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2 Kings 3
New English Translation

Moab Fights with Israel

3 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria; he ruled for twelve years. 2 He did evil in the sight of[a] the Lord, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Yet he persisted in[b] the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin; he did not turn from them.[c]

4 Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder.[d] He would send as tribute[e] to the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. 5 When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 At that time King Jehoram left Samaria and assembled all Israel for war. 7 He sent[f] this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you fight with me against Moab?” Jehoshaphat[g] replied, “I will join you in the campaign; my army and horses are at your disposal.”[h] 8 He then asked, “Which invasion route are we going to take?”[i] Jehoram[j] answered, “By the road through the wilderness of Edom.” 9 So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom[k] set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them. 10 The king of Israel said, “Oh no![l] Certainly the Lord has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!” 11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we might seek the Lord’s direction?”[m] One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant.”[n] 12 Jehoshaphat said, “Yes, he receives the Lord’s messages.”[o] So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to visit him.

13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why are you here?[p] Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets!” The king of Israel replied to him, “No, for the Lord is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab.” 14 Elisha said, “As certainly as the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[q] lives (whom I serve),[r] if I did not respect King Jehoshaphat of Judah,[s] I would not pay attention to you or acknowledge you.[t] 15 But now, get me a musician.”[u] When the musician played, the Lord energized him,[v] 16 and he said, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Make many cisterns in this valley,’[w] 17 for this is what the Lord has said, ‘You will not feel[x] any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water, and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’ 18 This is an easy task for the Lord;[y] he will also hand Moab over to you. 19 You will defeat every fortified city and every important[z] city. You must chop down[aa] every productive[ab] tree, stop up all the springs, and cover all the cultivated land with stones.”[ac]

20 Sure enough, the next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water came flowing down from Edom and filled the land.[ad] 21 Now all Moab had heard that the kings were attacking,[ae] so everyone old enough to fight was mustered and placed at the border.[af] 22 When they got up early the next morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites, who were some distance away, the water looked red like blood. 23 The Moabites[ag] said, “It’s blood! The kings must have fought one another![ah] The soldiers have struck one another down![ai] Now, Moab, seize the plunder!” 24 When they approached the Israelite camp, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, who then ran from them. The Israelites[aj] thoroughly defeated[ak] Moab. 25 They tore down the cities, and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered.[al] They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree.

Only Kir Hareseth was left intact,[am] but the soldiers armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it. 26 When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle,[an] he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack[ao] the king of Edom, but they failed. 27 So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel,[ap] so they broke off the attack[aq] and returned to their homeland.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 3:2 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  2. 2 Kings 3:3 tn Heb “held tight,” or “clung to.”
  3. 2 Kings 3:3 tc The Hebrew text has the singular, “it.” Some ancient witnesses read the plural, which seems preferable since the antecedent (“sins”) is plural. Another option is to emend the plural “sins” to a singular. One ancient Greek witness has the singular “sin.”
  4. 2 Kings 3:4 tn For a discussion of the meaning of term נֹקֵד (noqed) as “sheep breeder,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 43.
  5. 2 Kings 3:4 tn The vav + perfect here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause. See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.
  6. 2 Kings 3:7 tn Heb “went and sent.”
  7. 2 Kings 3:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoshaphat) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  8. 2 Kings 3:7 tn Heb “I will go up—like me, like you; like my people, like your people; like my horses; like your horses.”
  9. 2 Kings 3:8 tn Heb “Where is the road we will go up?”
  10. 2 Kings 3:8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  11. 2 Kings 3:9 tn Heb “the king of Israel and the king of Judah and the king of Edom.”
  12. 2 Kings 3:10 tn Or “ah.”
  13. 2 Kings 3:11 tn Heb “that we might inquire of the Lord through him?”
  14. 2 Kings 3:11 tn Heb “who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.
  15. 2 Kings 3:12 tn Heb “the Lord’s message is with him.”
  16. 2 Kings 3:13 tn Or “What do we have in common?” The text reads literally, “What to me and to you?”
  17. 2 Kings 3:14 tn Traditionally “the Lord of hosts.”
  18. 2 Kings 3:14 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
  19. 2 Kings 3:14 tn Heb “if I did not lift up the face of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah.”
  20. 2 Kings 3:14 tn Heb “I would not look at you or see you.”
  21. 2 Kings 3:15 tn The term used refers to one who plays a stringed instrument, perhaps a harp.
  22. 2 Kings 3:15 tn Heb “the hand of the Lord came on him.” This may refer to what typically happened, “[for] when a musician played, the hand of the Lord would come upon him.”
  23. 2 Kings 3:16 tn Heb “making this valley cisterns, cisterns.” The Hebrew noun גֵּב (gev) means “cistern” in Jer 14:3 (cf. Jer 39:10). The repetition of the noun is for emphasis. See GKC 396 §123.e. The verb (“making”) is an infinitive absolute, which has to be interpreted in light of the context. The translation above takes it in an imperatival sense. The command need not be understood as literal, but as hyperbolic. Telling them to build cisterns is a dramatic way of leading into the announcement that he would miraculously provide water in the desert. Some prefer to translate the infinitive as an imperfect with the Lord as the understood subject, “I will turn this valley [into] many pools.”
  24. 2 Kings 3:17 tn Heb “see.”
  25. 2 Kings 3:18 tn Heb “and this is easy in the eyes of the Lord.”
  26. 2 Kings 3:19 tn Heb “choice” or “select.”
  27. 2 Kings 3:19 tn Elisha places the object first and uses an imperfect verb form. The stylistic shift may signal that he is now instructing them what to do, rather than merely predicting what would happen.
  28. 2 Kings 3:19 tn Heb “good.”
  29. 2 Kings 3:19 tn Heb “and ruin every good portion with stones.”
  30. 2 Kings 3:20 tn Heb “and in the morning, when the offering is offered up, look, water was coming from the way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.”
  31. 2 Kings 3:21 tn Heb “had come up to fight them.”
  32. 2 Kings 3:21 tn Heb “and they mustered all who tied on a belt and upwards, and they stood at the border.”
  33. 2 Kings 3:23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Moabites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  34. 2 Kings 3:23 tn The translation assumes the verb is II חָרַב (kharav) meaning “to fight one another” in the Nifal (HALOT 349 s.v. II חרב and BDB 352 s.v. חָרְבָה), a denominative verb based on the noun חֶרֶב (kherev, “sword”). The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb form to emphasize the modality (here indicative mode) of the main verb. (For another example of the Hophal infinitive with a Niphal finite verb, see Lev 19:20. Cf. also IBHS 582 §35.2.1c.) It might also be I חָרַב (kharav) meaning “to be desolate.” But because that describes a result, it makes less sense to precede the verb “then they struck one another down.
  35. 2 Kings 3:23 tn Heb “Each struck down his counterpart.” The presumption is that the armies are wiped out, not just that the kings killed each other.
  36. 2 Kings 3:24 tn Heb “they.”
  37. 2 Kings 3:24 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) suggests, “and they went, striking down,” but the marginal reading (Qere) is “they struck down, striking down.” For a discussion of the textual problem, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 46.
  38. 2 Kings 3:25 tn Heb “and [on] every good portion they were throwing each man his stone and they filled it.” The vav + perfect (“and they filled”) here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause (where a customary imperfect is used, “they were throwing”). See the note at 3:4.
  39. 2 Kings 3:25 tn Heb “until he had allowed its stones to remain in Kir Hareseth.”
  40. 2 Kings 3:26 tn Heb “and the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him.”
  41. 2 Kings 3:26 tn Heb “he took with him seven hundred men, who drew the sword, to break through against.”
  42. 2 Kings 3:27 tn Heb “there was great anger against Israel.”sn The meaning of this statement is uncertain, for the subject of the anger is not indicated. Except for two relatively late texts, the noun קֶצֶף (qetsef) refers to an outburst of divine anger. But it seems unlikely the Lord would be angry with Israel, for he placed his stamp of approval on the campaign (vv. 16-19). D. N. Freedman suggests the narrator, who obviously has a bias against the Omride dynasty, included this observation to show that the Lord would not allow the Israelite king to “have an undiluted victory” (as quoted in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 52, n. 8). Some suggest that the original source identified Chemosh the Moabite god as the subject and that his name was later suppressed by a conscientious scribe, but this proposal raises more questions than it answers. For a discussion of various views, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 47-48, 51-52.
  43. 2 Kings 3:27 tn Heb “they departed from him.”
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2 Kings 3
1599 Geneva Bible

3 1 The reign of Jehoram. 6 He and Jehoshaphat go to war against Moab which rebelled. 13 Elisha reproveth him, 17 and giveth their hosts water. 24 The Moabites are overcome. 27 Their King sacrificeth his son.

1 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria, the [a]eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat King of Judah, and reigned twelve years.

2 And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father nor like his mother: for he took away the image of Baal that his father had made.

3 Nevertheless, he cleaved unto the [b]sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin, and departed not therefrom.

4 ¶ Then [c]Mesha king of Moab had store of sheep, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand rams with the wool.

5 But when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

6 Therefore King Jehoram went out of Samaria the same season, and numbered all Israel,

7 And went, and sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me to battle against Moab? And he answered, I will go up: for [d]I am, as thou art, my people, as thy people, and mine horses, as thine horses.

8 Then said he, What way shall we go up? And he answered, The way of the wilderness of Edom.

9 ¶ So went the king of Israel and the king of Judah, and the [e]king of Edom, and when they had compassed the way seven days, they had no water for the host, nor for the cattle that [f]followed them.

10 Therefore the king of Israel said, Alas, that the Lord hath called these three kings, to give them into the hand of Moab.

11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a Prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered, and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which [g]poured water on the hands of Elijah.

12 Then Jehoshaphat said, [h]The word of the Lord is with him. Therefore the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him.

13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, [i]What have I to do with thee? get thee to the Prophets of thy father, and to the Prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, [j]Nay: for the Lord hath called these three kings, to give them into the hand of Moab.

14 Then Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, in whose sight I stand, if it were not, that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would [k]not have looked toward thee, nor seen thee.

15 But now bring me a minstrel. And when the minstrel [l]played, the hand of the Lord came upon him.

16 And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches.

17 For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall neither see wind nor see rain, yet the valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye and your cattle, and your beasts.

18 But this is a [m]small thing in the sight of the Lord: for he will give Moab into your hand.

19 And ye shall smite every strong town, and every chief city, and shall fell every fair tree, and shall stop all the fountains of water, and [n]mar every good field with stones.

20 And in the morning when the meat offering was offered, behold, there came water by the way of Edom: and the country was filled with water.

21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that was able [o]to put on harness, and upward, and stood in their border.

22 And they rose early in the morning, when the Sun arose upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water over against them, as red as blood.

23 And they said, [p]This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and one hath smitten another: now therefore Moab, to the spoil.

24 And when they came to the host of Israel, the Israelites arose up, and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them, but they [q]invaded them, and smote Moab.

25 And they destroyed the cities: and on all the good field every man cast his stone, and filled them and they stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all the good trees: only in [r]Kir Haraseth left they the stones thereof: howbeit they went about it with slings, and smote it.

26 And when the King of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew the sword, to break through unto the king of Edom: but they could not.

27 Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and [s]offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall: so that Israel was sore grieved, and they departed from him, and returned to their country.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 3:1 Read the annotation in the first chapter and seventh verse.
  2. 2 Kings 3:3 He sacrificed to the golden calves that Jeroboam had made.
  3. 2 Kings 3:4 This was done after that David had made the Moabites tributaries to his successors.
  4. 2 Kings 3:7 Read 1 Kings 22:4.
  5. 2 Kings 3:9 Meaning, the viceroy, or lieutenant of the king of Judah, read 1 Kings 22:47.
  6. 2 Kings 3:9 Hebrew, that were at their feet.
  7. 2 Kings 3:11 That is, who was his servant.
  8. 2 Kings 3:12 He is able to instruct us what is God’s will in this point.
  9. 2 Kings 3:13 He knew that this wicked king would have but used his counsel to serve his turn, and therefore, he disdained to answer him.
  10. 2 Kings 3:13 The wicked esteem not the servants of God, but when they are driven by every necessity and fear of the present danger.
  11. 2 Kings 3:14 God suffereth his word to be declared to the wicked, because of the godly that are among them.
  12. 2 Kings 3:15 He sang songs to God’s glory, and so stirred up the Prophet’s heart to prophesy.
  13. 2 Kings 3:18 He will not only miraculously give you waters, but your enemies also into your hand.
  14. 2 Kings 3:19 Though God bestow his benefits for a time upon the enemies, yet he hath his seasons, when he will take them away to the intent they might see his vengeance which is prepared against them.
  15. 2 Kings 3:21 Hebrew, to gird himself with a girdle.
  16. 2 Kings 3:23 The sudden joy of the wicked is but a preparation to their destruction, which is at hand.
  17. 2 Kings 3:24 Meaning, they followed them into the towns.
  18. 2 Kings 3:25 Which was one of the principle cities of the Moabites, wherein they left nothing but the walls.
  19. 2 Kings 3:27 Some refer it to the king of Edom’s son, whom they say he had taken in that skirmish: but rather it seemed to be his own son, whom he offered to his gods to pacify them: which barbarous cruelty moved the Israelites’ hearts of pity to depart.
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