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Nach YomiII Kings · מלכים ב׳Chapter 7

II Kings 7

מלכים ב׳ פרק ז׳

Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: II Kings | Chapter: 7 of 25 | Day: 129 of 742

Date: June 20, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

II Kings 7 is the dramatic resolution of the siege narrative that ended chapter 6 on a knife edge. The previous chapter closed with the king of Israel walking the wall in tearing despair, demanding Elisha’s head, and Elisha calmly waiting in his house with the elders for the king and his executioner to arrive. This chapter opens with the prophet’s explosive reply: tomorrow, at this hour, food will be cheap in the gates of Samaria. The shift from utter scarcity to abundance, from siege to plenty, will unfold across twenty verses that read like a carefully constructed short story, complete with dramatic irony, a peripheral set of characters who unwittingly become protagonists, and a piece of poetic justice for the courtier who scoffed at the prophet’s word.

The chapter’s literary architecture turns on the figure of the shalish, the senior aide on whose arm the king leaned. He is the prophecy’s foil: when Elisha announces that a se’ah of fine flour will sell for a shekel by tomorrow at this hour, the shalish replies with elegant skepticism — ‘even if God should make windows in the heavens, could this thing be?’ Elisha’s response is precise and terrible: you will see it with your eyes but you will not eat of it. The chapter then unfolds the prophecy’s two-part fulfillment in a single coordinated narrative — the famine breaks, exactly on schedule, and the shalish dies, exactly as foretold. By verses 17-20, the narrator returns explicitly to the shalish’s mocking question and shows it answered in his trampled body at the gate. The structure is closing-the-frame storytelling at its most economical.

The most theologically arresting feature of the chapter is who breaks the siege and how. Not Elisha. Not the king of Israel. Not an Israelite army. Four lepers sitting outside the city gate, Chazal identify as Gehazi and his three sons (Sanhedrin 107b, cited by Rashi and Radak), reason their way to a desperate plan: they are dead men either way — starvation in the city, starvation at the gate, or possibly mercy in the Aramean camp. Their famous mema-nafshakh logic (‘if they kill us, we die; and if they let us live, we live’) is one of the great expressions of crisis ethics in Tanakh: when all options are bad, choose the option that has any chance of life. Rashi’s identification of these lepers with Gehazi himself transforms the chapter into a hidden sequel to chapter 5: the man cursed with Naaman’s leprosy in chapter 5 becomes, in chapter 7, the unlikely instrument by which the king of Israel’s city is saved — another of the book’s reversals, in which prophetic curse becomes the indirect mechanism of national salvation.

The miracle itself is delicate and oblique. Hashem causes the Aramean camp to hear — but not actually see — the sound of chariots and a great army (verse 6); Rashi captures it precisely as nidmeh la-hem ke-ilu shom’in, ‘it appeared to them as if they were hearing.’ The Arameans interpret the sound as the king of Israel having hired the kings of Cheth and Mitzrayim, panic, and abandon their entire camp — horses, donkeys, tents, treasure — in the night, fleeing al nafsham (for their lives). Radak notes the timing carefully: the auditory miracle had to happen just before the lepers arrived, since otherwise the army’s daytime flight would have been visible to the besieged city above. The lepers stumble into an empty camp, eat, drink, and begin looting tent by tent, until their consciences interrupt them with the chapter’s other great ethical voice: lo chen anachnu osim, ha-yom ha-zeh yom besorah hu, va-anachnu mach’shim — ‘we are not doing right; today is a day of good news, and we are silent.’ Rashi reads the consequence they fear (u-metza’anu avon) as legal liability to the throne if the news is delayed. The ethical word besorah will later become a technical term in Jewish liturgy and theology, but here it appears in its raw original meaning: news so good it must be shared.

The chapter’s conclusion executes the prophecy with grim precision. The skeptical king sends two horse-teams to verify the lepers’ report; the road is littered with Aramean clothing and gear thrown off in panicked flight. The people pour out, plunder the camp, and the price of grain collapses to exactly what Elisha had named. The shalish, posted by the king to manage the gate, is trampled by the surging crowd. The narrator then steps back in verses 17-20 and explicitly closes the frame: ‘as Elisha had spoken when the king came down to him’ — yes, you saw it with your eyes; yes, you did not eat of it. The chapter is a tightly constructed parable about the relationship between prophetic word and historical event, in which mockery becomes its own punishment, and in which national salvation comes through the most disreputable possible vector — four leprous outcasts whose mema-nafshakh calculus turns out to have been the precise instrument of God’s plan.

פרק ז׳ · Chapter 7

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלִישָׁ֔ע שִׁמְע֖וּ דְּבַר־יְהֹוָ֑ה כּ��֣ה ׀ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֗ה כָּעֵ֤ת ׀ מָחָר֙ סְאָה־סֹ֣לֶת בְּשֶׁ֗קֶל וְסָאתַ֧יִם שְׂעֹרִ֛ים בְּשֶׁ֖קֶל בְּשַׁ֥עַר שֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃

English:

And Elisha replied, “Hear the word of GOD. Thus said GOD: This time tomorrow, a seah of choice flour shall sell for a shekel at the gate of Samaria, and two seahs of barley for a shekel.”

Answering the despair that closed chapter 6, Elisha announces an exact, time-stamped prophecy: by this hour tomorrow, fine flour and barley will sell at ordinary peacetime prices in the gate of besieged Shomron. Metzudat David explains that the 'gate' is the marketplace where grain was sold, and that Elisha spoke once he saw the king had relented from killing him. The entire chapter will unfold as the fulfillment of this single sentence.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֣עַן הַשָּׁלִ֡ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־לַמֶּ֩לֶךְ֩ נִשְׁעָ֨ן עַל־יָד֜וֹ אֶת־אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ הִנֵּ֣ה יְהֹוָ֗ה עֹשֶׂ֤ה אֲרֻבּוֹת֙ בַּשָּׁמַ֔יִם הֲיִֽהְיֶ֖ה הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנְּכָ֤ה רֹאֶה֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ וּמִשָּׁ֖ם לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽל׃ {פ}

English:

The aide on whose arm the king was leaning spoke up and said to the agent of God, “Even if GOD were to make windows in the sky, could this come to pass?” And he retorted, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

The king's senior aide (shalish), on whose arm the king leaned, scoffs: even if God made windows in the sky, could such plenty come? Radak explains the image -- as if grain would have to rain down from heaven like the manna. Elisha's reply is the chapter's second prophecy: the officer will see the abundance with his own eyes but not eat of it; Metzudat David spells out that this means he will die at that very moment, measure for measure for mocking the word of God.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וְאַרְבָּעָ֧ה אֲנָשִׁ֛ים הָי֥וּ מְצֹרָעִ֖ים פֶּ֣תַח הַשָּׁ֑עַר וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֔הוּ מָ֗ה אֲנַ֛חְנוּ יֹשְׁבִ֥ים פֹּ֖ה עַד־מָֽתְנוּ׃

English:

There were four men, lepers, outside the gate. They said to one another, “Why should we sit here waiting for death?

The scene shifts abruptly to four metzoraim (lepers) sitting outside the city gate -- excluded from the city, as Rashi and Metzudat David note, by the Torah's rule that the metzora must dwell 'outside the camp' (Vayikra 13:46). Rashi and Radak, citing Chazal, identify them as Gechazi and his three sons, struck with tzara'at in chapter 5. Caught between the famine inside and starvation at the gate, they ask the question that drives the rest of the chapter: why sit here until we die?
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְאַרְבָּעָה אֲנָשִׁים. גֵּיחֲזִי וּבָנָיו. פֶּתַח הַשָּׁעַר. כְּמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: בָּדָד יֵשֵׁב מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֵה מוֹשָׁבוֹ.
There were four men. Geichazi and his sons.1See Maseches Sanhedrin 107b. 2These four were the only people suffering from tzora'as. Elisha had healed all other Bnei Yisroel suffering from tzora'as.—Malbim At the entrance of the gate. As it is stated, "He shall live alone; outside the camp shall be his habitation."3Vayikra 13:46. This is proscribed by the Torah for people who suffer from tzora'as.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

אִם־אָמַ֩רְנוּ֩ נָב֨וֹא הָעִ֜יר וְהָרָעָ֤ב בָּעִיר֙ וָמַ֣תְנוּ שָׁ֔ם וְאִם־יָשַׁ֥בְנוּ פֹ֖ה וָמָ֑תְנוּ וְעַתָּ֗ה לְכוּ֙ וְנִפְּלָה֙ אֶל־מַחֲנֵ֣ה אֲרָ֔ם אִם־יְחַיֻּ֣נוּ נִֽחְיֶ֔ה וְאִם־יְמִיתֻ֖נוּ וָמָֽתְנוּ׃

English:

If we decide to go into the town, what with the famine in the town, we shall die there; and if we just sit here, still we die. Come, let us desert to the Aramean camp. If they let us live, we shall live; and if they put us to death, we shall but die.”

The lepers reason through their options with ruthless clarity: enter the city and die of famine, stay at the gate and die, or defect to the Aramean camp -- where, as Metzudat David notes, there is at least bread, so 'if they let us live, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall but die.' Since death awaits them either way, the only path with any chance of life is the enemy camp. This desperate logic will unknowingly make them the instruments of the city's salvation.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וַיָּקֻ֣מוּ בַנֶּ֔שֶׁף לָב֖וֹא אֶל־מַחֲנֵ֣ה אֲרָ֑ם וַיָּבֹ֗אוּ עַד־קְצֵה֙ מַחֲנֵ֣ה אֲרָ֔ם וְהִנֵּ֥ה אֵֽין־שָׁ֖ם אִֽישׁ׃

English:

They set out at twilight for the Aramean camp; but when they came to the edge of the Aramean camp, there was no one there.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וַאדֹנָ֞י הִשְׁמִ֣יעַ ׀ אֶת־מַחֲנֵ֣ה אֲרָ֗ם ק֥וֹל רֶ֙כֶב֙ ק֣וֹל ס֔וּס ק֖וֹל חַ֣יִל גָּד֑וֹל וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֗יו הִנֵּ֣ה שָֽׂכַר־עָלֵ֩ינוּ֩ מֶ֨לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־מַלְכֵ֧י הַחִתִּ֛ים וְאֶת־מַלְכֵ֥י מִצְרַ֖יִם לָב֥וֹא עָלֵֽינוּ׃

English:

For [God] had caused the Aramean camp to hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses—the din of a huge army. They said to one another, “The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of MizraimaMizraim Cf. 1 Kings 10.28 and note there. to attack us!”

The narrator now reveals what emptied the camp: Hashem caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a vast army. Rashi captures the miracle's subtlety -- 'it appeared to them as if they were hearing'; nothing was actually there. The terrified Arameans conclude that the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Chittim and Mitzrayim against them, and Radak notes the precise timing: the panic struck just before the lepers arrived, under cover of night, so the flight would not be seen from the city walls.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
הִשְׁמִיעַ אֶת מַחֲנֵה אֲרָם. נִדְמָה לָהֶם כְּאִלּוּ שׁוֹמְעִין.
Had caused the camp of Arom to hear. It seemed to them as though they were hearing.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

וַיָּק֘וּמוּ֮ וַיָּנ֣וּסוּ בַנֶּ֒שֶׁף֒ וַיַּעַזְב֣וּ אֶת־אׇהֳלֵיהֶ֗ם וְאֶת־סֽוּסֵיהֶם֙ וְאֶת־חֲמֹ֣רֵיהֶ֔ם הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁר־הִ֑יא וַיָּנֻ֖סוּ אֶל־נַפְשָֽׁם׃

English:

And they fled headlong in the twilight, abandoning their tents and horses and donkeys—the [entire] camp just as it was—as they fled for their lives.

The Arameans flee in the twilight, abandoning tents, horses, and donkeys -- the entire camp left 'just as it was,' which Metzudat David explains means completely intact, exactly as it stood while they occupied it. Radak adds the telling detail that in fleeing 'for their lives' (el nafsham) they spared no thought for their property, not even pausing to saddle the horses that could have carried them faster. The stage is now set for the lepers to walk into a fully provisioned ghost camp.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֩אוּ֩ הַֽמְצֹרָעִ֨ים הָאֵ֜לֶּה עַד־קְצֵ֣ה הַֽמַּחֲ��ֶ֗ה וַיָּבֹ֜אוּ אֶל־אֹ֤הֶל אֶחָד֙ וַיֹּאכְל֣וּ וַיִּשְׁתּ֔וּ וַיִּשְׂא֣וּ מִשָּׁ֗ם כֶּ֤סֶף וְזָהָב֙ וּבְגָדִ֔ים וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ וַיַּטְמִ֑נוּ וַיָּשֻׁ֗בוּ וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל אַחֵ֔ר וַיִּשְׂא֣וּ מִשָּׁ֔ם וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ וַיַּטְמִֽנוּ׃

English:

When those lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into one of the tents and ate and drank; then they carried off silver and gold and clothing from there and buried it. They came back and went into another tent, and they carried off what was there and buried it.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַיֹּאמְרוּ֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֜הוּ לֹא־כֵ֣ן ׀ אֲנַ֣חְנוּ עֹשִׂ֗ים הַיּ֤וֹם הַזֶּה֙ יוֹם־בְּשֹׂרָ֣ה ה֔וּא וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ מַחְשִׁ֗ים וְחִכִּ֛ינוּ עַד־א֥וֹר הַבֹּ֖קֶר וּמְצָאָ֣נוּ עָו֑וֹן וְעַתָּה֙ לְכ֣וּ וְנָבֹ֔אָה וְנַגִּ֖ידָה בֵּ֥ית הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent! If we wait until the light of morning, we shall incur guilt. Come, let us go and inform the king’s palace.”

Mid-plunder, the lepers' consciences interrupt them: 'We are not doing right; this is a day of good news (yom besorah) and we are keeping silent.' Metzudat David explains their fear -- if they wait until morning, the king will learn the news from others and hold their delay against them; Rashi reads 'u-metza'anu avon' as concrete legal liability to the throne. Self-interest and moral duty converge, and the outcasts resolve to bring the besorah to the palace.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וּמְצָאָנוּ עָווֹן. מִתְחַיְּבִין אָנוּ לַמַּלְכוּת.
We will be considered guilty. We will be held guilty by the throne.

פסוק י״ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֗אוּ וַֽיִּקְרְאוּ֮ אֶל־שֹׁעֵ֣ר הָעִיר֒ וַיַּגִּ֤ידוּ לָהֶם֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר בָּ֚אנוּ אֶל־מַחֲנֵ֣ה אֲרָ֔ם וְהִנֵּ֧ה אֵֽין־שָׁ֛ם אִ֖ישׁ וְק֣וֹל אָדָ֑ם כִּ֣י אִם־הַסּ֤וּס אָסוּר֙ וְהַחֲמ֣וֹר אָס֔וּר וְאֹהָלִ֖ים כַּאֲשֶׁר־הֵֽמָּה׃

English:

They went and called out to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We have been to the Aramean camp. There is not a soul there, nor any human sound; but the horses are tethered and the donkeys are tethered and the tents are undisturbed.”

The lepers call to the city gatekeeper and report exactly what they found: not a soul in the Aramean camp, yet the horses and donkeys still tethered and the tents undisturbed. Rashi explains 'ka'asher hemah' -- the tents stood as full as they had been from the start, nothing removed; Radak notes that the animals were still tied at their feeding troughs. These details matter: an orderly retreat would have taken the animals and supplies, so the intact camp is itself evidence of a sudden, inexplicable panic.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כַּאֲשֶׁר הֵמָּה. כְּמוֹ שֶׁהָיוּ מְלֵאִים מִתְּחִלָּתָם, לֹא הוֹצִיאוּ מַה שֶּׁבְּתוֹכָם.
As they were. As they were full at the beginning; they did not take out what was in them.

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וַיִּקְרָ֖א הַשֹּׁעֲרִ֑ים וַיַּגִּ֕ידוּ בֵּ֥ית הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ פְּנִֽימָה׃

English:

The gatekeepers called out, and the news was passed on into the king’s palace.

The news travels up the chain: the city gatekeeper calls to the watchmen of the royal compound, and they relay the report 'into the house of the king' -- which Metzudat David and Radak both explain as the inner palace where the king himself resided. In the middle of the night, the lepers' discovery has reached the throne.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וַיָּ֨קׇם הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ לַ֗יְלָה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־עֲבָדָ֔יו אַגִּֽידָה־נָּ֣א לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָ֥שׂוּ לָ֖נוּ אֲרָ֑ם יָדְע֞וּ כִּֽי־רְעֵבִ֣ים אֲנַ֗חְנוּ וַיֵּֽצְא֤וּ מִן־הַֽמַּחֲנֶה֙ לְהֵחָבֵ֤ה (בהשדה) [בַשָּׂדֶה֙] לֵאמֹ֔ר כִּֽי־יֵצְא֤וּ מִן־הָעִיר֙ וְנִתְפְּשֵׂ֣ם חַיִּ֔ים וְאֶל־הָעִ֖יר נָבֹֽא׃

English:

The king rose in the night and said to his courtiers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are starving, so they have gone out of camp and hidden in the fields, thinking: When they come out of the town, we will take them alive and get into the town.”

The king rises in the night but refuses to believe the good news, suspecting a classic ruse: the Arameans, knowing the city is starving, have hidden in the fields to seize the Israelites alive when hunger drives them out, and then enter the open city. Rashi and Metzudat David fill in the psychology -- the enemy is counting on the people being so famished that they will rush out to the food and spoil without checking for an ambush. After years of Aramean treachery, the king's caution is understandable, even as it delays the prophecy's fulfillment.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כִּי רְעֵבִים אֲנַחְנוּ. וּתְאֵבִים לָצֵאת אֶל הַשָּׁלָל וְאֶל הַמָּזוֹן.
We are starving. And long to go out to the loot and to the food.4Their enemy figured that the Bnei Yisroel are desperately starving and will therefore leave the city without first investigating whether the enemy is waiting in ambush.—Metzudas Dovid

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֩עַן֩ אֶחָ֨ד מֵעֲבָדָ֜יו וַיֹּ֗אמֶר וְיִקְחוּ־נָ֞א חֲמִשָּׁ֣ה מִן־הַסּוּסִים֮ הַֽנִּשְׁאָרִים֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִשְׁאֲרוּ־בָהּ֒ הִנָּ֗ם כְּכׇל־[הֲמ֤וֹן] (ההמון) יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִשְׁאֲרוּ־בָ֔הּ הִנָּ֕ם כְּכׇל־הֲמ֥וֹן יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֲשֶׁר־תָּ֑מּוּ וְנִשְׁלְחָ֖ה וְנִרְאֶֽה׃

English:

But one of the courtiers spoke up, “Let a fewbfew Lit. “five.” of the remaining horses that are still here be taken—they are like those that are left here of the whole multitude of Israel, out of the whole multitude of Israel that have perishedcthey are like those … that have perished Meaning of Heb. uncertain.—and let us send and find out.”

A courtier proposes a low-cost test: send riders on a few of the surviving horses to scout the camp. His reasoning, as Rashi unpacks it, mirrors the lepers' logic of verse 4 -- if the riders are killed, they are no worse off than the multitude of Israel left in the city facing starvation, or those who have already perished; Radak adds (in his father's name) that the horses themselves were as emaciated as the starving populace. With nothing left to lose, 'let us send and see.'
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁאֲרוּ בָהּ. בְּתוֹךְ הָעִיר, שֶׁלֹּא מֵתוּ בָּרָעָב. הִנָּם כְּכָל הֲמוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁאֲרוּ בָהּ. אִם יֹאמְרוּ מְסֻכָּנִין הֵם שֶׁלֹּא יַהַרְגֵם אַרָם, הֲרֵי הִנָּם בָּעִיר הַזֹּאת בְּסַכָּנַת הָרָעָב כִּשְׁאָר כָּל הֲמוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁאֲרוּ בָהּ, וְאִם יָמוּתוּ הִנָּם כְּכָל הֲמוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֲשֶׁר תָּמּוּ בָּרָעָב.
That are left in it [the city]. Within the city, that did not die of hunger. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Yisroel that are left in [the city]. If they will say that they are in danger of being killed by the Aromeans, behold, [if they remain] in this city they are in danger like the rest of all the multitude of Yisroel that are left there, and if they die, they are like all the multitude of Yisroel that have perished from hunger.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וַיִּקְח֕וּ שְׁנֵ֖י רֶ֣כֶב סוּסִ֑ים וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אַחֲרֵ֧י מַֽחֲנֵה־אֲרָ֛ם לֵאמֹ֖ר לְכ֥וּ וּרְאֽוּ׃

English:

They took two teamsdteams Meaning of Heb. uncertain. of horses and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and find out.”

The plan is executed cautiously: though five horses were proposed, only two mounted riders are sent after the Aramean army. Radak resolves the apparent discrepancy -- from the five they chose the two best horses -- while Metzudat David explains that even now they were unwilling to risk more than two men, and that 'after the camp' means along the road toward Aram. The king's instruction is simple: 'Go and see.'

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וַיֵּלְכ֣וּ אַחֲרֵיהֶם֮ עַד־הַיַּרְדֵּן֒ וְהִנֵּ֣ה כׇל־הַדֶּ֗רֶךְ מְלֵאָ֤ה בְגָדִים֙ וְכֵלִ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־הִשְׁלִ֥יכוּ אֲרָ֖ם (בהחפזם) [בְּחׇפְזָ֑ם] וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ הַמַּלְאָכִ֔ים וַיַּגִּ֖דוּ לַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

They followed them as far as the Jordan, and found the entire road full of clothing and gear that the Arameans had thrown away in their haste; and the messengers returned and told the king.

The scouts follow the trail all the way to the Yarden and find the road strewn with clothing and gear the Arameans threw off 'in their haste' -- as Rashi glosses, in their hurry to flee, and as Metzudat David adds, to lighten their loads and run faster. The debris field proves this was a genuine rout, not an ambush, and the messengers return to tell the king. The last obstacle to the prophecy's fulfillment -- the king's skepticism -- is removed.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
בְּחָפְזָם. בְּמַהֲרָם לָנוּס.
In their haste. In their hurry to escape.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַיֵּצֵ֣א הָעָ֔ם וַיָּבֹ֕זּוּ אֵ֖ת מַחֲנֵ֣ה אֲרָ֑ם וַיְהִ֨י סְאָה־סֹ֜לֶת בְּשֶׁ֗קֶל וְסָאתַ֧יִם שְׂעֹרִ֛ים בְּשֶׁ֖קֶל כִּדְבַ֥ר יְהֹוָֽה׃

English:

The people then went out and plundered the Aramean camp. So a seah of choice flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel—as GOD had spoken.

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וְהַמֶּ֩לֶךְ֩ הִפְקִ֨יד אֶת־הַשָּׁלִ֜ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁעָ֤ן עַל־יָדוֹ֙ עַל־הַשַּׁ֔עַר וַיִּרְמְסֻ֧הוּ הָעָ֛ם בַּשַּׁ֖עַר וַיָּמֹ֑ת כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר דִּבֶּר֙ אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֶּ֔ר בְּרֶ֥דֶת הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ ��ֵלָֽיו׃

English:

Now the king had put the aide on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate; and he was trampled to death in the gate by the people—just as the agent of God had spoken, as he had spoken when the king came down to him.

The second prophecy now closes on its target: the king stations the skeptical shalish -- the same aide on whose arm he had leaned at Elisha's house, as Rashi notes -- in charge of the gate, and the crowd surging out to plunder tramples him to death. Metzudat David explains that the crush of people rushing to the spoil crushed him underfoot. He sees the abundance with his own eyes and eats none of it, exactly 'as the man of God had spoken when the king came down to him.'
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁעָן עַל יָדוֹ. אֶתְמוֹל כְּשֶׁבָּא לְבֵית אֱלִישָׁע.
Upon whose hand he leaned. On the day before, when he came to Elisha's house.5See above v. 2. Initially he scoffed at Elisha's prophecy. The king assigned him to stand guard at the gate to prevent looting of the camp. This would have kept the price of grain higher than predicted by the prophet. However, he was trampled by the people at the gate and he died, to fulfill the prophecy of Elisha.—Malbim

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֗י כְּדַבֵּר֙ אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶל־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ לֵאמֹ֑ר סָאתַ֨יִם שְׂעֹרִ֜ים בְּשֶׁ֗קֶל וּֽסְאָה־סֹ֙לֶת֙ בְּשֶׁ֔קֶל יִֽהְיֶה֙ כָּעֵ֣ת מָחָ֔ר בְּשַׁ֖עַר שֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃

English:

For when the agent of God said to the king, “This time tomorrow two seahs of barley shall sell at the gate of Samaria for a shekel, and a seah of choice flour for a shekel,“

The narrator deliberately steps back and replays the original exchange from verses 1-2, quoting Elisha's price prophecy again word for word. Metzudat David and Radak both explain the repetition: the text returns to the dialogue to spell out exactly why the shalish deserved his fate, framing his death not as a crowd accident but as the precise execution of the prophet's sentence.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֨עַן הַשָּׁלִ֜ישׁ אֶת־אִ֣ישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ וְהִנֵּ֣ה יְהֹוָ֗ה עֹשֶׂ֤ה אֲרֻבּוֹת֙ בַּשָּׁמַ֔יִם הֲיִֽהְיֶ֖ה כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הִנְּךָ֤ רֹאֶה֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ וּמִשָּׁ֖ם לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽל׃

English:

the aide answered the agent of God and said, “Even if GOD made windows in the sky, could this come to pass?” And he retorted, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

The replay continues with the shalish's mocking retort -- 'even if God made windows in the sky, could this come to pass?' -- and Elisha's answer: 'You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.' Metzudat David notes the simple sequence: then the aide answered, and then the prophet pronounced his fate. Hearing the words a second time, just after reading of the trampling, the reader feels their full weight.

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וַֽיְהִי־ל֖וֹ כֵּ֑ן וַיִּרְמְס֨וּ אֹת֥וֹ הָעָ֛ם בַּשַּׁ֖עַר וַיָּמֹֽת׃ {ס}        

English:

That is exactly what happened to him: The people trampled him to death in the gate.

The chapter ends with a single, clipped verdict: 'and so it happened to him' -- the people trampled him in the gate and he died. Metzudat David states it plainly: as the prophet said, so it was. The frame closes perfectly, sealing the chapter's lesson that the word of God spoken through His prophet is fulfilled to the letter, in salvation and in judgment alike.

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