-induced sound, highlighting the ultimate powerlessness of human might against God's sovereign will. The detailed enumeration of what was left behind—"their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it [was]"—serves as a form of Hyperbole or Exaggeration, emphasizing the extreme and total nature of their abandonment and the depth of their panic. This vivid imagery underscores the completeness of their rout and the extent of their fear. Furthermore, the passage utilizes Dramatic Irony, as the reader is privy to the divine cause of the Syrians' flight (from 2 Kings 7:6), while the Arameans themselves are deceived, believing they face a vast, hired army. This contrast between the Arameans' perception and the divine reality heightens the sense of God's unseen, sovereign hand at work. Finally, the narrative creates a stark Contrast between the desperate, starving condition of Samaria and the sudden, overwhelming panic that grips their powerful besiegers, setting the stage for a miraculous reversal of fortunes.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
The account in 2 Kings 7:7 stands as a profound testament to God's sovereign power and His unwavering commitment to His covenant people. It vividly illustrates that divine deliverance often operates outside the realm of human expectation, military strategy, or logical explanation. God does not need armies or weapons; He can use unseen sounds, fear, and panic to achieve His purposes, humbling the proud and exalting the lowly. This event underscores the biblical truth that God is the ultimate provider and protector, capable of turning the most desperate situations into moments of miraculous abundance and salvation. It reminds us that even when circumstances seem insurmountable, God remains actively involved in the affairs of humanity, orchestrating events to fulfill His promises and demonstrate His glory, often in unexpected and awe-inspiring ways.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The miraculous deliverance of Samaria in 2 Kings 7:7 offers profound encouragement for believers facing seemingly insurmountable challenges today. Just as God caused an entire, powerful army to flee in terror from an unseen sound, He remains capable of working in ways that defy human logic and expectation. This passage invites us to cultivate a deep trust in God's sovereign power and His unconventional methods of intervention. When we find ourselves besieged by personal struggles, financial crises, health issues, or spiritual battles, this narrative reminds us that God can create pathways to freedom and provision where none seem to exist. It challenges us to look beyond our immediate circumstances and human limitations, to rest in the assurance that God is actively working on our behalf, even when His hand is unseen. Our role is to remain faithful, to pray, and to trust in His perfect timing, knowing that He can turn our moments of despair into experiences of miraculous blessing and abundant provision, often through means we could never anticipate.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did the Syrian army flee so suddenly and completely?
Answer: The Syrian army's sudden and complete flight was not due to any direct attack by the Israelite forces. Instead, as described in 2 Kings 7:6, "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." God supernaturally caused them to hear sounds that convinced them the king of Israel had hired the armies of the Hittites and the Egyptians to attack them. This divinely-induced panic was so overwhelming that they abandoned everything in their camp—including valuable provisions and military assets—and fled desperately for their lives.
What is the significance of the Syrians fleeing "in the twilight"?
Answer: The phrase "in the twilight" (referring to dusk or evening) highlights the extreme urgency and disarray of their flight. While the cover of darkness might offer some strategic advantage for an escape, fleeing in the twilight means they couldn't even wait for full nightfall or proper preparations. This indicates an immediate, overwhelming panic that compelled them to flee at the earliest possible moment, abandoning all military discipline and possessions in their haste for self-preservation. It underscores the profound and irrational terror that gripped them, leaving no time for orderly retreat.
How did the Syrians' flight lead to the end of the famine in Samaria?
Answer: The Syrians' panicked flight meant they abandoned their entire camp, including all their provisions, horses, and donkeys, leaving everything "as it was." This vast quantity of food and supplies, which they had brought for their prolonged siege, became the immediate and miraculous source of relief for the starving inhabitants of Samaria. The four lepers who discovered the abandoned camp were the first to realize the abundance, and their report led to the city's inhabitants plundering the Syrian camp. This directly and miraculously fulfilled Elisha's prophecy in 2 Kings 7:1 that food would be plentiful and cheap by the next day, transforming the city's dire scarcity into immediate plenty.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The miraculous deliverance of Samaria in 2 Kings 7:7, orchestrated by God's unseen hand, powerfully foreshadows the ultimate and comprehensive deliverance wrought by Jesus Christ. Just as God caused a mighty physical army to flee from a perceived threat, Jesus, through His death and resurrection, secured victory over the unseen spiritual forces that besiege humanity: sin, death, and the devil. The Arameans fled from a sound, but humanity was delivered from the very real and devastating power of spiritual enemies by the decisive work of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Furthermore, the abandoned Syrian camp provided immediate and abundant physical provision for a starving people; similarly, Jesus declared Himself the Bread of Life, offering eternal spiritual sustenance to a humanity starving for truth and righteousness. His victory on the cross disarmed and triumphed over the principalities and powers, leading them in a triumphal procession (Colossians 2:15). He, through His death, destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14), providing the ultimate "flight for life" for all who believe, leading them out of the siege of sin and into the abundance of eternal life found only in Him.