2 Kings 2:19

19 The people of the city [of Jericho] told Elisha, "This city's location is as good as you will ever find. But the water is bad, and the land cannot grow crops."

2 Kings 2:19 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 2:19

And the men of the city said unto Elisha
The inhabitants of Jericho, perceiving him to be a prophet, and endowed with a power of working miracles:

behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord
seeth;
in a plain, surrounded with gardens and orchards, with vineyards, oliveyards, and groves of palm trees, and other odoriferous ones:

but the water is naught, and the ground barren;
that is, that part of it where this water was, or ran, for from thence it became barren; or "caused to miscarry", as the word signifies ^F17; not only trees cast their fruit, which it watered, but women became abortive that drank of it, as Josephus says ^F18, and so cattle. Abarbinel thinks it was so from the times of Joshua, being cursed by him; but, if so, it would not have been inhabited again; rather this was owing to a new curse, upon its being rebuilt; though this might affect only a small part of the ground, not the whole, as before observed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (tlkvm) "orbans", Montanus, Vatablus; "facit abortum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F18 De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 3.

2 Kings 2:19 In-Context

17 But the disciples kept urging him [to send the men] until he was embarrassed. So he said, "Send them." They sent 50 men who searched for three days without finding him.

18 They returned to Elisha in Jericho, where he was waiting. He said, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"

19 The people of the city [of Jericho] told Elisha, "This city's location is as good as you will ever find. But the water is bad, and the land cannot grow crops."

20 Elisha said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it." They brought it to him.

21 He went to the spring and threw the salt into it. Then he said, "This is what the LORD says: I have purified this water. No more deaths or crop failures will come from this water."