Melachim Bais 3:10

10 And Melech Yisroel said, Alas that Hashem hath called these three melachim together, to deliver them into the yad Moav!

Melachim Bais 3:10 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 3:10

And the king of Israel said, alas!
&c.] Lamenting their sad case, as being desperate; and the rather he was the more concerned, as he was the principal who had drawn the other kings into this affair, though he throws it upon the Lord and his providence:

that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them
into the hands of Moab;
into whose hands they must inevitably fall, if they could have no water to refresh them; since they would be so weak as not to be able to stand a battle with them, and be dispersed here and there in search of water, and so fall into their hands. Extreme thirst is intolerable. It is reported ^F5 of Lysimachus, that he delivered himself and his army into the hands of the enemy for a draught of water. Leo Africanus ^F6 relates, that in the desert of Azaoad stand two marble pillars, testifying that a rich merchant bought of a carrier of wares a cup of water at the price of 10,000 ducats; but there not being water sufficient neither for the one nor the other, they were both died with thirst.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Plutarch. in Apothegm.
F6 Descriptio Africae, l. 1. p. 75.

Melachim Bais 3:10 In-Context

8 And he said, Which derech shall we go up [to attack]? And he answered, The derech through the Midbar Edom.

9 So Melech Yisroel, Melech Yehudah, Melech Edom went, made a circuit of shivat yamim in their derech; and there was no mayim for the machaneh, and for the behemah that followed them.

10 And Melech Yisroel said, Alas that Hashem hath called these three melachim together, to deliver them into the yad Moav!

11 But Yehoshaphat said, Is there not here a navi of Hashem, that we may inquire of Hashem through him? And one of the avadim of Melech Yisroel answered and said, Here is Elishah Ben Shaphat, which poured mayim on the hands of Eliyahu.

12 And Yehoshaphat said, The Devar Hashem is with him. So Melech Yisroel and Yehoshaphat and Melech Edom went down to him.