2 Kings 6:24-33 Meaning: When Despair Tempts Us to Stop Waiting
24After this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.
25There was a great famine in Samaria. 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.
26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”
27He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, where could I get help for you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”
28Then the king asked her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
29So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”
30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. Now he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his body.
31Then he said, “God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat stays on him today.”
32But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”
33While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”
24And it came to pass after this, that Ben–hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
25And 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.
26And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
27And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?
28And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
29So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
30And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
31Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
32But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?
33And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer?
24And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
25And 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.
26And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
27And he said, If Jehovah do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress?
28And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow.
29So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she hath hid her son.
30And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes (now he was passing by upon the wall); and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
31Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
32But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; andthe kingsent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?
33And while he was yet talking with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of Jehovah; why should I wait for Jehovah any longer?
24And it cometh to pass afterwards, that Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathereth all his camp, and goeth up, and layeth siege to Samaria,
25and 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.
26And it cometh to pass, the king of Israel is passing by on the wall, and a woman hath cried unto him, saying, `Save, my lord, O king.'
27And he saith, `Jehovah doth not save thee--whence do I save thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the wine-vat?'
28And the king saith to her, `What--to thee?' and she saith, `This woman said unto me, Give thy son, and we eat him to-day, and my son we eat to-morrow;
29and we boil my son and eat him, and I say unto her on the next day, Give thy son, and we eat him; and she hideth her son.'
30And it cometh to pass, at the king's hearing the words of the woman, that he rendeth his garments, and he is passing by on the wall, and the people see, and lo, the sackcloth is on his flesh within.
31And he saith, `Thus doth God do to me, and thus He doth add--if it remain--the head of Elisha son of Shaphat--upon him this day.'
32And Elisha is sitting in his house, and the elders are sitting with him, and the king sendeth a man from before him; before the messenger doth come unto him, even he himself said unto the elders, `Have ye seen that this son of the murderer hath sent to turn aside my head? see, at the coming in of the messenger, shut the door, and ye have held him fast at the door, is not the sound of the feet of his lord behind him?'
33He is yet speaking with them, and lo, the messenger is coming down unto him, and he saith, `Lo, this is the evil from Jehovah: what--do I wait for Jehovah any more?'
24And it came to pass after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.
25And 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.
26And it came to pass as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman to him saying, Help, my lord O king!
27And he said, If Jehovah do not help thee, whence should I help thee? Out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress?
28And the king said to her, What aileth thee? And she said, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow.
29And we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she has hidden her son.
30And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his garments; and he was passing by upon the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
31And he said, God do so, and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him this day!
32And Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him. And [the king] sent a man before him. Before the messenger came to him, he himself said to the elders, Do ye see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? See, when the messenger comes; shut the door, and keep him off with the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?
33And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. And [the king] said, Behold, this evil is of Jehovah: why should I wait for Jehovah any longer?
Meaning in one sentence
A famine so severe that mothers boiled their children. The king blamed God and gave up. But waiting on the Lord is never wasted.
Context
This passage comes right after a remarkable story of mercy. Elisha had captured Syrian soldiers, then fed them and sent them home in peace. But peace did not last. Benhadad, king of Syria, gathered his whole army and laid siege to Samaria again. The siege dragged on until food ran out completely. The famine grew so terrible that a donkey's head, considered unclean, sold for a fortune, and even dove's dung became a costly food. As the king walked the city wall to inspect the defenses, a woman cried out for help. Her story was worse than he could imagine: she and another woman had agreed to boil and eat their children, one each day, but the second woman had hidden her son. The king tore his clothes in grief, and underneath he was wearing sackcloth a sign of repentance. Yet instead of turning to God, he swore to kill Elisha. The prophet, sitting with the elders, saw the executioner coming and told them to shut the door. When the messenger arrived, the king himself spoke words of bitter despair, declaring this evil was from the Lord and asking why he should wait any longer for God to act.
Key Words
Three Hebrew words give this passage its weight. First, the woman's cry for help uses the root yasha', meaning to save or deliver. The king's reply in verse 27 echoes the same word: if Yahweh does not yasha' you, where could I get help? He knows that only God can truly save, but he speaks with hopeless resignation, as if God had already refused.
Second, the king uses the verb wait (yachal) in verse 33: why should I wait for Yahweh any longer? This word carries the sense of hoping, expecting, looking with patience. When the king stops waiting, he stops hoping. He turns his despair into action against the prophet, and into words that blame God.
Third, the woman cried out (tsa'aq), a word used throughout the Old Testament for urgent, desperate calls for justice or rescue. Hers is a raw, almost unbearable request. The king heard, and his response shows how close he was to breaking. These words together reveal a people pushed past the edge of endurance, and a king who chose to lash out rather than continue hoping.
How Christians Read This Verse
Christians across traditions have seen this story as a sobering case study in how suffering tests faith. Many point out that the famine fulfilled the warnings Moses gave in Deuteronomy 28, where covenant breaking would lead to literal cannibalism under siege. The king's sackcloth shows outward mourning, but his oath to kill Elisha reveals a heart that blamed the messenger rather than humbling itself before God.
Some commentators emphasize that the king's final words this evil is from the Lord, why should I wait any longer? are not a statement of faith but a cry of exhausted unbelief. He acknowledges God's sovereignty but draws the wrong conclusion, that waiting is pointless. Other readers note that Elisha's calm confidence in the same situation offers a stark contrast. The elders sitting with him suggest a community of faith that continued hoping. The passage leaves the question open: which response will we choose when suffering presses in?
A common misunderstanding
A common misreading of this passage is to take the king's question, why should I wait for Yahweh any longer? as a reasonable observation that God has abandoned His people. In fact, the narrative undercuts this conclusion. Just before the king speaks, Elisha is shown confidently directing the elders to shut the door, knowing deliverance is near. The very next chapter reveals that God was about to break the siege with sudden, abundant provision. The king gave up moments before help arrived. His mistake was not that he suffered, but that he stopped waiting for God.
Living This Out
This passage asks you a hard question: what do you do when the situation gets worse instead of better? Maybe you have been praying for something a job, a marriage, a healing and it feels like God is silent. The temptation is to stop waiting. To give up on church, on prayer, on hope. The king in this story wore sackcloth but still blamed the prophet and swore to kill him. He looked religious on the outside but let bitterness take over inside.
This week, notice where you are tempted to stop waiting. Maybe it is a relationship that feels stuck, a health problem that has no answer, a financial pressure that will not lift. Instead of turning your frustration on someone else or on God, try naming your despair honestly in prayer. You can say, I am tired of waiting, but I choose to wait a little longer. God can handle your honesty. He proved that chapter 7 was coming, even when the king could not see it.
Main takeaway: Waiting on the Lord in desperate times is not futile; He is faithful even when we cannot see what He is doing.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
There was a very bad famine and people were very hungry. The king got angry and wanted to blame someone. But God was about to help them. We can always trust God even when things are hard.
For ages 9, 12
The siege was so terrible that people ran out of food completely. One woman told the king she had boiled her own son to eat, and another woman hid hers. The king was so upset that he tore his clothes and swore to kill the prophet Elisha. He blamed God and said it was useless to wait any longer. But Elisha knew God was about to rescue them. The story reminds us that when we are suffering, we might feel like giving up on God, but He is still working. The people who keep waiting are the ones who see His help when it comes.
Questions People Ask
Why did the king want to kill Elisha?
The king of Israel, Jehoram, blamed the prophet Elisha for the terrible famine. He thought Elisha should have prevented it or was somehow responsible. Some commentators note that Jehoram was following the pattern of his wicked parents, Ahab and Jezebel, who also tried to kill God's prophets when things went wrong. The king's anger was misdirected; the famine was a consequence of Israel's covenant breaking, and Elisha was actually about to announce deliverance.
What does 'dove's dung' mean in this passage?
The Hebrew phrase translated as 'dove's dung' (divyonim) may refer literally to bird droppings, which were sometimes eaten in extreme famines. Others suggest it was a slang term for a cheap, worthless food, like a wild plant or roasted pods. Either way, the point is the same: people were paying five pieces of silver for something barely edible. The famine was so severe that anything, no matter how disgusting or insignificant, became precious.
Was the cannibalism in this passage a real event?
Yes, the woman's report that she and another woman boiled and ate her son is presented as a historical fact. It also fulfills the curse Moses warned about in Deuteronomy 28:53-57, where disobedience would lead to such horrors during a siege. The writer of Kings includes this detail to show how completely the nation had fallen away from God and how deeply the covenant curses had taken effect.
Did the famine end? What happened next?
Yes, the very next chapter (2 Kings 7) records Elisha's prophecy that within a day, food would be sold cheaply in the gate of Samaria. That night the Lord caused the Syrian army to hear the sound of chariots and horses, and they fled in panic, leaving their camp full of supplies. The people of Samaria plundered the camp, and food became plentiful. The king who gave up waiting lived to see God's sudden deliverance.
What does the king mean when he says 'this evil is from the Lord'?
The king acknowledges that the calamity the siege, the famine, the cannibalism comes from God as a judgment. But he draws the wrong conclusion. Instead of repenting and continuing to hope, he says, 'Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?' He sees God's hand but believes waiting is pointless. The narrative shows that God was about to act; the king gave up just before help arrived. His words are a warning that recognizing God's sovereignty does not excuse us from patient trust.
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