2 Kings 7 · Verse 3

2 Kings 7:3

And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
2 Kings 7:3, King James Version

2 Kings 7:3 in other translations

BSBNow there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate, and they said to one another, “Why just sit here until we die?
WEBNow there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die?
ASVNow there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
YLTAnd four men have been leprous, at the opening of the gate, and they say one unto another, ‘What--we are sitting here till we have died;
DARBYAnd there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and they said one to another, Why do we abide here until we die?
BBENow there were four lepers seated at the doorway into the town: and they said to one another, Why are we waiting here for death?
WebsterAnd there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

What does 2 Kings 7:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. there were four leprous men--The account of the sudden raising of the siege and the unexpected supply given to the famishing inhabitants of Samaria, is introduced by a narrative of the visit and discovery, by these poor creatures, of the extraordinary flight of the Syrians. leprous men at the entering in of the gate--living, perhaps, in some lazar house there (Le 13:4-6; Nu 5:3).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 There were four leprous men - The Gemara in Sota, R. Sol. Jarchi, and others, say that these four lepers were Gehazi and his three sons. At the entering in of the gate - They were not permitted to mingle in civil society.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Kings 7:3-11
God can, when he pleases, make the stoutest heart to tremble; and as for those who will not fear God, he can make them fear at the shaking of a leaf. Providence ordered it, that the lepers came as soon as the Syrians were fled. Their consciences told them that mischief would befall them, if they took care of themselves only. Natural humanity, and fear of punishment, are powerful checks on the selfishness of the ungodly. These feelings tend to preserve order and kindness in the world; but they who have found the unsearchable riches of Christ, will not long delay to report the good tidings to others. From love to him, not from selfish feelings, they will gladly share their earthly good things with their brethren.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

2 Kings 7:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאַרְבָּעָ֧הve.'ar.ba.'Ahand fourH702
אֲנָשִׁ֛ים'a.na.ShimmenH582
הָי֥וּha.Yuthey wereH1961
מְצֹרָעִ֖יםme.tzo.ra.'Im[people] having a skin diseaseH6879
פֶּ֣תַחPe.tach[the] entrance ofH6607
הַשָּׁ֑עַרha.Sha.'arthe gateH8179
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙vai.yo.me.Ruand they saidH559
אִ֣ישׁ'isheachH376
אֶל\־'el-toH413
רֵעֵ֔הוּre.'E.huneighbor hisH7453
מָ֗הMahwhy?H4100
אֲנַ֛חְנוּ'a.Nach.nu[are] weH587
יֹשְׁבִ֥יםyo.she.VimsittingH3427
פֹּ֖הpohhereH6311
עַד\־'ad-untilH5704
מָֽתְנוּ\׃Ma.te.nuwe have diedH4191

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Kings 7:3

  • Leviticus 13:45-46

    And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.

  • Numbers 5:2-4

    Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead: Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell. And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the Lord spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

  • 2 Kings 7:4

    If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

  • Jeremiah 8:14

    Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.

  • 2 Kings 8:4

    And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.

  • Jeremiah 27:13

    Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

  • Numbers 12:14

    And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

  • 2 Kings 5:1

    Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
four leprous.
5:1; 8:4; Le 13:46; Nu 5:2-4; 12:14
Why.
4; Jer 8:14; 27:13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Kings 7:2

    Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

  • 2 Kings 7:3

    And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

  • 2 Kings 7:4

    If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

Read all of 2 Kings 7

2 Kings 7:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y había cuatro hombres leprosos á la entrada de la puerta, los cuales dijeron el uno al otro: ¿Para qué nos estamos aquí hasta que muramos?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il y avait à l’entrée de la porte quatre hommes lépreux, et ils se dirent l’un à l’autre: Pourquoi sommes-nous assis ici jusqu’à ce que nous mourions?
German
Elberfelder 1871		Es waren aber vier aussätzige Männer am Eingang des Tores; und sie sprachen einer zum anderen: Was bleiben wir hier, bis wir sterben?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quatuor ergo viri erant leprosi juxta introitum portæ: qui dixerunt ad invicem: Quid hic esse volumus donec moriamur?