Kings II 23:17

17 And he said, O Lord, forbid that I should do this, that I should drink of the blood of the men who went at their lives: and he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

Kings II 23:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:17

Then he said, what title is that that I see?
&c.] A high and large monument over a grave, with an inscription on it, more remarkable than any of the rest, which made Josiah take notice of it; and the Jews have a tradition, as Kimchi observes, that on one side of the grave grew nettles and thistles, and on the other side odoriferous herbs; which is not to be depended on; but what he further observes may be right, that the old prophet, as he gave orders to his sons to lay his body in the same grave with the man of God, believing his words would be fulfilled, so he likewise gave orders to have a distinguished monument or pillar erected over the grave; and which people in later times took care to support, in memory of the man of God, that thereby it might be known; by which means not only the bones of the man of God were preserved from being burnt, but those of the old prophet also, buried with him:

and the men of the city told him, it is the sepulchre of the man of
God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou
hast done against the altar of Bethel;
see ( 1 Kings 13:1-3 ) .

Kings II 23:17 In-Context

15 And David longed, and said, Who will give me water to drink out of the well that is in Bethleem by the gate? now the band of the Philistines then in Bethleem.

16 And the three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well that was in Bethleem in the gate: and they took it, and brought it to David, and he would not drink it, but poured it out before the Lord.

17 And he said, O Lord, forbid that I should do this, that I should drink of the blood of the men who went at their lives: and he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

18 And Abessa the brother of Joab the son of Saruia, he chief among the three, and he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he slew; and he had a name among three.

19 Of those three most honourable, and he became a chief over them, but he reached not to the three.

Footnotes

• [a]. if.
• [b]. the son of Kelothi.