This verse shows us that God alone is our true help when no other resource remains.
He said, “If the LORD does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” (v.27). These desperate words are spoken by the king of Israel to a woman pleading for relief during a severe famine inflicted upon Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. Samaria was a city that had been built on a hill and fortified to withstand the attacks of its enemies, yet it now lay under siege by the Arameans. The king’s question underscores his own powerlessness: if the LORD Himself offered no deliverance, neither the country’s stored grain (the threshing floor) nor its stored wine (the wine press) could satisfy the people’s dire needs. The king can do nothing to alleviate the suffering because the city’s provision is exhausted and only divine intervention can rescue them.
The context of this exchange captures the desperation of a population on the brink of starvation. The famine was so horrifying that, in the verses that follow, two women describe making an unthinkable agreement to boil and eat their children—an appalling consequence of the siege and lack of resources (2 Kings 6:28-29). Samaria’s citizens, normally reliant on trade and harvest, were now trapped between towering city walls that offered protection from invading forces but left them with dwindling food supplies. In such calamity, the king’s cry reveals the truth that when human resources and plans fail, only the LORD has the true power to preserve life.
This verse also highlights a principle that echoes throughout Scripture: earthly rulers, armies, and stockpiles will ultimately fall short if they do not rest in God’s sustaining hand. In the New Testament, Jesus taught that apart from Him, we can do nothing, pointing believers to trust in His provision and help rather than in human might. Here, in the dire circumstances of Samaria’s siege, the king recognizes that if the LORD withholds aid, there is no alternative source of hope.
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2 Kings 6:27 meaning
He said, “If the LORD does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” (v.27). These desperate words are spoken by the king of Israel to a woman pleading for relief during a severe famine inflicted upon Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. Samaria was a city that had been built on a hill and fortified to withstand the attacks of its enemies, yet it now lay under siege by the Arameans. The king’s question underscores his own powerlessness: if the LORD Himself offered no deliverance, neither the country’s stored grain (the threshing floor) nor its stored wine (the wine press) could satisfy the people’s dire needs. The king can do nothing to alleviate the suffering because the city’s provision is exhausted and only divine intervention can rescue them.
The context of this exchange captures the desperation of a population on the brink of starvation. The famine was so horrifying that, in the verses that follow, two women describe making an unthinkable agreement to boil and eat their children—an appalling consequence of the siege and lack of resources (2 Kings 6:28-29). Samaria’s citizens, normally reliant on trade and harvest, were now trapped between towering city walls that offered protection from invading forces but left them with dwindling food supplies. In such calamity, the king’s cry reveals the truth that when human resources and plans fail, only the LORD has the true power to preserve life.
This verse also highlights a principle that echoes throughout Scripture: earthly rulers, armies, and stockpiles will ultimately fall short if they do not rest in God’s sustaining hand. In the New Testament, Jesus taught that apart from Him, we can do nothing, pointing believers to trust in His provision and help rather than in human might. Here, in the dire circumstances of Samaria’s siege, the king recognizes that if the LORD withholds aid, there is no alternative source of hope.