So 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.
2 KINGS 6:29KJVWhat does 2 Kings 6:29 mean?
2 Kings 6:29 describes a desperate and horrifying situation during a siege, where one woman tells the king that she and another woman agreed to eat their sons for survival. She says they boiled and ate her son, but when it was time to eat the other woman's son, the other woman hid him. This verse shows the extreme suffering and breakdown of normal life in Samaria during the siege.
The speaker is a woman from Samaria, talking directly to the king of Israel as he passes by on the city wall. The city is under siege by the Arameans, and food has become so scarce that people are driven to unthinkable acts. This story is meant to show the depth of the crisis and the king’s helplessness in the face of such suffering.
The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 6:29
- "boiled" (בָּשַׁל, bashal): This word means to cook by boiling, emphasizing the literal and desperate act the women committed, not just a metaphorical statement.
- "eat" (אָכַל, akhal): The verb for eating here is the standard word, but in this context, it highlights the horror and unnaturalness of the act.
- "hid" (צָפַן, tsaphan): This word means to hide or conceal. The second woman’s action of hiding her son shows her desperation and perhaps regret or fear after the first act.
Why 2 Kings 6:29 matters
- This verse clears up any idea that the famine was mild; it shows just how severe and tragic the situation in Samaria had become.
- The verse highlights the king’s inability to help his people, setting up his frustration and the tension in the following verses.
- The story connects to earlier warnings in the Torah about the consequences of turning away from God, where such extreme famine was described as a possible result.