Chapter Three

1–27. The allied war of the Kings — Joram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the King of Edom — against the Moabites.

2 Kings 3:1. Now Joram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. 2 Kings 3:2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, although not like his father and his mother: he took away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. 2 Kings 3:3. Nevertheless, he held fast to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. Concerning the year of the beginning of the reign of Joram of Israel (verse 1) see the remark on 2 Kgs 1:17. With regard to the “sin of Jeroboam,” that is, the cult of the calves introduced by Jeroboam (1 Kgs 12:28), Joram shared (verse 3) the general policy of the kings of the Kingdom of Israel (1 Kgs 15:26 and others), but he made attempts to abolish the cult of Baal (verse 2), to which his father Ahab and his mother Jezebel were so devoted (1 Kgs 16:31-33 and following), and his brother — Ahaziah (1 Kgs 22:53-54).

2 Kings 3:4. Now Mesa, king of Moab, was a sheep-breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. 2 Kings 3:5. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. The rebellion of Moab from the kingdom of Israel immediately after the death of Ahab, with the accession of Ahaziah (2 Kgs 1:1); here it is repeated about this rebellion (verse 5), as the occasion for the allied war described in this chapter; the rebellion was expressed in the cessation of the annual tribute, which previously the Moabite king Mesa, Hebrew Mesha, LXX: Mōsa — a major stock-breeder, Hebrew nokēd; according to some Greek codices pomniotrophos (accepted, LXX text: nokēd), paid to Ahab annually in accordance with the custom of antiquity in kind, from the chief products of the country (according to Strabo, the Cappadocians paid annually to the Persians tributes: 1500 horses, 2000 mules, 100,000 sheep): the fertile and water-rich plains of Moab were very well suited for stock-raising (Winer. Bibli. Real. – Woerterboch. Vol. I, 5, 99), as, in accordance with the Bible, says the inscription of the Moabite king Mesa, discovered in 1868 by the missionary Klein and now in the Louvre Museum. (From the extensive literature on this inscription one can chiefly name: Smend and Socin. The Inscription of King Mesa of Moab. 1886; in Russian literature: Professor D. A. Khvolson. A Newly Discovered Monument of the Moabite King Mesa, Contemporary with the Judean King Jehoshaphat. Christian Readings. 1870, nos. 7–8). The content of the inscription (it has 34 lines) comes into very close contact with the account of this chapter: the inscription relates the advantages gained by Mesa from the struggle with the son of Omri, (that is, Ahab) and the liberation of Moab from 40 years of slavery to Israel (Isa 16:1); but the inscription says nothing of the siege of Kir-Hareset, the capital of Moab, of which the Bible speaks (2 Kgs 3:5-8), though from the inscription (2 Kgs 3:25-27), one may think that the campaign of Joram with the unsuccessful goal of again subjecting the Moabites falls on a time closely following the facts of recapture by this king of various Moabite cities described in the inscription.

2 Kings 3:6. So King Joram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. 2 Kings 3:7. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying: The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you go with me to war against Moab? And he said: I will go; as you are, so am I; as your people, so is my people; as your horses, so are my horses. 2 Kings 3:8. And he said: By what way shall we go up? And he said: By the way of the wilderness of Edom. 2 Kings 3:9. So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they went around seven days’ journey, and there was no water for the army and for the animals that followed them. 2 Kings 3:10. Then the king of Israel said: Alas! The Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. Having decided to undertake a campaign to subdue the Moabites and having prepared his own army (verse 6), King Joram of Israel invites with him Jehoshaphat of Judah, as once Ahab had called him to join him against the Syrians (1 Kgs 22:2), and Jehoshaphat, as at that time (1 Kgs 22:4), responds to this invitation too with complete readiness (verse 7), although he has already received more than one indication from prophets that his alliance with the wicked kings of Israel was displeasing to God (2 Chr 19:2-3); it seems that, both under Ahab and under his sons, the kingdom of Judah was in a certain dependence on the kingdom of Israel. The question “By what way shall we go up” (verse 8) belongs, probably, to Jehoshaphat, as a subordinate participant in the campaign. Instead of the near path to the land of Moab — through the Jordan, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, and then to the northern borders of Moab through the stream Arnon, — the allied army chooses a more difficult roundabout path: along the western border of the Dead Sea to its southern border, then through the Edomite desert, so that the attack from the south would strike the Moabites with complete unexpectedness. Invasion into Moabite territory from the north could present two difficulties for the Kingdom of Israel and its army: there would be danger from the Syrians, who from the time of Ahab had become firmly established in Gilead, and besides, from the northern side of the Moabite country Mesa, as is evident from his inscription, had fortified a series of strongholds, which hindered invasion from the north; moreover, when moving in the first direction, both kingdoms would have remained undefended from the side of Edom: therefore the king of Edom, his vassal (1 Kgs 22:47), Jehoshaphat takes with him in the campaign (verse 9), although confidence in his loyalty was slight (1 Kgs 3:26). Upon the joining of the Edomites to the allied Hebrew kings, the armies, over the course of 7 days, marched through the desert, which was without water, to the south of the Dead Sea, “for the guides had lost their way” (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 9:3, 1), and the kings, especially Joram, fell into despair.

2 Kings 3:11. And Jehoshaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, so that we may inquire of the Lord through him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said: Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. 2 Kings 3:12. And Jehoshaphat said: The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. The pious Jehoshaphat in difficult circumstances, as he had done under Ahab (1 Kgs 22:5), requires that they consult the prophet of Jehovah, and such a one they point out in the prophet Elisha (though his presence in the Israeli camp had not been mentioned until now for some reason), “who poured water on the hands of Elijah” (verse 11), that is, was the regular servant of the prophet Elijah, and therefore appears to be a prophet deserving full confidence, as Jehoshaphat said about him (verse 12), evidently having already heard about the prophet Elisha. “Concerning Elisha, in his praise it was said: he poured water on the hands of Elijah. So much did they marvel at the great prophet. But need and the wickedness of the kings forced them to resort to the famous Elisha” (blessed Theodoret, question 11).

2 Kings 3:13. And Elisha said to the king of Israel: What have you to do with me? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother. But the king of Israel said to him: No, because the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. 2 Kings 3:14. And Elisha said: As the Lord of hosts lives, before Whom I stand! If it were not that I regard Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor even see you; Not the prophet is summoned to the kings, but the kings themselves come to him (1 Kgs 3:12), and Joram, the initiator of the campaign and the one guilty of the common misfortune of the allied army, hears a sharp, impartial denunciation from the lips of the prophet Elisha; “the prophets of your father” of Joram, that is, Ahab — known from (1 Kgs 22), the prophets of the cult of the calves at the court of Ahab, “the prophets of your mother” (Jezebel) — the prophets-priests of Baal and Astarte (1 Kgs 18:19 and following), — the contrast between true and false prophecy appears here with no less force than in the history of the prophet Elijah and the prophet Micaiah. Despite Joram’s demonstrated attempts to abolish the cult of Baal (1 Kgs 3:2), the priests nevertheless remained (compare 2 Kgs 10:19), and thus the cult of Baal continued to hold. Joram’s repetition of the phrase: “The Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab” (verse 13; compare 1 Kgs 3:10) indicates, perhaps, that before the campaign, probably at the requirement of Jehoshaphat, they inquired of Jehovah. The prophet Elisha directly declares that he will give a prophetic word only for the sake of the piety of Jehoshaphat. “Thus the denunciation was timely made, when necessity had humbled the arrogance of the ruler” (blessed Theodoret, question 11).

2 Kings 3:15. But now bring me a musician. And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha, In the fact that the prophet Elisha, in order to prepare his spirit for receiving revelation, or to calm his spirit from anger at Joram (1 Kgs 3:13-14), resorts to the action of stringed music, after which “the hand of the Lord was upon him” (compare 1 Kgs 18:16; Jer 1:9), one sees, first, the custom known to antiquity of resorting to music (compare 1 Sam 16:16) to distract the spirit from the external world, to calm or excite it (Cicero spoke of this concerning the Pythagoreans); secondly, the use of music (with singing of hymns) in prophetic schools (1 Sam 10:5 and further), with which, as mentioned, the prophet Elisha was in close connection. According to blessed Theodoret, “priests, according to the Law of Moses, used trumpets, and Levites — harps, psalteries, cymbals and other musical instruments. In use with them was David’s spiritual song. One of these singers the prophet commanded to be called. And when the singer sang, the grace of the Spirit showed what should be done” (question 12 on 4 Book of Kings).

2 Kings 3:16. And he said: Thus says the Lord: You shall make this valley full of ditches, 2 Kings 3:17. For thus says the Lord: You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so you shall drink, you and your livestock and your animals. By the valley (Hebrew nahal), in which the prophet Elisha commands to dig ditches or cisterns, according to the opinion of commentators, is meant the valley Wadi-el-Ahsa, on the southern border of Moabite territory, called in (Isa 15:7) nahal ha-arabim; perhaps this locality had the property that rainwater accumulated beneath the soil on a rocky subsoil: perhaps the prophet Elisha gives advice to take measures which the native inhabitants also employed (compare blessed Theodoret, question 12).

2 Kings 3:18. And this is a light thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver Moab into your hands, 2 Kings 3:19. And you shall strike down every fortified city and every choice city, and you shall fell every good tree, and stop up all the springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. 2 Kings 3:20. And in the morning, when the grain offering is offered, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, and the land was filled with water. After the supply of necessary water to the allied armies, the Lord is to grant Israel a complete victory over the Moabites, with the picture of destruction that, according to the prophet, the victors will produce in the land of Moab (verse 19), without doubt, having the character of command: in (Deut 20:19-20) Israel is directly forbidden during war or siege to commit senseless destruction of fruit-bearing trees; here the prophet simply foretells a future fact, not touching upon its moral evaluation. Abundant water appeared, from the direction of Idumea, “at the time of the offering of the morning sacrifice” (Hebrew mincha, properly bloodless sacrifice — cereal offering and libation) (compare Exod 29:39; 1 Kgs 18:29).

2 Kings 3:21. When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms, from the youngest to the oldest, were called up, and they took their stand on the frontier. 2 Kings 3:22. And when they rose early in the morning, the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. 2 Kings 3:23. And they said: This is blood; the kings have surely fought with one another and destroyed each other; now then, Moab, to the spoil! 2 Kings 3:24. So when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and attacked the Moabites, who fled before them, and the Israelites continued to advance, striking the Moabites. 2 Kings 3:25. And they destroyed the cities, and on every good piece of land each man threw a stone and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until in Kir-Hareset only stones were left; and the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. The second and main part of Elisha’s prediction was fulfilled (1 Kgs 3:18-19). And here, as in the supply of water to the allied army, a purely natural circumstance served the allies for good and for the destruction of the Moabites: the latter, at the rising sun, mistakenly take the color of the water for the appearance of blood (verse 22) and with equal mistaking make a not impossible, however, supposition about mutual destruction among the allied armies (verse 23; compare Judg 7:22; 2 Chr 20:33), — and instead of expected spoil met defeat and complete devastation of the country including down to the fortified capital of Moab — the city of Kir-Hareset (LXX, verse 25: tous lious tou toichoucou, Vulg.: muri fictíles, Slavonic: “stones of walls”), otherwise called Kir-Moab (Isa 15:1) or Kirgherem (Isa 16:1); now it is identified with el-Kerak, to the east of the southern part of the Dead Sea (Onomasticon, 389; Winer, Bibl. Keal Worterbuch, I, 658). The king of Moab was besieged in Kir-Hareset.

2 Kings 3:26. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew the sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. 2 Kings 3:27. Then he took his firstborn son who was to reign in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. So there came great anger upon Israel; and they withdrew from him and returned to their own land. After the unsuccessful attempt of the king of Moab to break through with a detachment of armed men to the position of the King of Edom (the besieged rushed toward this side either because they expected to meet less resistance there, or hoped to persuade him to defect from the Hebrews and Israelites), Mesa resorted to a desperate means of saving his own state: wishing to placate the deity — the god of war Chemosh worshipped by him (compare commentaries on 1 Kgs 11:7) and to have a softening effect on the besiegers — he, according to the widely spread custom of antiquity (compare Mic 6:7) to offer the most precious human sacrifices in state and public disasters (Eusebius, Praeparat. Evang. IV, 16), offered his firstborn son, the heir to the throne, as a burnt offering on the city walls, in the sight of the enemies (the rabbis and Philippson believed that Mesa offered not his own son, but the son of the Edomite king, whom he had captured in a sortie, verses 26 or before; as proof they cited Amos 2:1, but this explanation is completely arbitrary, and the reference is inconclusive). “There came great anger upon Israel” (LXX: kai egeneto metameos megas epi Israēl, Vulg.: et facta est indignatio magna in Israel, Slavonic: “and there was great repentance in Israel”): Hebrew ketseph, properly “anger,” cannot mean here either the anger of the Edomites on the Israelites (the opinion of Dereseer, Philippson, which stands in connection with the supposition rejected above), nor the anger of Jehovah on Israel (Keil), since there was no direct guilt of the latter, nor, still less, the anger of Chemosh (Kittel), since if individual Jews were not unfamiliar with recognizing the actual existence of pagan gods and their real power (Judg 11:24; 1 Sam 26:19), then, without doubt, the divinely inspired writer could not have thought and judged so. Rather, here it is a matter of profound agitation of Israel, which by threat of death was forbidden to make human sacrifices (Lev 18:21) and to which the sight of the desperate deed of the Moabite king caused horror and fear of disaster in his own land (compare Ps 105:37-39), and the allies hastened to withdraw from the borders of Moab and returned to their own countries. The displeasure of the whole undertaking by God and in particular the displeasure by Jehovah of the pious Jehoshaphat’s alliance with the wicked Joram were the hidden causes of the allies’ failures (compare blessed Theodoret, question 13).