When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land attacking the Moabites. They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone, and filled it. They also stopped all the springs of water, and cut down all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth all they left was its stones; however the men armed with slings went around it, and attacked it. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew a sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.
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When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land attacking the Moabites. They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone, and filled it. They also stopped all the springs of water, and cut down all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth all they left was its stones; however the men armed with slings went around it, and attacked it. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew a sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. Then he took his oldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
Parallel Translations
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When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land attacking the Moabites.
They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone, and filled it. They also stopped all the springs of water, and cut down all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth all they left was its stones; however the men armed with slings went around it, and attacked it.
When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew a sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.
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And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.
And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.
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And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them. And they smote the land, even Moab, mightily.
And they beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all the good trees; until there was left only Kir-hareseth with the stones of the wall thereof; so the slingers encompassed it, and smote it.
And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through unto the king of Edom; but they could not.
Cross-references (19)
- 2 Kings 3:19 (v25) 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…
- Isaiah 16:7 (v25) Therefore Moab will wail for Moab. Everyone will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken.
- Jeremiah 48:31 (v25) Therefore I will wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.
- Jeremiah 48:36 (v25) Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir Heres. Therefore the abundance that he has…
- Isaiah 16:11 (v25) Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres.
Show all 19 cross-references
- Genesis 26:15 (v25) Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.
- Genesis 26:18 (v25) Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the…
- Deuteronomy 2:9 (v25) Yahweh said to me, “Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you any of his land for a possession,…
- Deuteronomy 20:19-20 (v25) When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against…
- Joshua 8:20-22 (v24) When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee…
- Judges 9:45 (v25) Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city and killed the people in it. He beat down the city and sowed it with…
- Judges 20:40-46 (v24) But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and behold, the whole city…
- 2 Samuel 8:2 (v25) He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one…
- 2 Kings 3:9 (v26) So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched for seven days along a circuitous route. There was…
- 2 Chronicles 32:4 (v25) So, many people gathered together and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the middle of the land, saying, “Why…
- Isaiah 15:1 (v25) The burden of Moab. For in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. For in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought…
- Isaiah 37:26-27 (v25) “ ‘Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours…
- Amos 2:1 (v26) Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3-4 (v24) For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv24–25 Meaning, they followed them into the towns.
Meaning, they followed them into the towns.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv24–26 2Ki 3:24 And when they came to the camp…
2Ki 3:24 And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in [their] country.
Ver. 24. And when they came to the camp of Israel.] Ordinibas non servatis et acie non instructa, disranked and disordered. Their misconceit undid them, as it still doth many.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv24–26 They pursued them to their own country, and entered…
They pursued them to their own country, and entered it with and after them; the passes, which before the Moabites defended, being now open for them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On v24 Then he took his eldest son, that should have…
Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead,.... Not the eldest son of the king of Edom, whom the king of Moab had in his hands before, which made the king of Edom the more willing to join in this expedition for the recovery of his son, as Joseph Kimchi thinks; or whom he took now in his sally out upon him, as Moses Kimchi and Ben Gersom, proceeding upon a mistaken sense of Amo 2:1 for the king of Edom could have no son that had a right, or was designed to succeed him, since he was but a deputy king himself; and besides, the sacrificing of him was not the way to cause the kings to raise the siege, but rather to provoke them to press it the more closely: it was the king of Moab that took his son and heir to the crown,
and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall; that it might be seen by the camp of Israel, and move their compassion; or rather this was done as a religious action, to appease the deity by an human sacrifice so dear and precious, to give success, and cause the enemy to break up the siege; and was either offered to the true God, the God of Israel, in imitation of Abraham, as some Jewish writers fancy (n), or to his idol Chemosh, the sun; and Jarchi observes, out of an exposition of theirs, that "vau" is wanting in the word for wall, and so may be interpreted of the sun, towards which this burnt offering was offered; and it is observed, from various Heathen authors, that it was usual with the Heathens, when in calamity and distress, to offer up to their gods what was most dear and valuable to them; and particularly the Phoenicians (o), and from them the Carthaginians had this custom, who at one time offered up two hundred sons of their nobility, to appease their gods (p):
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and there was great indignation against Israel; not of the king of Edom against them, for not rescuing his son, or because they were the means of this disaster which befell him; but of the king of Moab, who was quite desperate, and determined to hold out the siege to the utmost extremity: and they departed, and returned to their own land; the three kings, the one to Edom, the other to Israel, and the third to Judah; when they saw the Moabites would sell their lives so dear, and hold out to the last man, they thought fit to break up the siege; and perhaps were greatly affected with the barbarous shocking sight they had seen, and might fear, should they stay, something else of the like kind would be done.
(n) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 39. 2. Pesikta in Abarbinel in loc. (o) Vid. Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 1. c. 10. p. 40. l. 4. c. 16. p. 156. Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 2. sect. 56. Vid. Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 12. c. 28. (p) Diodor. Sicul. Bibliothec. l. 20. p. 756.
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John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv25–26 Kir-haraseth - This was the royal city of the…
Kir-haraseth - This was the royal city of the Moabites, into which the remnant of the Moabites were gathered, where also their king was with them. The stones - The walls and buildings of this city only were left; their whole country being destroyed. The slingers - Such as slung great stones against the walls to break them down, according to the manner of those times. Made breaches in the walls, by which they might enter the city, and take it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv25–26 Verse 25. On every good piece of land] On…
Verse 25. On every good piece of land] On all cultivated ground, and especially fields that were sown.
Only in Kir-haraseth] This was the royal city of the Moabites, and, as we learn from Scripture, exceedingly strong; (see Isa 16:7; Isa 16:11); so that it is probable the confederate armies could not easily reduce it. The slingers, we are informed, went about the wall, and smote all the men that appeared on it, while no doubt the besieging army was employed in sapping the foundations.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv24–26 2Ki 3:24. They went forward, smiting the Moabites, even…
2Ki 3:24. They went forward, smiting the Moabites, even in their country — They pursued them to their own country, and entered it with and after them; the passes, which the Moabites had before defended, being now open to them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv25–26 Kir-Haraseth, also Kir-Hareseth, is identified almost certainly with the…
Kir-Haraseth, also Kir-Hareseth, is identified almost certainly with the modern Kerak, a strong city on the highland immediately east of the southern part of the Dead Sea. It was the great fortress of Moab, though not the capital, which was Rabbath or Rabbah. It was an important strong-hold at the time of the Crusades, and is still a place of great strength. Kir seems to have meant “fortress.” It is found in Cir-cesium, Car-chemish, etc.
Kir-Haraseth resisted all the attempts to dismantle it; but the slingers found places on the hills which surrounded it, from where they could throw their stones into it and harass the garrison, though they could not take the town.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Moab. Hebrew adds, "even in the country."
Moab. Hebrew adds, "even in the country."
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v25 Kir-haraseth--(now Kerak)--Castle of Moab--then, probably, the only fortress in…
Kir-haraseth--(now Kerak)--Castle of Moab--then, probably, the only fortress in the land.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv25–26 25. Cast every man his stone — A vast…
25. Cast every man his stone — A vast host could in this way quickly even bury a field with stones. Compare note on 2Ki_3:19.
Stopped all the wells — “Wells, dug at great expense, were regarded as very valuable possessions. Isaac was a great well-digger, prompted thereto by the necessity of his vast flocks. To stop up wells was the most pernicious and destructive species of vengeance, the surest way to convert a flourishing country into a frightful wilderness.” — Thomson.
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Kir-haraseth — Called also Kir-haresh, (Isa_16:11,) Kir-heres, (Jer_48:31,) and Kir of Moab, (Isa_15:1.) Its modern name is Kerak. The spot has been visited and described by several travellers. It was the chief city of the Moabites, and is situated on a plateau of high land ten miles east of the southern end of the Dead Sea, and some three thousand feet above the level of its waters. It occupies the top of a steep hill, and is surrounded on all sides by deep and narrow valleys, beyond which tower up lofty hills, cutting off all prospect in the distance except towards the northwest, where the deep Wady Kerak opens a prospect to the Dead Sea, and, in a clear day, even to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The city is still enclosed by a partially ruined wall, flanked by seven massive towers.
Slingers went about it, and smote it — From the surrounding hills, which overlook the city, they could hurl stones so as to smite many of the inhabitants.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–26 24. the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites]…
24. 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 were able to put them to a confused flight. And the discovery of their mistake would paralyse the Moabites and make victory certain for Israel and their allies.
but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country] R.V. they went forward into the land smiting the Moabites. The Hebrew text presents some difficulty here. The word which R.V. has represented by ‘into the land’ is literally ‘into it’. But as Moab (translated Moabites) has been mentioned in the previous clause the pronoun may fairly be referred to it. The verb ‘they went forward’ is not of the usual form and for יכאו = יכו the marginal reading of the Massoretic text suggests יכו = they smote, and this the margin of A.V. translates, ‘and they smote in it, even smiting’. But the suggestion seems unnecessary. The LXX. read יכו for they give εἰσῆλθον εἰσπορευόμενοι, apparently having taken the preposition and pronoun בה for the verb בוא.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–26 (24) Smote the Moabites.—Who were unprepared for resistance.
(24) Smote the Moabites.—Who were unprepared for resistance.
But they went forward smiting . . . country.—The Hebrew text (Kethib) has, and he went (way-yâbô, spelt defectively, as in 1Ki_12:12) into it (i.e., the land of Moab), and smote (literally, smiting an infinitive for a finite form) Moab. This is better than the Hebrew margin (Qeri), and they smote it (i.e. Moab), or the reading of some MSS. and the Targum and Syriac, “and they smote them, and smote Moab,” which is tautologous. The original reading is perhaps represented by that of the LXX., καὶ ἐπάταξαν εἰσπορευόμενοι καὶτύπτοντες τὴν Μωαβ, “and they entered the country, destroying as they went on.” (In Hebrew the participles would be infinitives.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv24–26 And when they came to the camp of Israel,…
And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up. The first rush of the main body would be upon the camp, where they would expect to find the richest spoil. It was near at hand; and the occupants kept themselves concealed in it, expecting the disorderly attack which actually took place. They then "rose up," and fell upon the crowd of assailants, who were off their guard, and expecting nothing less. A confused rout followed. And smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them. Josephus says, "Some of the Moabites were cut to pieces; the others fled, and dispersed themselves over their country." But they went forward, smiting the Moabites even in their country. There are two readings here, wbyw and wkyw. The former is to be preferred, and is to be pointed wObYw (for awObYw, as in 1Ki_12:12. This gives the meaning of the text. The marginal translation follows the Keri WkYw, which is (as Keil says) "a bad emendation."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv24, 26 camp of Israel
camp of Israel
Here "Israel" refers only to the Israelite soldiers and not to the whole nation of Israel. AT: "the area where the Israelite soldiers had set up their tents" (See: Synecdoche)
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the Israelites surprised
Here "Israelites" refers only to the Israelite soldiers and not to the whole nation of Israel. AT: "the Israelite soldiers surprised" (See: Synecdoche)
fled before them
"ran away from them"
Kir Hareseth
This is the capital of Moab. (See: How to Translate Names)
was left with its rocks in place
The walls and buildings of the city were made of stones. The meaning of this can be made clear. AT: "still had its stone walls and buildings in place" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
with slings
A "sling" is piece of animal skin with long cords at both ends in which a person can put a stone or other small, hard object and throw it a long distance.
translationWords
kingdom of Israel
Moab
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv24, 26 3:24-25 The army of Israel . . . destroyed…
3:24-25 The army of Israel . . . destroyed the towns. Elisha’s prophecy was fulfilled, although Kir-hareseth escaped total destruction.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.