Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 7
It is very dangerous whenever a crowd of people tries to push together through a narrow space. The people in Samaria had been inside the city for several months. They were all desperate to obtain food. Many of them were also greedy to take the possessions that remained in the camp of Aram’s soldiers. Some people would become rich because of the things that they would obtain there.
The only way that people could leave the city, was through that one gate. As soon as the gate opened, everyone in the city would try to rush through it. King Joram knew that, so he tried to make a sensible arrangement to control the crowd.
Joram chose a fierce, strong and cruel man to be in charge of the gate that day. This man was the king’s personal guard and probably also the chief commander of the army. The description of him is similar to the description of Naaman. Naaman was an enemy of Israel who carried out similar duties for the king of Aram (5:1; 5:18). Probably, the commander of Israel’s army also killed criminals when the king ordered their deaths (compare 1 Kings 2:31-35). The people would have been very afraid of him.
However, when the people were so desperate to leave the city, even he could not stand in their way. The crowd pushed him to the ground and they walked over him. It was not that the people were trying to kill him. The people at the front had to push forward because so many people were pushing from behind them. If they had not pushed past him, the people behind would have pushed them over too. This man died because he was standing in their way. This was the same man who had laughed at God’s message in 2 Kings 7:1-2. His death was God’s judgment against him.
Next part: The evidence that God defeated Aram's army (2 Kings 7:18-20)
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