2 Kings 3:18-27

18 'This is but a ¹slight thing in the sight of the LORD; He will also give the Moabites into your hand.

19 '²Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.' "

20 It happened in the morning ³about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

21 Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And all who were able to put on armor and older were summoned and stood on the border.

22 They rose early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite * them as red as blood.

23 Then they said, "This is blood; the kings have surely fought together, and they have slain one another. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!"

24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites arose and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before * them; and they went forward into the land, slaughtering the Moabites.

25 ⁴Thus they destroyed the cities; and each one threw a stone on every piece of good land and filled it. So they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until in ⁵Kir-hareseth only they left its stones; however, the slingers went about it and struck it.

26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him 700 * men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.

27 Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and ⁶offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.

2 Kings 3:18-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 3

This chapter gives the character of Jehoram king of Israel, 2Ki 3:1-3, relates the rebellion of the king of Moab against him, 2Ki 3:4,5, the war that he and his allies entered into on that account, 2Ki 3:6-9 the distress the combined army were in for want of water, their application upon this to Elisha, who promised them water, and they had it in a wonderful manner, 2Ki 3:10-20 and the chapter is concluded with the rout of the Moabites, and the barbarity of their king to his eldest son, 2Ki 3:21-27.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37
• 2. 2 Kings 3:25
• 3. Exodus 29:39, 40
• 4. 2 Kings 3:19
• 5. Isaiah 16:7; Jeremiah 48:31, 36
• 6. Amos 2:1; Micah 6:7

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "gird themselves with a belt"
• [b]. Lit "into it"
• [c]. Lit "smiting"