The Siege of Samaria—Cannibalism

24 Now it came about after this, that aBen-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria.

25 There was a great afamine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a 1kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.

26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

27 He said, “1If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”

28 And the king said to her, “aWhat 1is the matter with you?” And she 2answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

29 “aSo we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”

30 When the king heard the words of the woman, ahe tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth 1beneath on his 2body.