2 Kings 6:25There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
The setting
Samaria, Israel ~850 BC. The Aramean army has surrounded the capital city for months. Inside the walls, people are literally starving to death...
The emotion here: horrified at recording such desperation
The original word
ra'ab (רָעָב) — famine so severe it drives people to cannibalism
Why it matters
Eighty pieces of silver was about two years' wages for a donkey's head with no meat
Read with care
What most readers miss in 2 Kings 6:25
Dove's dung was used as fertilizer and salt substitute — they were eating fertilizer
Common misconceptionThis seems like God abandoned them, but the very next chapter shows God's miraculous provision was already on the way.
The thread continues
Verses that echo 2 Kings 6:25
Bible Genome reading
2 Kings 6:25 — Bible Genome reading
Emotional genome
2 Kings 6:25 comes from the book of 2 Kings, written during the Divided Kingdom period. These words are attributed to Narrator. The dominant emotion in this verse is grieving, with a comfort power of 10% and a tone that is lamenting. It belongs to the narrative genre of biblical literature. Key themes include desperation, economic collapse. Notable phrases: great famine; donkey's head; eighty pieces of silver.
Emotionally similar
Verses that meet the same grieving
“By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you…”
— Genesis 3:19
“Jesus wept.”
— John 11:35
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?”
— Psalms 22:1
“They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.”
— Psalms 22:18
“for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;”
— Romans 3:23
Your reflection
What does 2 Kings 6:25 mean to you, today?
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