III. THE REIGN OF JEHORAM OF ISRAEL, AND HIS EXPEDITION AGAINST MOAB, IN WHICH JEHOSHAPHAT OF JUDAH TAKES PART. (1) BEGAN TO REIGN. — Literally, _reigned._ THE EIGHTEENTH YEAR. — Comp. Note on 2 Kings 1:17; 2 Kings 8:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
WROUGHT EVIL. — _Did the evil in the eyes, &c., i.e._, maintained the illicit worship of the bullock at Beth-el (2 Kings 3:3). LIKE HIS MOTHER. — Jezebel lived throughout his reign (2 Kings 9:30), which explains why he did not eradicate the Baal-worship (2 Kings 10:18). FOR HE PUT AWAY. — _And he... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CLEAVED UNTO THE SINS OF JEROBOAM. — 1 Kings 12:28, _seq._, 1 Kings 16:2; 1 Kings 16:26. THEREFROM. — Heb., _from it_ (a collective feminine). So in 2 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 13:6; 2 Kings 13:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
The revolt of Moab, continued from 2 Kings 1:1. Ahaziah did not reign two full years, and his accident seems to have prevented any attempt on his part to reduce the Moabites. MESHA. — The name means “deliverance, salvation,” and occurs on the monument set up by this king, describing his victories a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT. — _And._ WHEN. — So some MSS. The ordinary text has, “about the time of Ahab’s death” (_ke_ for _be_). REBELLED — _i.e._, refused payment of the annual tribute.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SAME TIME. — Literally, _in that day;_ which, in Hebrew, is a much less definite phrase than in English. The time intended is that when the Moabite refusal of tribute was received by Jehoram, who, on his accession, would demand it afresh. NUMBERED. — _Mustered, made a levy of_.... [ Continue Reading ]
WILT THOU GO. — So Ahab asks Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22:4, and he replies as here, “I am as thou art,” &c. This indicates that the present section was originally composed by the same hand as 1 Kings 20:1; 1 Kings 22:1 (_Thenius_) Jehoshaphat assented, in spite of the prophetic censures of his allianc... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID — _i.e._, Jehoram said. WHICH WAY. — They might cross the Jordan, and attack the northern frontier of Moab, or they might round the southern end of the Dead Sea, and invade Moab from the side of Edom. The former was the shortest route for both kings. But Moab’s strongest defences were on... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING OF EDOM. — A vassal king appointed by Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:48). THEY FETCHED A COMPASS. — _Went round_ (scil., the Dead Sea) _a journey of seven days._ The confederates appear to have lost their way among the mountains of Seir. They would, in any case, be greatly delayed by the cattle w... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT. — Omit (_kî_, emphatically introducing the assertion). TOGETHER. — Omit.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT (_and_) JEHOSHAPHAT... BY HIM? — The same question is asked by Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22:7. BY HIM. — Heb., _from with him_ (_mç’ôthô for mç’ittô_, both here and in the parallel place — a mark of the same hand). Jehoshaphat is for “seeking Jehovah” through a prophet, in contrast with Jehoram, w... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING OF ISRAEL AND JEHOSHAPHAT. — All the versions except the Targum add, “the king of Judah.” Jehoshaphat said what follows either on the ground of _Elijah’s_ reputation, or because the news of Elisha’s succession had already reached Judah. The proper names, Shaphat and Jehoshaphat, are identi... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THE KING OF ISRAEL. — As the leader of the confederacy; or as Elisha’s sovereign, who might be supposed to have brought the others to the prophet. THE PROPHETS OF THY FATHER — _i.e._, the Baal prophets (comp. 1 Kings 18:19) and false prophets of Jehovah (1 Kings 22:6; 1 Kings 22:11). Elisha’s... [ Continue Reading ]
BEFORE WHOM I STAND. — As a minister. (Comp. 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:15.) SURELY. — Kî (for); used as in 2 Kings 3:10 (“I cry, alas!” “I thus swear,” _for_, &c.). Jehoshaphat is accepted because of his faithful dependence on Jehovah (2 Kings 3:11). Jehoram still maintained or tolerated the cultus... [ Continue Reading ]
BRING ME A MINSTREL. — _Mĕnaggçn_ — _i.e._, a harper, player on a stringed instrument (_nĕgînâh_). Elisha called for music as a natural means of calming his perturbed spirit (2 Kings 3:13). Composure and serenity of soul were essential, if the prophet was to hear the voice of God within. Cicero tell... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE. — Right (infinitive, equivalent to an energetic imperative). VALLEY. — _Nahal_, wady, torrent-bed, gully. According to Thenius, “the brook Zered” of Deuteronomy 2:13 is meant; the present _Wady el-Ahsy_, (or _el-Hasa_) which forms the natural southern boundary of Moab, and from which several... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL NOT SEE WIND. — Which in the east is the usual precursor of rain. YET THAT VALLEY. — _And that wady._ He says “_that_ (_hû’_) valley,” meaning “the one of which I spoke” (2 Kings 3:16). Contrast “_this_ (_zeh_) valley,” i.e., “the one in which we are” (2 Kings 3:16). YOUR CATTLE. — _Miqne... [ Continue Reading ]
IS BUT A LIGHT THING. — _Will be a light thing_ (1 Kings 16:31). HE WILL DELIVER THE MOABITES. — The contrary of Jehoram’s expectation (2 Kings 3:10; 2 Kings 3:13).... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL SMITE... SHALL FELL... — These verbs are continuative of those in the last verse, _i.e._, they do not _command_ a course of action, but _foretell_ it. (Comp. 2 Kings 8:12.) Taken as _commands_, they appear to conflict with Deuteronomy 20:19, where the felling of an enemy’s _fruit trees_... [ Continue Reading ]
_(_20_)_ WHEN THE MEAT OFFERING WAS OFFERED. — Comp. 1 Kings 18:29; 1 Kings 18:36. A more exact definition of the time. The reckoning by _hours_ was unknown before the captivity. According to the Talmud, the morning sacrifice was offered in the Temple the moment it became light. (Ewald assumes that... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN ... HEARD... THEY GATHERED. — _Now all the Moabites had heard_... _and had gathered themselves:_ _literally, had been summoned, called together_ (Judges 7:23). ALL THAT WERE ABLE TO PUT ON ARMOUR. — _From every one girding on a girdle, and upwards_ — _i.e._, all of adult age, all who coul... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ROSE UP EARLY. — The Moabite camp on the frontier mountains. AND THE SUN SHONE UPON THE WATER. — A parenthesis (_now the sun had risen upon the water_). The red sunrise tinged the water with the same colour. ON THE OTHER SIDE. — _Min-nèged_, “opposite,” “over against them” (2 Kings 2:7; 2 Kin... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGS ARE SURELY SLAIN. — _Have surely fought with_ (or _destroyed_) _one another_. LXX., ἐμαχέσαντο. The supposition was not improbable. Confederates of different races not seldom had been known to fall out among themselves (comp. Judges 7:22; 2 Chronicles 20:23, and Note), and in this case the... [ Continue Reading ]
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 1 Kings 12:12) _into it_ (_i.e.,_ the land of Moab), _and smote_ (literally, _smiting_ an infinitive for a finit... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY BEAT DOWN THE CITIES. — Rather, _And the cities they would overthrow_, describing what happened again and again. ON EVERY... FILLED IT. — Literally, _And every good plot, they would cast each man his stone, and fill it; and every fountain of water they would stop, and every good tree they... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BATTLE WAS TOO SORE FOR HIM. — The garrison was giving way under the destructive fire of the slingers. TO BREAK THROUGH EVEN UNTO THE KING OF EDOM. — Because the Edomite contingent seemed to be the most vulnerable point in the allied army, or because he hoped that these unwilling allies of Isra... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN. — _And_. HIS ELDEST SON — _i.e._, the despairing king of Moab took his own son and heir. OFFERED HIM FOR A BURNT OFFERING. — To Chemosh, without doubt, by way of appeasing that wrath of the god which seemed bent on his destruction. (Comp. the words of Mesha’s inscription: “Chemosh was angry w... [ Continue Reading ]