2 Kings 4:38

Elisha Makes a Meal Edible

4:38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him ¹  and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire ²  and boil some stew for the prophets.” ³ 

2 Kings 6:25

6:25 Samaria’s food supply ran out. ⁴  They laid siege to it so long that ⁵  a donkey’s head was selling for eighty shekels of silver ⁶  and a quarter of a kab ⁷  of dove’s droppings ⁸  for five shekels of silver. ⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “the sons of the prophets were sitting before him.”

² tn The words “the fire” are added for clarification.

³ tn Heb “sons of the prophets.”

⁴ tn Heb “and there was a great famine in Samaria.”

⁵ tn Heb “and look, [they] were besieging it until.”

⁶ tn Heb “eighty, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.

⁷ sn A kab was a unit of dry measure, equivalent to approximately one quart.

⁸ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) reads, “dove dung” (חֲרֵייוֹנִים, khareyonim), while the marginal reading (Qere) has “discharge” (דִּבְיוֹנִים, divyonim). Based on evidence from Akkadian, M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 79) suggest that “dove’s dung” was a popular name for the inedible husks of seeds.

⁹ tn Heb “five, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.