You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’ ”
World English Bible
2 Kings 3:19
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓ - Modern English
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Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Were the Israelites to spare the trees in the countries they invaded?
Deuteronomy 20:19 prohibits destroying fruit trees during a siege: 'thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them.' 2 Kings 3:19 has the prophet Elisha instruct Israel to do exactly that against Moab — 'fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.'
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Other verses examined for the same kind of question or claim
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
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This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"2 Kings 3:19 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/2-kings/3/19?version=WEB (retrieved 26 August 2026).