2 Kings 3:1-20. Jehoram king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah march against Moab. In the desert they obtain water through Elisha, who also promises them victory (Not in Chronicles) 1. _the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat_ How this year may be identified with -the second year of Jehoram the so... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he wrought evil_ R.V. AND HE DID THAT WHICH WAS EVIL. The change made frequently that the same Hebrew phrase may be regularly rendered by the same English. _but not like his father, and like his mother_ Jehoram was not so far gone in evil as his brother Ahaziah had been. He kept indeed to the... [ Continue Reading ]
_he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam_ The calf-worship was the token of Israel's separation from Judah, and had a political significance. Other kings beside Jeroboam would feel the danger of allowing the northern people to return to the temple at Jerusalem to worship. So a king who might be dispose... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Mesha king of Moab_ This name for the king of Moab occurs in the first line of the Moabite stone. In that inscription the Moabite king mentions his successes against Omri and Omri's successor and speaks of forty years as the time during which the conflict between Israel and Moab continued. Now... [ Continue Reading ]
_when Ahab was dead_ The sickness of Ahaziah had no doubt prevented him from taking any step during his brief reign to suppress the revolt of Moab. It is probable that during Ahaziah's time all those reconquests, that are mentioned in the Mesha tablet, were made by the Moabites, the king of Israel b... [ Continue Reading ]
_went out of Samaria the same time_ R.V. AT THAT TIME. The time indicated is probably the occasion of the first refusal of the tribute to Jehoram. He might perhaps regard the former refusal, which no doubt had been given to Ahaziah, as prompted by the knowledge that the king of Israel was weak and u... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he went and sent_ This Hebrew verb -to go" is not un-frequently placed before another finite verb, without any special sense of moving from a place, but merely to express the idea of -setting about" the act indicated by the following verb. Thus Exodus 2:1, -There _went a man_… and took to wife... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he said, Which way shall we go up?_ These are the words of Jehoram, who leaves to his ally, the elder monarch, the decision of the line of march. They might have crossed the Jordan to the north of the Dead Sea and so come upon Moab from the north, but they would have had more difficulty then in... [ Continue Reading ]
_So the king of Israel went_ Josephus (_Ant._IX. 3. 1) tells how Jehoram and his army were hospitably and magnificently received in Jerusalem before they started on their march. _and the king of Edom_ The same author says that along with his own promise of help, Jehoshaphat had pledged himself to c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Alas, that_[R.V. FOR] _the Lord hath called_ Thus R.V. conforms to the rendering of A.V. in verse 13. The lamentation is caused by what Jehoram thinks will be their fate. And the conjunction, which can be rendered -for" or -that" seems to be here used to express the ground for the lament. Josephus... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jehoshaphat said_, Is there _not here a prophet of the Lord_ He made the same enquiry before the march to Ramoth-Gilead (1 Kings 22:7). The prophets who would be in attendance on Jehoram would be those connected with the worship of the calves. It is however interesting to note that Jehoram ascribes... [ Continue Reading ]
_is with him_ This expression seems to imply a more than ordinary participation of the divine Spirit. The more usual phrase is -The word of the Lord came to" (cf. Genesis 15:1; 1 Samuel 15:10 &c.). And even the -sons of the prophets" recognized that Elijah and after him Elisha were preeminently endo... [ Continue Reading ]
_What have I to do with thee?_ An expression equivalent to a command to be gone. Cf. Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28; John 2:4. _the prophets of thy father_ It would be no easy task, however willing Jehoram might be, to put down at once the worship of Baal. We know indeed that this was not done. Only the specia... [ Continue Reading ]
As _the Lord of hosts liveth_ Probably the use of this expression is due to the circumstances. Jehovah, set before the Jews as the Lord of the armies both of heaven and of earth, would be fitly spoken of by this title at this time. There were three armies together all reduced to the greatest straits... [ Continue Reading ]
_But now bring me a minstrel_ Of the power of music over the mind we have examples in the history of Saul (1 Samuel 16:23) and also of the use of music by the companies of prophets (1 Samuel 10:5). But neither of these instances illustrates the case of Elisha as here described. It was not employed t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Make this valley full of ditches_ R.V. TRENCHES. The valley was a torrent bed which in the time of rain would become suddenly flooded with the water from the steep sides, and from the watershed above. This would soon run away, and the excavations mentioned here seem to have been meant to dam up the... [ Continue Reading ]
_For thus saith the Lord_ Both the order to dig trenches, and the promise of water are prefaced in this solemn manner. It is no order of his own which the prophet delivers. _Ye shall not see wind_ The verb -see" is used elsewhere of what is not visible but experienced by the other senses. So Exodus... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this is_but _a light thing_ For the expression cf. below ch. 2 Kings 20:10. What God gives, He gives to the full. He will not only guide the forces of nature so that the bodily wants of the armies shall be supplied, but will crown their expedition with success.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and shall fell every good tree_ Some persons have seen in Elisha's language here a contradiction to Deuteronomy 20:19, where in the siege of a city the Israelites are forbidden to cut down the fruit trees. But in that place the reference is to the trees of Canaan, where the people were themselves t... [ Continue Reading ]
_when the meat offering was offered_ R.V. ABOUT THE TIME OF OFFERING THE OBLATION. The term _meat offering_has become misleading to modern English readers, because it would now imply that flesh of some kind formed a part of the offering; whereas the oblation [_minchah_ here spoken of consisted (see... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_[R.V. NOW] _when all the Moabites heard_ By the circuitous journey which the armies had made their march would be less observed, and it would only be at the time of their appearance on the frontier that the object of their expedition would become known. But the casting off the yoke of Israel, a... [ Continue Reading ]
The Moabites attack the allied armies, but are defeated. The king of Moab sacrifices his eldest son (Not in Chronicles)... [ Continue Reading ]
_they rose up early in the morning_ When the rays of the sun would be shining obliquely on the water, and would cause it to have an unusual colour. _the water on the other side_ R.V. OVER AGAINST THEM. See above on 2 Kings 2:7 as _red as blood_ This would be partly due to the slanting rays of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_the kings are surely slain_[R.V. DESTROYED], _and they have smitten one another_ R.V. EACH MAN HIS FELLOW. The Moabites knew of the contests which had been between Israel and Judah in times past, and might readily fancy that the peace which had been made between Ahab and Jehoshaphat had now been br... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites_ The hasty and irregular manner in which the Moabites rushed forward, with no thought but of an easy booty, gave the Israelites an opportunity which otherwise they would not have had. Before their assailants could gather themselves for resistance they w... [ Continue Reading ]
_cast every man his stone_ Thus ensuring that the ground should be made, for a long time to come, useless for the pasturage of flocks. _only in Kirharaseth left_they _the stones thereof_ R.V. UNTIL IN KIRHARESETH only THEY LEFT THE STONES THEREOF. It will be seen from the margin of A.V. that the R.V... [ Continue Reading ]
_he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords_ R.V. SWORD. In this phrase the singular is of the more frequent occurrence in A.V. The Moabite king desired to cut his way through the besiegers and so to escape, and he made the attempt in the direction of the king of Edom's troops, either becau... [ Continue Reading ]
_his eldest son_ i.e. his own eldest son, not as has been explained by some, the eldest son of the Edomite king. His thought was to offer such a sacrifice as would be most acceptable. Hence he gave what was most precious to him. And the offering was made to his own god, Chemosh (see Numbers 21:29).... [ Continue Reading ]