2 Kings 3 Footnotes

3:2 “He did what was evil”; literally “The Evil” (i.e., idolatry). This expression with the definite article, referring to idolatry, is very common. The use of capitalization captures the original intent. Of all sin, the greatest in the eyes of the biblical authors was idolatry (Ex 20), and they often wrote of it this way. The writer carefully applied God’s criteria for evaluating a king’s reign, noting a redeemable quality in Joram: He abandoned Baal worship.