2 Kings 7:8

8 When the four men reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank what was there, grabbed the silver, gold, and clothing they found, and went off and hid them; then they returned, entered another tent, and did the same thing.

2 Kings 7:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 7:8

And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp,
they went into one tent
The first they came to:

and did eat and drink;
which was the first thing they did, being hungry, and almost starved:

and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it;
in a place without the camp, where they thought it would be safe, and where they could come at it again:

and came again and entered into another tent, and carried thence also,
and went and hid it;
this, Josephus says ^F26, they did four times.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4.) sect. 5.

2 Kings 7:8 In-Context

6 The Lord had made the Syrians hear what sounded like the advance of a large army with horses and chariots, and the Syrians thought that the king of Israel had hired Hittite and Egyptian kings and their armies to attack them.

7 So that evening the Syrians had fled for their lives, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys, and leaving the camp just as it was.

8 When the four men reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank what was there, grabbed the silver, gold, and clothing they found, and went off and hid them; then they returned, entered another tent, and did the same thing.

9 But then they said to each other, "We shouldn't be doing this! We have good news, and we shouldn't keep it to ourselves. If we wait until morning to tell it, we are sure to be punished. Let's go right now and tell the king's officers!"

10 So they left the Syrian camp, went back to Samaria, and called out to the guards at the gates: "We went to the Syrian camp and didn't see or hear anybody; the horses and donkeys have not been untied, and the tents are just as the Syrians left them."