What Does 2 Kings 7:16 Mean?
And the people went out, and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.THE KEY
The LORD’s word does not remain a prediction; it becomes the price of bread in the open market.
THE MEANING
You see the spoken word take material form: flour and barley are available at a named price. Provision is measured and public, and what the LORD says becomes the measure by which the scene is recognized.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a promise can remain only speech, with no bearing on material conditions.
THE ROOT
דְּבַר
dāḇār
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak or declare; the noun can mean both a word and a matter or thing.
English “word” can sound like speech alone, but davar can also name a matter or thing. Here, the LORD’s word and the market’s actual prices meet: the promised provision is something people can see and carry away.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
It joins what is spoken with the concrete provision now available.
dibbēr: Spoke or declared.
דִּבֵּר
This verbal branch makes the spoken promise in the verse’s closing phrase audible within the material scene.
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s spoken promise becomes visible, measured provision for the hungry.
Then Elisha said, Hear and respond to the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD, About this time tomorrow a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.For he sates the thirsting living soul, and fills the hungry living soul with goodness.He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.THE THREAD
Then Elisha said, Hear and respond to the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD, About this time tomorrow a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.Both verses use davar (דָּבָר), “word” or “matter,” and name the same flour and barley prices. The market itself makes the spoken word visible.
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