2 Kings 3:10

10 The king of Yisra'el said, Alas! for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Mo'av.

2 Kings 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.

2 Kings 3:10 In-Context

8 He said, Which way shall we go up? He answered, The way of the wilderness of Edom.

9 So the king of Yisra'el went, and the king of Yehudah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, nor for the animals that followed them.

10 The king of Yisra'el said, Alas! for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Mo'av.

11 But Yehoshafat said, Isn't there here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? One of the king of Yisra'el's servants answered, Elisha the son of Shafat is here, who poured water on the hands of Eliyah.

12 Yehoshafat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Yisra'el and Yehoshafat and the king of Edom went down to him.