Star of Bethlehem

A plant with star-shaped flowers.

Star of Bethlehem plant
Star of Bethlehem plant (Iorsh (Wikimedia Commons)) Dove’s dung (Star of Bethlehem)

About Star of Bethlehem

In the story of the siege of Samaria, we read in 2KI 6:25 that “the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung [was sold] for five shekels of silver.” The Samarians must have been desparate, but even so, they were probably not eating dove’s dung, and three possibilities are given by the experts:

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Key References

2 Kings 6:25

So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.