2 Kings 3:23

23 And they said, "This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!"

2 Kings 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 3:23

And they said, this is blood
They were very confident of it, having no notion of water, there having been no rain for some time; and perhaps it was not usual to see water at any time in this place:

the kings are surely slain;
they and their forces:

and they have smitten one another;
having quarrelled either about their religion, or about want of water, and the distress they were come into through it, laying the blame of their coming out to war, or of their coming that way, on one another; and the Moabites might rather think something of this kind had happened, from what had lately been done among themselves, and their allies, ( 2 Chronicles 20:23 )

now therefore, Moab, to the spoil;
having no occasion to fight, or prepare for it; all they had to do was to march directly to the enemy's camp, and plunder it.

2 Kings 3:23 In-Context

21 When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the border.
22 And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood.
23 And they said, "This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!"
24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went.
25 And they overthrew the cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only its stones were left in Kir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.