The provision of food to the Aramaean captives in II reg 6,22-23

The article investigates the meaning of the phrase (Greek presented) in II Reg 6,23. An alternative sense is suggested for the Hebrew root (Greek presented) in this passage, Akkadian, Aramaic, and rabbinic Hebrew attesting the noun as signifying a «pile», and accordingly the denominative verb meaning «heaping up». It adduces Neo-Assyrian passages in which the «heaped stocks» also serve as a way of paying homage in military contexts, and two further Neo-Assyrian texts resembling the biblical account in both content and context shedding further light on the political connotation of feeding captives - namely, as a symbol of their subordination.