2 Kings 6:27 (GNV)

Passage

And he said, Seeing the Lord doeth not succour thee, howe shoulde I helpe thee with the barne, or with the wine presse?

Nearby Context

2 Kings 6:25 So there was a great famine in Samaria: for loe, they besieged it vntill an asses head was at foure score pieces of siluer, and the fourth part of a kab of doues doung at fiue pieces of siluer.

2 Kings 6:26 And as the King of Israel was going vpon the wall, there cryed a woman vnto him, saying, Helpe, my lord, O King.

2 Kings 6:27 And he said, Seeing the Lord doeth not succour thee, howe shoulde I helpe thee with the barne, or with the wine presse?

2 Kings 6:28 Also the King said vnto her, What ayleth thee? And she answered, This woman sayde vnto me, Giue thy sonne, that we may eate him to day, and we will eate my sonne to morowe,

2 Kings 6:29 So we sod my sonne, and did eate him: and I saide to her the day after, Giue thy sonne, that we may eate him, but she hath hid her sonne.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "seeing", "lord", "doeth", "succour", "thee", "howe", and "shoulde". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "seeing", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "And as the King of Israel was..." into verse 28's "Also the King said vnto her What...", so "said" and "seeing" 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 "said" and "seeing" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.