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2 Kings 6:33 KJV
33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer?
In the above text its not clear who spoke these words
Was it the messenger,King or the Prophet?
Several versions disagree about who spoke 2 Kings 6:33. Here is a sample:
NIV: the messenger came down to him. The king said, "This disaster is from the LORD
ESV: the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the LORD!
BSB: the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD
NASB: the messenger came down to him and he said, "Behold, this evil is from the LORD
NKJV: the messenger, coming down to him; and then the king said, “Surely this calamity is from the LORD
KJV: the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD
… and so forth. Thus, versions appear divided between the messenger speaking and the king speaking. The Hebrew is capable of either construction. My view is that the most likely speaker is the messenger for the following reasons:
The king, despite his shortcomings, was being rather meek at this time as evidenced by his under-garments, 2 Kings 6:30.
It was the messenger that was severely judged (with a death sentence) for his arrogance, see 2 Kings 7:17-20
In the above versions that have the king speaking, the words "the king" before "said" are supplied and not in the Hebrew text.
