Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 6
The people in Israel built their cities with strong walls that completely surrounded the city. As a capital city, Samaria’s wall was particularly high and strong. There was a path on top of the wall, for the soldiers who defended the city to use. It was along this path that Joram, the king of Israel, was walking. The path was a safe place from which Joram could see the camps of his enemy. Those camps completely surrounded the city. There was no possibility of escape.
The people in Samaria could see their king as he walked along the wall. He wore his royal clothes (6:30), perhaps to show that he was still in control of the situation. He wanted to give confidence to his soldiers and to the city’s inhabitants. They were in a desperate situation.
One of the women saw Joram and she called out to him for help. She wanted his help in a legal matter; Israel’s king was also the chief judge. However, Joram seemed to misunderstand her. He thought that, like everyone else in the city, she was desperate because of the lack of food.
Joram could have dealt with a legal matter – but he could do absolutely nothing about the lack of food. He believed that God had brought about the troubles. So, in Joram’s opinion, the people in Samaria could only wait to see whether God would change his mind about them (6:33). If not, they would certainly die – and Joram could do nothing to help anyone. Clearly, like the people, the king too was in a truly desperate state.
Next part: The awful situation which caused Joram to want to kill Elisha (2 Kings 6:28-29)
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