2 Kings 6:25

²³ So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again.

²⁴ Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.

So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.

²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”

²⁷ He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.
KJV: 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.
WEB: There 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.
ASV: 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 kab of dove`s dung for five [pieces] of silver.
DARBY: And 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.
BLB: And there was a great famine in Samaria. And behold, they lay siege against it until the head of a donkey was [sold] for eighty [shekels] of silver, and a forth of a cab of dove’s dung for five [shekels] of silver.

ÅB: Og mens de holdt Samaria kringsatt, ble det så stor hungersnød i byen at til sist hodet av et esel kostet åtti sekel sølv, og fjerdedelen av en kab duemøkk fem sekel sølv.
OTB: Det var en alvorlig hungersnød i Samaria; og se, de fortsatte å beleire den til et eselhode ble solgt for åtti sekel sølv, og en fjerdedel av en kab duegjødsel for fem sekel sølv.
B1930: Og mens de holdt Samaria kringsatt, blev det så stor hungersnød i byen at til sist hodet av et asen kostet åtti sekel sølv, og fjerdedelen av en kab duemøkk fem sekel sølv.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jeremiah 52:6
By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
Read in context
Jeremiah 14:18
If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”
Read in context
2 Kings 6:28–29
Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
Read in context
Jeremiah 14:13–15
“Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
Read in context
Jeremiah 32:24
See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!
Read in context
2 Kings 25:3
By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
Read in context
Ezekiel 4:13–16
Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”
Read in context
2 Kings 7:4
If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ we will die there from the famine in the city; but if we sit here, we will also die. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”
Read in context