If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
If we go into the city, there's a famine there and we'll starve to death. If we stay here, we'll die anyway. So let's go to the Syrian army camp. If they let us live, we'll survive. If they kill us, we'll just die—but we're going to die anyway.
These men realized they were going to die no matter what, so they decided to take a chance that might actually save their lives.
📚 Historical Context
Four lepers were sitting outside the gates of Samaria during a severe famine caused by the Syrian army's siege of the city. As outcasts due to their disease, they couldn't enter the city, but they were starving where they were. The Syrian army had surrounded the city, cutting off all food supplies and creating desperate conditions for everyone inside and outside the walls.
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