Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Elisha foretells that Samaria will be freed from the siege and famine the next day: and so it happens. For God, sending terror upon the Syrians through phantom sounds of enemies, puts them to flight. Whence the Hebrews plunder their camp, and there is abundance of provisions.
Vulgate Text: 4 Kings 7:1-20
1. And Elisha said: Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord: At this time tomorrow a measure of fine flour shall be sold for one stater, and two measures of barley for one stater, at the gate of Samaria. 2. One of the captains, on whose hand the king leaned, answered the man of God and said: If the Lord should make floodgates in heaven, could what you say possibly come to pass? He said: You shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it. 3. Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, who said to one another: Why do we wish to stay here until we die? 4. Whether we wish to enter the city, we shall die of hunger; or whether we remain here, we must die; come therefore, let us desert to the camp of the Syrians: if they spare us, we shall live; but if they wish to kill us, we shall die anyway. 5. So they arose in the evening to go to the camp of the Syrians. And when they had come to the edge of the Syrian camp, they found no one there. 6. For the Lord had caused the sound of chariots and horses and a very great army to be heard in the camp of the Syrians; and they said to one another: Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians, and they have come upon us. 7. They arose therefore and fled in the darkness and left their tents, and their horses and donkeys in the camp; and they fled, wishing only to save their lives. 8. So when those lepers had come to the edge of the camp, they entered one tent, and ate and drank: and took from there silver, and gold, and garments, and went and hid them; and again returned to another tent, and taking similarly from there, hid them. 9. And they said to one another: We are not doing right; for this is a day of good news. If we are silent and do not wish to report it until morning, we shall be accused of a crime: come, let us go and report it in the king's court. 10. And when they had come to the gate of the city, they told them, saying: We went to the camp of the Syrians, and found no man there, but only horses and donkeys tied up, and the tents standing. 11. So the gatekeepers went and reported it within the king's palace. 12. The king arose in the night, and said to his servants: I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us; they know that we are suffering from famine, and therefore they have gone out from the camp and are hiding in the fields, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and then we shall be able to enter the city. 13. But one of his servants answered: Let us take five of the horses that remain in the city (for they alone are left in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest have been consumed), and by sending them we can explore. 14. They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent them to the camp of the Syrians, saying: Go and see. 15. They went after them as far as the Jordan; and behold, the whole way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had thrown away in their disturbance: and the messengers returned and reported to the king. 16. And the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians; and a measure of fine flour was sold for one stater, and two measures of barley for one stater, according to the word of the Lord. 17. Now the king had appointed at the gate that captain, on whose hand he leaned: and the crowd trampled him at the entrance of the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had spoken, when the king had come down to him.
18. And it came to pass according to the word of the man of God, which he had said to the king, when he said: Two measures of barley for one stater, shall be sold for one stater, and a measure of fine flour for one stater, at this same time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria; 19. when that captain had answered the man of God, and had said: Even if the Lord should make floodgates in heaven, could what you say possibly come to pass? And he said to him: You shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it. 20. It happened therefore to him as had been foretold, and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.
Verse 1: At This Time Tomorrow a Measure of Fine Flour
1. AT THIS TIME TOMORROW A MEASURE OF FINE FLOUR SHALL BE SOLD FOR ONE STATER, that is, it will be sold for one shekel, that is, one French franc, namely four julii or reals, as if to say: Tomorrow there will be the greatest abundance of grain, through which all the want and famine of Samaria will be removed, and all things will be purchased at a low price.
Allegorically, "Ben-hadad" is the devil, who was besieging Samaria, that is, the old Church, and was causing a great spiritual famine of the Word of God, and of salvation and heavenly things. Elisha came, that is, Christ, who by Himself and through His Apostles preaching everywhere, removed this famine, and brought it about that everywhere there are teachers who preach the Word of God, and who teach the way of salvation, virtue, and perfection. So Eucherius and Angelomus.
Verse 2: If the Lord Should Make Floodgates in Heaven
2. IF THE LORD SHOULD MAKE FLOODGATES IN HEAVEN, so that through them He might rain down wheat, as the waters rained down in the flood of Noah, and manna in the desert, Exodus chapter 16: "Could what you say possibly come to pass?" As if to say: It is impossible that in such a dearth of things such abundance should suddenly occur, that wheat should be sold at so low a price, and one measure purchased for one stater.
YOU SHALL SEE IT WITH YOUR EYES, BUT YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF IT, because you will be crushed by the crowd of people in the gate: and this will happen by the just judgment of God on account of your unbelief, by which you do not believe this oracle of mine from God; because you seem to think that this deed is impossible even for God, for whom all things are possible. Therefore you deny God His omnipotence. So Abulensis.
Verse 6: The Lord Had Caused the Sound of Chariots
6. FOR THE LORD HAD CAUSED THE SOUND OF CHARIOTS AND HORSES to be heard in the camp of the Syrians — of hostile forces invading them: and so He terrified the Syrians, so that in dismay they fled and left Samaria free. So Josephus. See here how divine power plays with human affairs. For He could have sent Angels against the Syrians, who would have immediately slaughtered them all; He could have struck them with lightning; He could have destroyed them with heavenly fire, and in a thousand other ways. But He did not wish to; He wished to crush their pride by an empty sound, by a false imagination, by a ridiculous fear, whereby they feared to be struck where there was no fear, and throwing away all their possessions, they fled, wishing only to save their lives. A similar panic fear of a host of enemies coming against them, God sent into the camp of Midian, when Gideon with three hundred soldiers, smashing blazing jars and blowing trumpets, invaded it, Judges 7:19.
Verse 13: Let Us Take Five of the Horses That Remain
13. LET US TAKE FIVE OF THE HORSES THAT REMAIN IN THE CITY, FOR THEY ALONE ARE LEFT IN THE WHOLE MULTITUDE OF ISRAEL, that is, in all of Samaria, which is the capital and metropolis of the kingdom of Israel, that is, of the ten tribes. Our translator read ככל bechal, that is, in the whole; but now instead of ב they read the similar ככל kechal, that is, like the whole. Whence the Chaldean, Pagninus, Vatablus translate: behold, they are like the whole multitude of Israel, as if to say: Just as the whole people in Samaria is lean and consumed by famine, so also these five horses that remain in it are emaciated and consumed by famine.
Verse 17: Whom the Crowd Trampled at the Entrance of the Gate
17. WHOM THE CROWD TRAMPLED AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE GATE, because the gate was narrow and the crowd immense: which, ravenous with hunger, was almost mad to get to the food that was in the camp of the Syrians; whence that captain of the gate, wishing to control this crowd and divide it into groups lest they crush one another, was himself oppressed and crushed by the same crowd violently rushing in: thus Elisha's oracle was in every respect true and certain.