The Second Book of the Kings, commonly called the Fourth Book of the Kings
2 Kings 3
Chapter III · Vol. II, pp. 765–766
1 Jehoram's evil reign. 4 Mesha rebelleth. 6 Jehoram, with Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, being distressed for want of water, by Elisha obtaineth water, and promise of victory. 21 The Moabites, deceived by the colour of the water, coming to spoil, are overcome. 26 The king of Moab sacrificeth his eldest son, and raiseth the siege.
1 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the aeighteenth year1 of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
a 1 Ki.22.51. ch.1.17; 8.16.
1 See note on ch.1.17. C.——According to the adjustment of Hales, this should be in the 'twenty-second year.'—I.
2 And he bwrought evil in the sight of the LORD, but cnot like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the dimage2 of Baal3 that his father had made.
b ch.6.31; ver.3.
c 1 Ki.16.33; 21.20,25. ch.9.22.
2 Heb. statue.
3 See note on ch.1.10.—Note, Change is not necessarily reformation. The 'evil spirit' may, for a time, 'go out of a man,' only to prepare for a return with 'seven spirits worse than himself.'—C.
3 Nevertheless ehe cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
e ch.10.28-31. Mar.6.20,27. 1 Ki.12.28-33; 13.33; 16.19.
4 And Mesha king of Moab was a fsheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
f Is.16.1. Job 1.3. Ge.13.2. 1 Ch.27.29-31.
5 But it came to pass, when gAhab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
g ch.1.1. 2 Ch.21.8-10.
6 And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and hnumbered all Israel.
h 1 Sa.11.8; 15.4. 2 Sa.24.1. 1 Ki.20.15.
7 And he went4 and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: iwilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.5
4 B.C. 895.
A.M. 3109. B.C. 895.
5 We are all as one nation, and equally hearty in the work.
9 So the lking of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle mthat followed them.
l ver.6,7. 1 Ki.22.47. Ge.27.40. 2 Sa.8.14.
m Heb. at their feet, Ex.11.18. Ju.4.10.
10 And the king of Israel said, nAlas, that the LORD hath called7 these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
n ver.9. Ge.4.13. Ps.78.34-38. Pr.19.3. Jude 16. Ex.15.24; 16.2; 17.2,3. Re.21.8.
7 God had not called them by any revelation or order. Indeed he had never yet been consulted; but the king may mean that God had called them to be judged and punished for their national sins.—Note, The eyes of men that will not see God in the day of prosperity, are sometimes opened to see him in the hour of adversity. See also note on ver.13.—C.
11 But Jehoshaphat said, oIs 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 ppoured water on the hands of Elijah.
12 And Jehoshaphat said, qThe word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, rwent down to him.
q 1 Sa.3.20. ch.2.14,21,24.
r Ps.78.34-38. Je.22.23. ch.5.9; 8.7-9; 13.14. 1 Sa.2.30.
13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, sWhat 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, Nay; tfor the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.8
14 And Elisha said, uAs the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not thatx I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.
15 But now ybring me a minstrel.9 And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the zhand of the LORD came upon him.
9 That the 'harp and voice of psalms' might praise Jehovah, and condemn 'all who served graven images,' a portion of the Davidian tabernacle service, which, most probably, Israel had neglected, and Judah retained, and which the prophet therefore purposes to honour in presence of the kings.—C.
z Eze.1.3; 3.22; 8.1. 1 Ki.18.46. Da.2.19.
17 For thus saith the LORD, bYe shall not see wind,1 neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.2
b 1 Ki.18.38. Ps.36.6; 84.6.
1 That is, any of the effects of wind, as hurrying the racking clouds, or agitating the dust, or bending the trees, &c.—C.
2 The 'valley' or 'torrent-bed' in which the Israelites were encamped, was probably that now called Wady el-Ahsy, which descends from the highlands north of Edom to the southern end of the Dead Sea. It would appear that heavy rain suddenly fell among the mountains; the water filled the torrent-bed, previously dry, swept down the valley, and was collected in the trenches prepared for it by the prophet's command. The storm took place at such a distance from the camp, that the Israelites saw neither wind nor rain.—P.
18 And this cis but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
19 And ye shall dsmite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree,3 and stop all wells of water, and mar4 every good piece of land with stones.
d 1 Sa.15.3. 1 Ki.20.28. De.20.19. ver.25.
3 Contrary to the law, De. 20. 19, but the prophet neither approves nor commends the act, he merely foretels what would be done.—C.
4 Heb. grieve.
20 And it came to pass in the morning, whene the meat-offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country fwas filled with water.5
e Ex.29.39. 1 Ki.18.36.
f Is.35.6; 41.17,18; 48.21. Ps.78.15,16,20; 105.41; 114.8; 107.illegible
5 Edom was a mountainous country, and the rain falling there in torrents, soon found its way to the hollow ground where the armies lay. The trenches were to retain the water, and give it time to settle and purify.—C.
21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered6 all that were able to put on armour,7 and upward, and stood in the border.
6 Heb. were cried together.
7 Heb. gird himself with a girdle.
22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood:8
8 In particular states of the atmosphere the sun looks very red, and now communicates its own tinge to the water.—C.
23 And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain,9 and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
9 Heb. destroyed.
24 And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting1 the Moabites, even in their country.
1 Or, they smote in it even smiting.
25 Andg they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water,2 and felled all the good trees: onlyh in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
g ver.19.
2 Which being very deep, it would require great labour to clear, or which in a short time, in a devastated country, would not be discovered.—C.
h Heb. until he left the stones thereof in Kir-haraseth, Is.16.7,11. Je.48.36.
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 swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.
27 Then he took ihis eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel:3 and they departed from him, and returned4 to their own land.5
A.M. 3109. B.C. 895.
i Perhaps the king of Edom's son, Am.2.1.
3 Or, 'great repentance in Israel,' that they had driven the Moabites to such wretched extremity.—Note, Men do often repent of an evil deed done in passion, and would give a world to cancel one evil deed.—C.
4 As they saw the Moabites desperately resolute.
5 This passage is obscure. The meaning seems to be that the Moabite king, driven to despair by the cruelties of the conquerors, offered up his son a sacrifice to Chemosh, on the wall of Kir-haraseth, in sight of the Israelites. This barbarous act, to which the unfortunate monarch was driven by the Israelites, drew down upon them the divine displeasure, so that they abandoned the siege, and returned home. The Hebrew phrase rendered 'there was great indignation,' is always employed to denote the anger or displeasure of God on account of sin.—P.
Notes
[Ver. 11. Poured water on the hands of Elijah. In most eastern countries they eat with the fingers; and pouring water on the hands after meals is an act which, in what Europeans would call 'the learned professions,' indicates not a servant, but a disciple. The orientals have a great objection to washing the hands in a basin, holding the water polluted after one contact; the hands are therefore held over the basin, while the water is poured out of a ewer with a narrow neck, but otherwise much like an ordinary British coffee-pot. C.]
Reflections.—To be better than monsters in crimes is no evidence of real goodness: and a partial reformation is often made without real conversion. To forbear the sins which we no longer love, while we cleave to those which are more pleasing and profitable, shows the insincerity of our pretended repentance. Sinners prefer the recovery of outward losses to all the advantages of real godliness; and they readily court the friendship of such saints as are remarkably prosperous in outward things. Rash counsels generally drive men into great straits; and these into murmuring against the providence of God. And if we keep company with sinners, we are in danger of smarting under their rod. Afflictions often drive those to God who in their prosperity neglected him. His mercies are not only beyond our desert, but beyond our expectation; and others fare the better for their connections with his people: for he will not leave his own who cry unto him: even in the straits into which their folly has plunged them. What a remarkable blessing are pious commanders and faithful ministers to armies! and the fervent prayer of a religious man availeth much. How composed ought our minds to be in all our approaches to God! and never must we expect a gracious answer to our requests, but only through Jesus' offering of himself a sacrifice for sins. How strangely men fancy what they wish! for God often infatuates those whom he intends to destroy, and makes them to rush headlong upon their own destruction. What inhuman and bloody courses will people take to procure the favour of their idol, or to mark themselves desperately obstinate.