2 Kings 3:19

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 to settle and live. The land of Moab was not to be occupied by them, therefore they were bidden to destroy everything in it. In Deuteronomy it is expressly said, -Thou shalt not destroy them, for thou mayest eat of them".

stop all wells[R.V. fountains] of water As water in the east is mostly reached by digging, what is here meant is that all such places should be filled up, so that the work of obtaining water might have all to be done over again. The R.V. gives -fountains" in verse 25 also.

mar every good piece of land The verb, when used elsewhere, signifies -to give, or have, pain". So Job 5:18, -He maketh sore". Ezekiel 13:22, -I have not made sad". The LXX. translates here, -ye shall render useless". The expression is somewhat poetical, representing the land as mourning because it is rendered unfruitful. But a similar figure, though not the same word, is found Jeremiah 12:4, -How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither?"