2 Kings 6:25
Context6:25 Samaria’s food supply ran out. 1 They laid siege to it so long that 2 a donkey’s head was selling for eighty shekels of silver 3 and a quarter of a kab 4 of dove’s droppings 5 for five shekels of silver. 6
2 Kings 25:15
Context25:15 The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers 7 and basins.


[6:25] 1 tn Heb “and there was a great famine in Samaria.”
[6:25] 2 tn Heb “and look, [they] were besieging it until.”
[6:25] 3 tn Heb “eighty, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
[6:25] 4 sn A kab was a unit of dry measure, equivalent to approximately one quart.
[6:25] 5 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.
[6:25] 6 tn Heb “five, silver.” The unit of measurement is omitted.
[25:15] 7 sn These held the embers used for the incense offerings.