And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.
The king got up in the night and said to his servants, 'Let me tell you what I think the Syrians are doing to us. They know we're starving, so they've left their camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, When the people come out of the city looking for food, we'll capture them alive and then get into the city.'
The king is suspicious and thinks the Syrian army's sudden departure is a trap to lure the starving people out of the city so they can be captured.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs during the siege of Samaria by the Syrian army, where the people were facing severe famine and starvation. Earlier in the chapter, four lepers discovered that the Syrian camp had been mysteriously abandoned with all their supplies left behind. The king of Israel was skeptical when he heard this news, suspecting it was a military strategy rather than believing God had delivered them.
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