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.

2 KINGS 6:25KJV
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2 Kings 6:25 (KJV)

What does 2 Kings 6:25 mean?

2 Kings 6:25 describes a severe famine in the city of Samaria during a siege, where food became so scarce that even the head of a donkey sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a small portion of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver. The verse highlights just how desperate and dire the situation had become for the people trapped inside the city.

The verse is set during a time when the Aramean army surrounded Samaria, cutting off supplies and causing extreme hunger. The king of Israel and his people are the ones suffering inside the city. The mention of an "ass's head" (donkey’s head) and "dove’s dung" being sold for high prices shows that even the least desirable and normally inedible things became valuable, underlining the depth of the crisis.

The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 6:25

  • "great" (גָּדוֹל, gadol): This word means "large" or "severe." Its use here emphasizes that the famine was not just ordinary hunger but an extreme, overwhelming crisis.
  • "famine" (רָעָב, ra'av): This word means "hunger" or "scarcity of food." It signals that the suffering was due to a lack of food, not just a military threat.
  • "cab" (קַב, qab): A "cab" was a small measure of volume, less than a quart or liter. The "fourth part of a cab" shows just how little food people could buy for a high price.
  • "dung" (חִרְיוֹן, chiryōn): This word is often understood as "dove’s dung," but some scholars think it might refer to a type of seed or very poor-quality food. Either way, it points to desperation, since people were buying things not normally considered food.

Why 2 Kings 6:25 matters

  • The verse clears up just how desperate the siege had made the people of Samaria, showing that the famine was so severe that anything remotely edible became precious.
  • It connects to the wider passage by setting the stage for the dramatic events that follow, including the king’s distress and the actions of the prophet Elisha.
  • The details about prices and items for sale help modern readers grasp the historical reality of ancient sieges, where starvation could drive people to extreme measures.

Where else these words appear

“part” Hebrew H7255 · used in 2 verses

  • Numbers 23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

“dung” Hebrew H2755 · used in 2 verses

  • 2 Kings 18:27 But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?

“dung” Hebrew H3123 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 8:8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
  • Leviticus 14:22 And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.
  • Song of Solomon 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

“fourscore” Hebrew H8084 · used in 37 verses

  • Genesis 5:25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
  • 2 Samuel 19:35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
  • 2 Chronicles 14:8 And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.