2 Kings 6:25 (DRB)

Passage

And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeons' dung, for five pieces of silver.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 6:23 And a great provision of meats was set before them, and they ate and drank; and he let them go: and they went away to their master: and the robbers of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

2 Kings 6:24 And it came to pass, after these things, that Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

2 Kings 6:25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeons' dung, for five pieces of silver.

2 Kings 6:26 And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying: Save me, my lord, O king.

2 Kings 6:27 And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her: What aileth thee? And she answered:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "great", "famine", "samaria", "long", "siege", "continue", "till", and "head". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "great" and "famine", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 24's "And it came to pass after these..." into verse 26's "And as the king of Israel was...", so "great" and "famine" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "great" and "famine" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.