2 Kings 3

2 KINGS CHAPTER 3

Israel’s King Jehoram

      • In the 18th year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria. He ruled for 12 years. He did what is evil in Yahweh’s eyes, but not to the same degree as his parents. He did remove the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. Yet, he held on tightly to the sins of Nebat’s son Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he didn’t turn away from them.

        • HCSB notes, “’Joram’ is ‘Jehoram’ in the Hebrew. This son of Ahab should not be confused with Joram (Jehoram), son of Jehoshaphat (see 8:16-24; 1 Kgs 22:50). An additional source of confusion is that these two king’s reigns overlapped. The ’12 years’ were 852-841 BC.”

        • ESV Archaeology Study Bible writes, “Jehoram (r. 852-841 BC), son of Ahab and also known as Joram, is mentioned in the Tel Dan Stela (late 9th century BC), a victory monument erected by Hazael, king of Aram-Damascus, to commemorate his defeat of Israel. The relevant lines of the inscription read, ‘[And I killed Jo]ram, son of A[hab,] king of Israel, and [I] killed [Ahazi]yahu, son of [Joram, kin]g of the House of David…[And Jehu ru]led over Is[rael].’ Second Kings 9 claims that Jehu (r. 841-814 BC) slew Jehoram/Joram, but Hazael reports that he killed Israel’s king. A previous alliance between Hazael and Jehu (1 Kgs 19:17) explains how both men could take credit.”

Image via BAS Library “‘David’ Found at Dan”

        • On the sacred stone of Baal, which some translations refer to as a ‘pillar,’ the same source adds, “The term for pillar, matsebah, refers to a stone erected to commemorate a special event, such as a divine encounter (Gen 28:18) or the making of a covenant (Gen 31:45; Ex 24:4). These pillars are also associated with worship…”

Moab Rebels Against Israel

      • Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder and he had to pay the king of Israel a tribute of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So King Jehoram marched out from Samaria at that time and mobilized all of Israel. He also sent a message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah saying: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I will go. I am as you are, my people are as your people, and my horses are as your horses.” Then he asked, “By what route will we attack?” Jehoram answered, “Through the wilderness of Edom.”

        • ESV Archaeology Study Bible writes, “The Moabite Stone, or Mesha Stela, currently in the Louvre Museum in Paris, was commissioned by Mesha king of Moab to commemorate his achievements. Mesha makes his version of war fought with Israel in 850 BC prominent; the Israelite account appears in this chapter. The two accounts differ; Mesha emphasizes his victories over Israel, while the biblical writer emphasizes Israel’s successful counterattacks. Mesha was a ninth-century king of Moab, successor of his father, Chemosh-yatti, according to the Moabite stone. He began his reign under the dominion of the Israelite house of Omri and was required to pay his overlord ‘tribute’ (i.e., taxation) in the form of a percentage of his agricultural produce (lambs and wool). After the death of Ahab, Mesha took advantage of the new situation and rebelled, inciting Ahab’s son Jehoram to launch the military campaign.”

        • NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible adds, “…The present verse describes the taxation in this more local case as involving sheep and wool, which is understandable given the importance of sheep in the economy of ancient Palestine…” On the quantity of sheep and wool indicated the same source continues, “This is an immense tribute, but nowhere near the 800,000 sheep Sennacherib claimed to have taken from Babylon, so we can see that the amounts are not beyond what is attested in other ancient Near Eastern records.”

        • ESV Study Bible points out, “Like his father before him, Jehoram seeks help from his southern neighbor Jehoshaphat, whose initial response is recognizable from 1 Kings 22:4: I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Missing on this occasion, however, is any desire on Jehoshaphat’s part to discover the counsel of the Lord before going off to war (contrast 1 Kgs 22:5); here he moves directly from agreement to tactics (2 Kgs 3:8), and from tactics to action (v. 9). This is surprising…”

      • So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And after seven days of marching roundabout, they had no more water for the army or for the animals with them. Then the king of Israel said, “Ah! Yahweh has called us three kings in order to hand us over to the king of Moab!” Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of Yahweh here through whom we may inquire of Yahweh?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Shaphat’s son Elisha is here. He used to be Elijah’s servant.” Jehoshaphat said, “Yes, the word of Yahweh is with him.” So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to visit him.

        • ESV Archaeology Study Bible writes, “Jehoram suggests attacked Moab from the south, through the wilderness of Edom, rather than from the north. Edom is under Judean rule (1 Kgs 22:47), and her king is Jehoshaphat’s deputy. The action involves a march in which the combined armies get lost and caught in a circuitous march. Unsurprisingly, a military venture, undertaken without prophetic advise faces disaster.”

      • ESV Study Bible says, “Jehoshaphat’s memory suddenly returns, and he asks the right question (cf 1 Kgs 22:7)…”

        • I have followed the NET Bible’s translation for the latter part of v. 11, rather than the literal rendering of the Hebrew that other translations include. NET Bible’s text critical notes explain, “Heb ‘who poured water on the hands of Elijah.’ This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.”

        • Guzik adds, “This was encouraging humility on the part of these three kings. Normally, kings demand that others come to see them. These three were willing to go to the prophet.”

      • Elisha told the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets.” The king of Israel replied, “No, because it is Yahweh who has called us three kings in order to hand us over to Moab.” Elisha answered, “As surely as Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand, if I did not respect King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would neither look at you nor acknowledge you. Now, bring me a musician.” When the musician played, the hand of Yahweh came upon him and he said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Dig many cisterns in this wadi,’ because this is what Yahweh says, ‘You won’t see wind or rain, but this wadi will be filled with water, and you and your cattle and your animals will drink.’ This is an easy task for Yahweh. He will also hand Moab over to you. You will defeat every fortified city and every important city. You must chop down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every piece of cultivated land with stones.”

        • I find this passage with its association of music and prophesy fascinating. The following sources comment:

          • ESV Study Bible: “Music plays a part in Elisha’s attainment of the prophetic state in which he utters his prophecy (cf 1 Sam 10:5-11)…”

        • NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: “The implication is that music plays its part in Elisha’s attainment of the prophetic ‘state’ in which he utters his prophecy. This connection between music and prophecy is also hinted at in 1 Sa 10:5-11, and suggests that, on this occasion at least, Elisha was engaged in ‘ecstatic’ prophetic behavior of a kind similar to that evidenced at Mari…”

        • Pulpit Commentary: “A player on the harp seems to be intended. Music was cultivated in the schools of the prophets (1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Chronicles 25:1-3), and was employed to soothe and quiet the soul, to help it to forget things earthly and external, and bring it into that ecstatic condition in which it was most open to the reception of Divine influences. As David’s harping refreshed Saul, and tranquillized his spirit (1 Samuel 16:23), so the playing of any skilled minstrel had a soothing effect on those possessing the prophetic gift generally, and enabled them to shut out the outer world, and concentrate their whole attention on the inward voice which communicated to them the Divine messages. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. By “the hand of the Lord” is meant the power of the Spirit of God, the Divine effluence, whatever it was, which acquainted the prophets with the Divine will, and enabled them to utter it.”

        • There is variation in how translators render v. 16. NET Bible’s text critical notes explain, “Heb ‘making this valley cisterns, cisterns.’ The Hebrew noun…(gev) means ‘cistern’ in Jer 14:3 (cf. Jer 39:10). The repetition of the noun is for emphasis…The verb (‘making’) is an infinitive absolute, which has to be interpreted in light of the context. The translation above takes it in an imperatival sense. The command need not be understood as literal, but as hyperbolic. Telling them to build cisterns is a dramatic way of leading into the announcement that he would miraculously provide water in the desert. Some prefer to translate the infinitive as an imperfect with the Lord as the understood subject, ‘I will turn this valley [into] many pools.’”

      • Elisha’s instruction from Yahweh to cut down the trees has also sparked controversy from some due to a confusion regarding Mosaic law. Pulpit Commentary provides an excellent explanation of the debate and what I consider to be a good resolution:

          • “It has been said that the Law forbade this, and argued (1) that Elisha did not here utter a command, but only a prediction (Pool), not bidding the Israelites to cut down the trees, but only telling them they would do so; (2) that Elisha intentionally excepted the Moabites from the merciful provision of the Law (Deuteronomy 20:19, 20), having authority to do so, and regarding the Moabites as exceptionally wicked (Keil); and (3) that the Mosaic Law was not observed under the kings, and that Elisha himself had forgotten the provision about fruit trees (Geddes). But a careful examination of the passage in Deuteronomy will show (1) that there is no general prohibition of the cutting down of fruit trees, but only a prohibition of their being cut down for siege works; (2) that the prohibition rests on prudential, not on moral, grounds, and is thus practically limited to cases where the conquest of the country attacked, and its occupation by the conquerors, are looked forward to. The words are, ‘When thou shalt besiege a city…. thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them.’ The destruction of the fruit trees in an enemy’s country was a common feature of the wars of the period, and was largely practiced, both By the Assyrians and the Egyptians…”

        • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges includes this interesting insight into the last clause of v. 19 about ruining the good land with stones: “ 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?’”

      • Sure enough, the next morning, about the time when the morning sacrifice was offered, water came flowing down from the direction of Edom and filled the land. Now all of Moab had heard that the kings had come to fight against them. So all who could bear arms, from the youngest to the oldest, were summoned and stationed at the border. When the Moabites got up early the next morning, the sun was shining on the water, which made the water appear red like blood to them. They exclaimed, “This is blood! Surely the kings have fought and killed each other! Now then, to the plunder, Moab!” But when they came to the Israelite camp, the Israelites rose up and attacked the Moabites until they ran away from them. So Israel went forward, slaughtering the Moabites as they went. They tore down the cities, and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. They stopped up every spring and chopped down every good tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left with its stones in place, but men armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it.

        • ESV Study Bible says, “Events begin to unfold in line with Elisha’s prophecy. Water mysteriously flows from the direction of Edom (Hb ‘Edom), fooling the Moabites into thinking the allies have slaughtered each other because in the morning sunlight the water appears red (Hb ‘adummim) as blood (Hb dam); notice the play on words with ‘Edom. Their reckless advance on the Israelite camp is met with force.”

        • ESV Archaeology Study Bible notes, “Kir-hareseth (el-Kerak) was strategically located on a rocky hill overlooking the Dead Sea, about 17 miles east of the Dead Sea.”

      • When the king of Moab realized the battle was going against him, he took 700 swordsmen with him and tried to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed. So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him for a burned offering on the wall. There was a great wrath against Israel, so they withdrew from him and went back to their own land.

        • ESV Archaeology Study Bible writes:

          • “Religious rituals involving child sacrifice were not uncommon among the Canaanites and Phoenicians, being mentioned by the Greek author Kleitarchos (4th century BC): ‘Out of reverence for Kronos [Greek equivalent of Baal-Hammon], the Phoenicians, and especially the Carthaginians, whenever they seek to obtain some great favor, vow one of their children, burning it as a sacrifice to the deity, if they are especially eager to gain success. There stands in their midst a bronze statue of Kronos, its hands extended over a bronze brazier, the flames of which engulf the child” (Scholia on Plato’s Republic 337a).”

        • “In the Phoenician city of Carthage (near modern Tunis), archaeologists discovered a massive tophet (‘place of burning’) measuring 54,000-64,000 square feet at its zenith, where hundreds of children were sacrificed as burnt offerings to the god Baal-Hammon and the goddess Tanit from the eighth to the second century BC. Excavators estimated that between 400 and 200 BC, 20,000 children were burned and buried at the site. Their graves were marked by upright stone stelae, some of which were inscribed. The dedicatory inscriptions indicate the children were sacrificed in fulfillment of vows made by their parents to the god or goddess. One example reads as follows (PN= personal name):

            • To our lady, to Tanit, the face of Baal, and to our lord, to Baal-Hammon, that which was vowed by PN son of PN son of PN, because he heard his voice and blessed him. (Stager and Wolff, BAR 10/1: 45).”

        • The final sentence of this passage is hotly debated. As NET Bible’s text critical notes point out that with respect to the “great wrath” that the passage says was against Israel, “Except for two relatively late texts, the noun…(qetsef) refers to an outburst of divine anger.” This introduces any number of theological problems in to the interpretation. Why would Yahweh have a “great wrath” against Israel in response to the Moabite king sacrificing his son? Didn’t Yahweh specifically instruct them to attack the Moabites? Some have posited that if it’s not Yahweh’s wrath, perhaps it is the wrath of the Moabite god Chemosh? Since the Israelites withdrew, does this mean that Chemosh technically defeated Yahweh? Those who reject any of the above as a possibility try to find support that the text means that it was the wrath of men, not of Yahweh or a false god. In that case, since Elisha’s prophecy of victory doesn’t seem to have come to pass, does this mean that Elisha was a false prophet? As you can see the various questions and answers have quite serious implications. I believe Dr. Heiser has an answer that seems to be the best supported and least theologically problematic in his article on the passage, “Even in the Bible, Good Doesn’t Always Win”:

            • “In desperation, the king of Moab committed a horrible atrocity: ‘He took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall’ (3:27). The meaning of the next line is hotly debated: ‘And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.’ Why did this happen? Why wasn’t Yahweh victorious? After all, Elisha had said God would give the invaders victory (3:18).”

            • “In the Old Testament, we read that the Israelites believed the gods of other nations were real, assigned to the nations by Yahweh, who was superior and ruled over all other gods (Deut 32:8–9). They believed these gods were demons—real spiritual beings (Deut 32:17). Given the nature of this worldview, it seems the Israelites were frightened by the sacrifice and lost faith, thinking Moab’s god was angry against them and would empower Moab to win because of the sacrifice.”

            • “Elisha had told the kings of Israel and Judah that God would help them. So why had He not? This situation isn’t the first time God promises but chooses not to deliver: God had told the Israelites that they would conquer Canaan under Moses and Joshua, yet they failed because of unbelief (Num 13; Deut 31:1–7; Josh 13:1–5; Judg 1:27–36). Yahweh was not defeated by the god of Moab. He was, and is, ready and able to help his people. But he will not do so if they refuse to believe and act on that belief.”

               

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