John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

1 Kings 22:1



INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 22



This chapter relates, that after three years' peace with the king of Syria, Ahab was inclined to go to war with him, to take Ramothgilead out of his hands; and he drew in Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join him in it, 1Ki 22:1, but before they went into it, they took advice, Ahab of his four hundred prophets, which Jehoshaphat not being satisfied with, a true prophet of the Lord, Micahah, was sent for, 1Ki 22:5 who, when he came, jeered Ahab with what his prophets had said to him; intimated that he should be killed, and explained it to him how he came to be deceived by his prophets, 1Ki 22:15 upon which he was smitten on the cheek by Zedekiah, one of the false prophets, and imprisoned by the order of Ahab, 1Ki 22:24, after which the two kings went to the battle, and Jehoshaphat was in great danger of his life; but Ahab was wounded, and died, 1Ki 22:29, and the chapter is concluded with an account of the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, 1Ki 22:41, and of Ahaziah king of Israel, 1Ki 22:51.



Ver. 1. And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. From the time that Benhadad made a covenant with Ahab; not three full years, but part of them: it was threatened by Elijah from the Lord, that Ahab's life should go for Benhadad's, because he had let him, go, 1Ki 22:42, but because of his humiliation, as is thought by Ben Gersom and others, it was respited for those three years; and now an opportunity and occasion would be given for the fulfilment of what was threatened.





1 Kings 22:2



Ver. 2. And it came to pass in the third year,.... Of the peace, before it was expired:



that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel; to Ahab, from Jerusalem to Samaria, reckoned thirty two miles {m}; either to make peace with him, and put an end to the wars which subsisted between Israel and Judah since the division of the kingdom, 1Ki 22:44 or to contract an affinity with him, by marrying his son to a daughter of Ahab, 2Ki 8:18 or rather after peace was made, and that strengthened by the marriage; and so he went merely to pay a visit, as he judged he might then with great safety; and he and all his retinue were entertained by Ahab in a very sumptuous and liberal manner, 2Ch 18:1.



{m} Bunting's Travels, &c. p. 178. near 40, Rainold. Praelect. 31. col. 266.





1 Kings 22:3



Ver. 3. (And the king of Israel said unto his servants,.... His nobles, those of his privy council, his ministers of state; or "had said" {n}, some little time before Jehoshaphat came:



know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours a city of refuge beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Gad, and so of course must belong to the kingdom of Israel, of which see Jos 20:8



and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?) neither demand it, nor take any measures to oblige him to deliver it up; representing it as a great omission, and as a piece of negligence and slothfulness, or cowardice.



{n} rmayw "et dixerat", Junius & Tremellius.





1 Kings 22:4



Ver. 4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead?.... This affair being lately canvassed at the council board, and very much on Ahab's mind, he puts this question to Jehoshaphat, his visitor, relation, and ally; wisely considering that his own forces were small, and that to have such an auxiliary might be of great advantage to him:



and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses; meaning, that he and his soldiers, foot and horse, were at his service.





1 Kings 22:5



Ver. 5. And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. Being a pious and religious prince, he did not choose to go into a war at once, without consulting the Lord by his prophets, whether it was his will and pleasure they should engage in it, and should prosper; and he was desirous of having this done immediately, before they proceeded any further.





1 Kings 22:6



Ver. 6. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men,.... False prophets, as the Targum and Arabic version; and they are called Ahab's prophets, and not the Lord's, 1Ki 22:23 perhaps these were the prophets of the groves, that ate at Jezebel's table, and were preserved when the prophets of Baal were destroyed, since the number agrees with them, see 1Ki 18:19



and said unto them, shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? which would you advise to? signifying he should take their advice:



and they said, go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king: which words are very ambiguous, like the oracles of the Heathens; for they do not express who or what should be delivered up, for the word it is a supplement, nor to what king the delivery should be made; whether the Syrians, and the place they held should be given up to king Ahab, which they would have understood; or whether the Israelites should be delivered up to king Benhadad; so that, whichever had been the case, the credit of their prophecy would be secured. They used the word "Lord", and not Baal, in complaisance to Jehoshaphat, and perhaps as directed by Ahab.





1 Kings 22:7



Ver. 7. And Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him?] He suspected these to be false prophets, though he would not call them so; nor suggest that they were not the prophets of the Lord, because he would not affront Ahab, who had an opinion of them; and therefore asks, if there were no other that went under the character of a prophet of the Lord, that he might inquire of him for his further satisfaction.





1 Kings 22:8



Ver. 8. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man (Micaiah the son of Imlah), by whom we may inquire of the Lord,.... And but one in Samaria; Elijah and Elisha were elsewhere:



but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy of good concerning me, but evil; who is thought to be the same that was several times with him when engaged in the war with the king of Syria, 1Ki 20:13 and each time, excepting the last, he brought him good tidings; but because, in his last message, he told him, that, since he had let Benhadad go, his life should go for his life, and his people for his people, for that he hated him:



and Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say so; which was very modestly, though perhaps too gently, said; suggesting that the prophets of the Lord should be heard, respected, and honoured, let their message be as it would, since they spake not of their own mind and will, but what they were moved unto by the Spirit of God.





1 Kings 22:9



Ver. 9. Then the king of Israel called an officer,.... An eunuch, as the word is sometimes used, one of pages:



and said, hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah; who, as it seems from

1Ki 22:26 was in prison, where perhaps Ahab had cast him for his last prophecy to him, and where he had lain ever since; and this gives a reason why he could so readily send for him, knowing where he was.





1 Kings 22:10



Ver. 10. And the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, sat each on his throne,.... In great state and majesty:



having put on their robes; their royal robes, which they wore when they appeared in pomp and grandeur:



in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; where courts of judicature were held, and there was an open void space for the people to assemble in to hear; the word has the signification of a corn floor, and the Jews suppose they and their attendants sat in a semicircle like the half of a corn floor, after the same manner in which they say the sanhedrim at Jerusalem sat {o}:



and all the prophets prophesied before them; concerning this affair of going to Ramothgilead.



{o} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 5. 1. Vid. Kimchium in loc.





1 Kings 22:11



Ver. 11. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron,.... Horns are emblems of power and might, and iron ones of greater strength still; the prophets sometimes made use of visible signs, to represent the things they prophesied of should come to pass, see

Isa 20:2, and the same method this prophet took:



and he saith, thus saith the Lord; imitating the true prophets: with these shall thou push the Syrians until thou hast consumed them: Abarbinel thinks he had in view the blessing of Joseph by Moses, De 33:17 where he is compared to a bullock with horns; and these said to be the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh; and Ahab being of the tribe of Joseph, and ruling in Ephraim and Manasseh, the prophet chose to make use of this emblem for his encouragement.





1 Kings 22:12



Ver. 12. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper,.... All encouraged the king to go up against this place, and prophesied of victory, as Zedekiah did:



for the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hand,

See Gill on "1Ki 22:6".





1 Kings 22:13



Ver. 13. And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him,.... By the way, as they came along together, as Josephus {p} observes:



behold, now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth; they are unanimous that he shall prosper in his undertaking against the Syrians:



let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good; which, as an ignorant man, he might advise to from good will to the prophet, that he might not be branded with singularity, and a spirit of contradiction, and that he might have the favour of the king, and be released from prison, pitying his miserable condition in which he found him.



{p} Antiqu. l. 8. c. 15. sect. 4.





1 Kings 22:14



Ver. 14. And Micaiah said, as the Lord liveth,.... He swore by the living God, for the confirmation of what he was about to say:



what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak; truly and faithfully, keeping nothing back, nor adding anything, whether it be good or evil, pleasing or displeasing; it looks as if as yet he had no instruction from the Lord what to say, and yet the vision he later declares seems to have been had by him before, 1Ki 22:17.





1 Kings 22:15



Ver. 15. So he came to the king,.... Being introduced by the officer:



and the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go up against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? the same question in the same words that was put to the other prophets, 1Ki 22:6, only there he uses the singular number, here the plural, including Jehoshaphat with him:



and he answered him, go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king; he answered not in the name of the Lord, saying, "thus saith the Lord", nor did he speak his own sense and in his own words, nor seriously, but by way of derision; he took up the words of the prophets, and bantered them; it is as if he should say, the prophets bid you go, and tell you that you shall "prosper", and that the city will be delivered into the king's hand; do as they direct you, and see what the issue will be, no doubt it will be good, since they are all agreed; but he delivered the above words with such gestures, and such a tone, and with a contemptuous smile in his countenance, which showed that he spoke not seriously, but sarcastically; and this the king plainly discovered, as appears by what follows.





1 Kings 22:16



Ver. 16. And the king said unto him, how many times shall I adjure thee,.... Not that he had as yet adjured him at all, or not till now; but he asks him how often he must be obliged to do it; and now he adjures him once for all, that he might not be forced to repeat it:



that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord? for he observed he did not speak in the name of the Lord before, and what he said was not in a serious but ludicrous manner, and not to be regarded as truth.





1 Kings 22:17



Ver. 17. And he said,.... The prophet, in a serious and solemn manner, being adjured by the king:



I saw all Israel scattered on the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd; the armies of Israel routed, dispersed, and fleeing, some one way and some another, on the mountains of Gilead near Ramoth, weak and helpless, not knowing where to go for safety, having none to direct them; and this was either now instantly represented to his mind, or what had been before in a dream or vision:



and the Lord said, these have no master; these sheep have no shepherd this army hath no general,



[Israel] has [lost its king]: let them return every man to his house in peace, very few slain, Jarchi thinks Ahab only, see 1Ki 22:31 that part of the threatening, 1Ki 20:42 was now to he accomplished, "thy life shall go for his life", but the other part, "and thy people for his people", was to be deferred to another time.





1 Kings 22:18



Ver. 18. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat,.... Plainly perceiving that the prophet foretold that he should fall in battle:



did not I tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? intimating that this proceeded from spite and malice, from ill will to him and hatred of him, and was not from the Lord, and therefore not to be regarded; he had told him three years ago his life should go for letting Benhadad go; but it had not proved true, and no more would this; and Jehoshaphat being an easy man, and too credulous, believed what Ahab said of the character of this prophet, or otherwise it is not to be accounted for that he should go with him to war after such a declaration made.





1 Kings 22:19



Ver. 19. And he saith, hear thou therefore the word of the Lord,.... Since he had represented what he had said as proceeding from hatred to him, he would make it clear and plain that what he had said was the word of the Lord, and according to his mind; and that what the other prophets had said was owing to a lying spirit in them, which the Lord suffered for his ruin; all which are represented as in a vision, in which things are brought down to the capacities of men, and not as really transacted:



I saw the Lord sitting on his throne; so it was represented to his mind, as if he had seen with his bodily eyes the divine Being in a glorious form, as a king sitting on his throne, to do justice and judgment; as Ahab and Jehoshaphat were now sitting on their thrones, only as a far greater King, even the King of kings, and in a more splendid manner:



and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left the ministering angels ready to do his will.





1 Kings 22:20



Ver. 20. And the Lord said, who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead?.... Not that it can be supposed that the Lord entered into a consultation with the angels upon this subject; only that it was the decree of God that he should go thither, and fall by the hand of the man whom he had let go, as a just punishment of him:



and one said on this manner, and another said on that manner; not that there was such an altercation among them; it only signifies, that there are various ways and means, by which the purposes and decrees of God may be and are brought about.





1 Kings 22:21



Ver. 21. And there came forth a spirit,.... Not from the heavenly host on the right hand or the left, for they are pure and holy spirits, and impeccable, and cannot lie or deceive; but the evil spirit, Satan, the father of lies, the old deceiver, who came forth from his own place and his own company:



and stood before the Lord presented himself before him, as Satan did, Job 1:6,



and said, l will persuade him; or prevail upon him; evil spirits love to be employed in doing harm to men, they go about seeking whom they may devour. This could not be the spirit of Naboth, as the Jews say {q}, seeking revenge on Ahab; that was in a state of happiness, could not move from thence, and be capable of sinning.



{q} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 89. 1. & 102. 2. Targum in 2 Chron. xviii. 20.





1 Kings 22:22



Ver. 22. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith?.... What way and method did he propose, to persuade Ahab to go up to Ramoth? the Lord is introduced in this visionary narrative as asking this question, not as ignorant of the scheme of the evil spirit, but in order to bring it out, and lead on to the following account:



and he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets; put them on encouraging Ahab to go up, and promising him success, as he had in former battles with the king of Syria, and which might both encourage them to give forth such a prediction, and him to believe it to be true; this proposal was quite agreeable to the character of the devil, as the father of lies:



and he said, thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also; not only make use of this artifice to persuade, but succeed also; the Lord knew that what he should suggest to the prophets, and they should deliver to Ahab, would be agreeable to his inclination, nor would he do anything in the course of his providence to hinder its taking effect:



go forth, and do so; which was giving leave to try his skill in the art of persuasion, in which he knew he would succeed, and bring on the righteous judgment of God upon Ahab; with this compare Joh 13:27.





1 Kings 22:23



Ver. 23. Now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these thy prophets,.... That is, suffered the lying spirit to suggest a lie to them, and sent them strong delusions to believe that lie, whose minds were disposed at any rate to flatter Ahab, to whom they told it; which was the way designed to bring him to the ruin appointed for him:



and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee: he had decreed it in himself, declared it by Micaiah his prophet, and suffered all those steps to be taken by Satan and the false prophets, to bring him to it.





1 Kings 22:24



Ver. 24. But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near,.... Stepped in haste and passion from the place where he was:



and smote Micaiah on the cheek; in contempt of him, and to show his indignation at what he said; this he did in open court, before two kings; one he believed would favour and screen him in this lawless action, and the other, out of his own jurisdiction, had not courage and presence of mind to resent it:



and said, which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee? hereby boasting that he had the Spirit of the Lord, and was directed by him in what he said, and still remained with him, and could not possibly go to Micaiah, and suggest the very reverse; and therefore pertly asks him which way the spirit went, intimating that it was impossible he could steer a course contrary to himself.





1 Kings 22:25



Ver. 25. And Micaiah said, behold, thou shalt see in the day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself. Who would either accompany Ahab to the battle, and, upon his being wounded, flee to the first place of secrecy for safety; or, upon the news of his defeat brought to Samaria, would betake himself to a private chamber for security, fearing the enemy would pursue to the very place; or else through fear of the populace, who would attribute the death of the king to the advice of him and the other prophets.





1 Kings 22:26



Ver. 26. And the king of Israel said,.... To some of his officers:



take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city: the chief magistrate under the king; a sort of sheriff, who had the care of malefactors, and of all committed to prison, from whom he was received by the messenger, and now sent back to him:



and to Joash the king's son; who might be over his household, as sometimes the king's son was, 2Ch 26:21 or might be viceroy while the king was without the city, and at the gate of it, and about to go to war.





1 Kings 22:27



Ver. 27. And say, thus saith the king, put this fellow in prison,.... In the common prison of the city, where he had been before, as it seems; and might be now ordered into a more confined place in it, and what might be called "little ease":



and feed him with bread of affliction, and with water of affliction; with bad bread and foul water, and but little of either; just enough to keep alive, and to continue starving:



until I come in peace; which he seemed confident of, and intimates that then he would punish him more severely, even with death, as a false prophet.





1 Kings 22:28



Ver. 28. And Micaiah said, if thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me,.... I am content to be reckoned a false prophet, and to be punished as such:



and, he said, hearken, O people, everyone of you; he called aloud unto them to observe what he had predicted, and mark the issue of it, and to bear testimony for him, or against him, as things should be.





1 Kings 22:29



Ver. 29. So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, went up to Ramothgilead. Which, according to Bunting {r}, was twenty four miles from Samaria. That Ahab went is no wonder, it was his own motion first, his inclination led to it, his prophets encouraged him, and, in bravado to the prophet of the Lord, was determined upon it; but it may seem much more strange that Jehoshaphat should, after such an account as Micaiah had given, and who, doubtless, could observe a great difference between him and the prophets of Ahab; and yet there is much to be said which might incline him to go, as that there were four hundred prophets all agreed, and who made use of the name of the Lord, and pretended to be true prophets; and though he might suspect them, he could not confute them; and Micaiah, he prophesied evil of Ahab only, and therefore Jehoshaphat might think himself safe in going; and besides, he had given his word to Ahab, and he did not choose to go from it; to which may be added, that Ahab's cause was just, to recover a part of his own dominions.



{r} Travels, &c. p. 178.





1 Kings 22:30



Ver. 30. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle,.... Change his clothes, his royal robes, and put on others, perhaps the habit of a common soldier; having, it may be, been informed by some deserters or spies, of the design of Benhadad against him. Abarbinel thinks the meaning is, that he would clothe himself with a coat of mail, and take to him the each of the instruments of war, and so go into the battle secure; this seems probable from 1Ki 22:34 and this he might do to elude the prophecy of Micaiah:



but put thou on thy robes; his royal robes, or rather keep them on, that he might appear to be the chief commander of the army. There seems to be a good deal of insincerity and treachery in this conduct of Ahab's, whatever honour he might pretend to Jehoshaphat, or safety he might promise him in such a situation; his view seems to be to save himself at the hazard of the life of Jehoshaphat, especially if the Septuagint version could be established, "and put on my clothes"; which is natural enough, but would have been too barefaced:



and the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle; as if he had been a common soldier.





1 Kings 22:31



Ver. 31. But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had the rule over his chariots,.... This was the number of his kings in the first battle with Israel, and of his captains in the second, 1Ki 20:1, and the same number he had now, being very probably not only the number of his chariots, but the division of his army was into so many battalions, under the command of these captains of chariots:



saying, fight neither with small nor great; of those that belonged to Jehoshaphat:



save only with the king of Israel; and his men; for it can hardly be thought that his orders were to fight with none, nor kill any in the battle but Ahab personally; though it is very probable he might give them directions to aim at him chiefly, knowing that, if he was killed or taken, his army would flee or surrender; and he might be desirous of getting him into his hands, as he had been in his; and the rather his spite was against him, as he was the mover of the war.





1 Kings 22:32



Ver. 32. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat,.... In his royal robes:



that they said, surely it is the king of Israel; for they might not know the persons either of Ahab or him, but judged by his habit:



and they turned aside to fight against him; pressed upon him with all their force, either to take him or slay him:



and Jehoshaphat cried out; with a loud voice, either to the captains to let them know who he was, or to his men to come to his assistance, or rather to God to help and deliver him; since it is said in 2Ch 18:31 that the Lord helped him, and moved or inclined the hearts of the captains to depart from him, as it follows here.





1 Kings 22:33



Ver. 33. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel,.... Against whom only their orders were to fight:



that they turned back from pursuing him; for upon so great a force coming upon him he could not withstand, he fled.





1 Kings 22:34



Ver. 34. And a certain man drew a bow at a venture,.... Not aiming at the king of Israel, or knowing whereabout he was. In the Targum on

2Ch 18:33, this man is said to be Naaman, the general of the army of the king of Syria, and so Jarchi here; but though he did this in his simplicity, as the word signifies, without any intention to smite any particular person; yet God directed the arrow to the man he had marked for destruction, and neither his disguise, nor coat of mail, could secure from that:



and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: of which the pieces of armour on him were joined together, the higher and lower parts of it, the breastplate, and what covered the belly; and though these were joined as close as they were capable of joining them in those times, yet the arrow, guided by divine Providence, found its way into his body:



wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, turn thine hand; or hands, with which he held the reins, and turn the horses on one side:



and carry me out of the host; where the battle was hottest, to a place more remote and private, that he might have the wound examined, and the blood stopped, and return again, as it seems he did:



for I am wounded; or rather "I am sick" {s}, or ill, as the Targum; somewhat out of order, and therefore chose to retire a little while; not caring it should be known that he was smitten and wounded, lest his soldiers should be disheartened.



{s} ytylxh "aegrotare factus sum", Vatablus; "aegrotus factus sum", Junius & Tremellius.





1 Kings 22:35



Ver. 35. And the battle increased that day,.... It went on, and did not stop upon Ahab's going out of the host, but was very hot, and both sides fought furiously:



and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians: the Targum is,



"he strengthened himself, and stood;''



he exerted himself to the uttermost, and stood as long as he could, or could be supported, fighting against the Syrians, to animate his army, and that the Syrians might not have any notion of his being wounded:



and died at even: in his chariot:



and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot; or "bosom" {t} of it, the hollow part of it.



{t} qyx la "ad sinum", Montanus; "in sinum", Vatablus.





1 Kings 22:36



Ver. 36. And there went a proclamation throughout the host, about the going down of the sun,.... Much about the time that Ahab died; and this proclamation by an herald might be made by his order, as he was dying, or by Jehoshaphat, when he understood he was dead:



saying, every man to his city, and every man to his own country; the order was to cease fighting, and make the best of their way as fast as they could to their own homes, since their shepherd and master was dead, which fulfilled the vision of Micaiah, 1Ki 22:17. It seems to have been a drawn battle, at least there is no account of the advantage on either side.





1 Kings 22:37



Ver. 37. So the king died, and they brought him to Samaria,.... In the chariot he died in:



and they buried the king in Samaria; where his father Omri was buried, 1Ki 16:28.





1 Kings 22:38



Ver. 38. And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria,.... After the body was taken out, very likely the chariot driver, who drove it into the pool, and plunged it into it, as the word signifies, to cleanse it from the blood of his master:



and the dogs licked up his blood; mixed with the water of the pool; the Septuagint adds, "the swine", which is not probable, such creatures not being bred in the land of Israel:



and they washed his armour; his coat of mail, through the joints of which the blood issued, and ran upon it. The word is sometimes used for whores, and is so translated here in the Greek version, and by Munster and Castalio; and both Ben Gersom and Abarbinel say, that women, who were harlots, washed here in his blood, mixed with water; and so Josephus {u} writes, that afterwards it was a custom for whores to wash in this pool; though some say {w} two whores were painted on Ahab's chariot, by the order of Jezebel, to inflame his lust, and these were what were washed; but the word signifies armour, or rather ornaments, clothes, jewels, &c.



and now all this was according to the word of the Lord which he spake; both by Elijah, that as the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, so they should his, as they now did, though not in the same place; nor was it necessary to fulfil the prophecy, See Gill on "1Ki 21:19", though some have thought {x} that his blood, mixed with the water of the pool of Samaria, was carried in a stream down to Jezreel, and there licked by the dogs, where Naboth's was; but chiefly what was spoken by Micaiah is here respected, that thus Ahab fell at Ramothgilead, as he had prophesied, 1Ki 22:17 and his life went for the life of Benhadad, as he had before declared, 1Ki 20:42.



{u} Antiqu. l. 8. c. 15. sect. 6. {w} See Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. {x} Kimchi in loc.





1 Kings 22:39



Ver. 39. Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made,.... Which, being a very curious and extraordinary thing, is particularly mentioned; though perhaps it might not be made wholly of ivory, but inlaid with it; we read of ivory houses in Am 3:15,



and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? in which the acts of his predecessors were recorded, see 1Ki 14:19 not the Scripture book of Chronicles, for there none of these things are related.





1 Kings 22:40



Ver. 40. So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead,] Of whom more is said in the latter part of this chapter, and in the following book.





1 Kings 22:41



Ver. 41. And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. And as Ahab reigned twenty two years, 1Ki 16:29, Jehoshaphat must reign about eighteen years with him, and seven years after him.





1 Kings 22:42



Ver. 42. Jehoshaphat was thirty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem,.... So that he must be sixty years of age when he died:



and his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi; but of what family they were is not said.





1 Kings 22:43



Ver. 43. And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father,.... Who was a good prince:



he turned not aside from doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord; in his moral conversation, religious worship, and civil government:



nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places; he took away the high places and groves for idolatrous worship, 2Ch 17:6, but not the high places in which sacrifices were offered to the Lord, which ought to have been, especially since the temple was built; and those in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were altogether inexcusable, being near to the temple, and under no restraint, as those of the ten tribes were; but the people were fond of them, because of their antiquity, and it was difficult for religious princes to remove them, if inclined.





1 Kings 22:44



Ver. 44. And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. First with Ahab, with whom he contracted an affinity, and joined with him in his expedition to Ramothgilead, and with Ahaziah his successor.





1 Kings 22:45



Ver. 45. And all the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and all his might that he showed, and all his wars, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?] Many of them are recorded in the canonical book of Scripture, which bears the name of Chronicles; and more might be in this referred to, out of which might be taken what God has thought fit to transmit to future times; see 2Ch 17:1.





1 Kings 22:46



Ver. 46. And the remnant of the Sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. His father Asa removed many of these filthy creatures, but not all; as many, no doubt, as came within his knowledge, but some remained, whom this his son removed, being of the same disposition with his father, see 1Ki 15:12.





1 Kings 22:47



Ver. 47. There was then no king in Edom, a deputy was king. Which had been the case from the times of David, who subdued Edom, and placed garrisons in it, and governors over it, 2Sa 8:14 and continued through the reign of Jehoshaphat, unto the times of his son, under whom the Edomites revolted, and set up a king of their own, 2Ki 8:20, with a view to which this is observed, as also to account for it how Jehoshaphat could build ships in Eziongeber, which was in the land of Edom, of which in the next verse, because the whole country was governed by a viceroy, or deputy, under him.





1 Kings 22:48



Ver. 48. Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish,.... Ships to go to sea, particularly the Indian sea, 1Ki 10:22. Tarshish is used for the sea in general, Ps 48:7, in the Cetib, or text, it is "ten"; in the Keri, or margin, it is "made", which we follow, and may be put together, as in the Tigurine version, and read, "he made ten ships to go by sea":



even to go to Ophir for gold; as Solomon did; of which place see 1Ki 9:28,



but they went not, for the ships were broken at Eziongeber; the port where they were built: as soon as they were launched, or sailed, they were broken to pieces against the rocks near the harbour, which stood up like a man's backbone, whence the port had its name;

See Gill on "1Ki 9:26", and if this was Calzem, as there observed, near to it was a dangerous place for ships, and where many were lost, and is supposed to be the place where Pharaoh and his host were drowned {y}; the reason of this shipwreck was, because Jehoshaphat joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, for which he was reproved by the prophet Eliezer, and this was his punishment, 2Ch 20:35.



{y} Vid. Geograph. Nub. Climat. 3. par. 3. in fine.





1 Kings 22:49



Ver. 49. Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat,.... Who very probably had built some more ships on his own, having broke off his partnership with Ahaziah:



let my servants go with thy servants in the ships; since he was refused a part in the ships themselves, he desires leave to send men aboard them to traffic for him abroad:



but Jehoshaphat would not; having been reproved by a prophet of the Lord, and had suffered the loss of his ships by joining with him already.





1 Kings 22:50



Ver. 50. And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father,.... In the city of Sion, where David, Rehoboam, Abijam, and Asa, were buried:



and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead; who was now thirty two years of age, and he reigned ten years.





1 Kings 22:51



Ver. 51. Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah,.... It is observed, that Jehoshaphat began to reign in the fourth year of Ahab, and Ahab reigned twenty two years, see 1Ki 22:41, and therefore Ahab's son must begin to reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat; but perhaps he was made king in his father's lifetime, before he went on his expedition to Ramothgilead, or Ahab's reign was not twenty two years complete:



and reigned two years over Israel; not complete, as appears from 2Ki 3:1.





1 Kings 22:52



Ver. 52 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Which evil was idolatry:



and walked in the way of his father; his father Ahab, who worshipped Baal:



and in the way of his mother; his mother Jezebel, who was still living, and served Baal and Astarte, the deities of her country:



and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat; who set up and worshipped the golden calves:



who made Israel to sin; by the worship of the same, into which he drew them by his example and authority.





1 Kings 22:53



Ver. 53. For he served Baal, and worshipped him,.... That is, Ahaziah served him, as his father had done, and his mother still did:



and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done; of which there is an instance in the first chapter of the following book; for falling through a lattice, and becoming sick upon it, he quickly died, having sent messengers to inquire of the god of Ekron whether he should die or not.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 1:1



INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS COMMONLY CALLED THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE KINGS



This, and the preceding book, are properly but one book divided into two parts, because of the size of it, as the book of Samuel; it is a continuation of the history of the kings of Israel and Judah; and for a further account of it the reader is referred to the title of the preceding book.



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 1



This chapter begins with the rebellion of Moab against Israel, 2Ki 1:1, relates a fall of the king of Israel in his house, which brought on him a sickness, about which he sent messengers to inquire of the god of Ekron, who were stopped by Elijah, and bid to return, as they did; and upon the king's examination of them about the cause of their return, he perceived it was Elijah that forbad them, 2Ki 1:2, upon which the king sent to him two captains, with fifty men each, one after another, to bring him to him, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 2Ki 1:9, but a third with fifty men sent to him were spared, and he is bid to go along with them with a message to the king, as he did, 2Ki 1:13 and the chapter is closed with the death of Ahaziah, 2Ki 1:17.



Ver. 1. Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. Which had been in subjection to them from the times of David, 2Sa 8:2 refusing to pay a tribute as they had done; taking advantage of Ahab's ill success with the king of Syria, and of his death, and the condition and circumstances of his successor.





2 Kings 1:2



Ver. 2. And Ahaziah fell down a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria,.... Which was either a window or lattice in the form of network, to let in light; or rather were the rails of a balcony or battlement on the roof of his palace, in this form, on which leaning, it broke down, and he fell into the garden or court yard; or walking on the roof of his house, and treading unawares on a sky light, which let in light into a room underneath, he fell through it into it:



and was sick; the fall perhaps threw him into a fever, and which seemed threatening, being violent:



and he sent messengers, and said unto them, go inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease; not to heal him of it, but to know the issue of it; a vain curiosity this! Ekron was one of the principalities of the Philistines, and this idol was the god they worshipped, which signifies a master fly: which some think was a large metallic fly; made under a planet that rules over flies; and the Heathens had deities they called Myiodes, Myagros, and apomuiov, which signifies a driver away of flies; as Jupiter and Hercules were called by the Eleans and Romans, and worshipped and sacrificed to by them on that account {a}; and so the Cyreneans, a people of Lybia, worshipped the god Achor, which seems to be a corruption of the word Ekron, because he freed them from flies, after they had been infested with a pestilence through them {b}; and Ekron being a place near the sea, and both hot and moist, might be much infested with those creatures. Within the haven of Ptolemais, or Acco, was formerly a temple of Baalzebub, called in later times "the tower of flies", and used as a Pharus {c}.



{a} Pausan. Eliac. 1. sive, l. 5. p. 313. & Arcadica, sive, l. 8. p. 491. Clement. Alex. Admon. ad Gentes, p. 24. {b} Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 27. Vid. Chartarii Imagines Deorum, p. 151. & Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 26. {c} Adrichom. Theatrum Ter. Sanct. fol. 6. 1.





2 Kings 1:3



Ver. 3. But the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah,.... One of the ministering spirits sent by the Lord to him:



arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria: that is, the king of Israel, whose capital city was Samaria:



is it not because there is not a God in Israel; known, acknowledged, and worshipped there, of whom there had been sufficient proof of his deity and divine perfections, as omniscience, omnipotence, &c.



that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? about future things, when they had God nigh unto them, fully acquainted with them, as this message shows.





2 Kings 1:4



Ver. 4. Now therefore thus saith the Lord,.... Jehovah, the only true God:



thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die; this sickness should be unto death, and the bed he had betaken himself to should be his deathbed. The phrases of going up to bed, and coming down, are used with great propriety; for in the eastern countries, in their bedchambers, they had a gallery raised four or five feet above the floor, with a balustrade on the front {d}, and steps leading up to it; or ladders, which had more or fewer rounds, according as the beds were higher or lower {e}:



and Elijah departed; having met the messengers, and delivered his message from the Lord unto them.



{d} See Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 209. Ed. 2. {e} Vid. Isidor. Origin. l. 20. c. 11. & Alstorph. de Lect. Vet. c. 2.





2 Kings 1:5



Ver. 5. And when the messengers turned back unto him,.... To Ahaziah king of Israel, as they did as soon as Elijah was gone from them; concluding from his habit, his gravity, and the authority with which he spoke, that he was a prophet of the Lord, and especially from his knowledge of them, and of what they were sent about:



he said unto them, why are ye now turned back? for, by the time they had been gone, he knew they could never have been at Ekron and returned.





2 Kings 1:6



Ver. 6. And they said unto him, there came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, go, turn again unto the king that sent you,.... King Ahaziah:



and say unto him; and then they repeated all that is said by the angel to Elijah, and he had delivered to them, 2Ki 1:3 and which was a sufficient reason for their turning back, since they got a full answer from a man of God, of what they were to inquire of at Ekron; which was, whether the king would recover of this disease or not.





2 Kings 1:7



Ver. 7. And he said unto them, what manner of man was he,.... What appearance or figure did he make? what his habit or clothing?



which came up to meet you, and told you these words? they had related to him.





2 Kings 1:8



Ver. 8. And they answered him, he was an hairy man,.... Either the hair of his head and beard were grown very long, having been much neglected for a great while; or he had an hairy garment on, either of goats' hair, such as the Chinese wear {f}, whose women spin it, see

Ex 35:26 and of which garments are made; or of camels' hair, such as John the Baptist wore, who came in his spirit and power, and imitated him in his dress, being also, as Elijah here,



girt with a girdle of leather about his loins: for more expeditious travelling, not for warmth, the climate being hot:



and he said, it is Elijah the Tishbite; for he had seen him formerly in his father's court in this dress.



{f} Semedo's History of China, part 1. ch. 3.





2 Kings 1:9



Ver. 9. Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty,.... Not in honour to him, but to bring him by force if he refused to come willingly:



and he went up to him, and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill; generally supposed to be Mount Carmel;



and he spake unto him; at the bottom of the hill, so loud that he might hear him:



thou man of God; or the prophet of the Lord, as the Targum, as thou callest thyself; for this was said in a sneering, flouting, manner:



the king hath said, come down; and in the king's name he ordered him to come down, signifying, if he would not, he would send his men to fetch him down.





2 Kings 1:10



Ver. 10. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, if I be a man of God,.... As I am, and thou shalt know it by the following token, though thou callest me so jeeringly:



then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty; this he said not in a passion, and from a private spirit of revenge, but for the vindication of the honour and glory of God, and under the impulse of his spirit, who was abused through the insult on him as his prophet:



and there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty; a flash of lightning, which destroyed them at once; the Lord hearkening to the voice of his prophet, in vindication of him in his office, and of his own glory.





2 Kings 1:11



Ver. 11. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty,.... The king, not being at all terrified with the awful judgment upon the former, sends another:



and he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, come down quickly; he flouts the prophet in the same manner as the former, and in the king's name commands him to come down, and that immediately; which the king added to his orders, or he himself, signifying he would not be trifled with, if he did not come down directly, he would force him.





2 Kings 1:12



Ver. 12. And Elijah answered and said unto them,.... The same as he had to the first captain, and made the same request of fire from heaven; which accordingly came down, and destroyed this captain and his fifty also.





2 Kings 1:13



Ver. 13. And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty,.... Which was most daring and insolent, and showed him to be dreadfully hardened, to persist in his messages after such rebuffs: and the third captain of fifty went up; instead of calling to the prophet at the bottom of the hill as the other did, he went up to the top of it:



and came and fell on his knees before Elijah: in reverence of him as a prophet of the Lord, and under a dread of the power he was possessed of, of calling for fire from heaven on him and his men, as the former instances showed:



and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight: he owns their lives lay at his mercy; he begs they might be spared, since it was not in contempt of him, and through ill will to him as the prophet of the Lord, but in obedience to the king's command, that they were come to him.





2 Kings 1:14



Ver. 14. Behold, there came fire down from heaven and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties,.... He owns the facts, and ascribes the death of them to the true cause, and appears to have an awful sense of the judgment of God on them, fearing the same would befall him and his:



therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight; by sparing it, what is precious and valuable being spared.





2 Kings 1:15



Ver. 15. And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, &e.] The same as in 2Ki 1:3 or "had said" {g}, as some render it, before this captain came:



go down with him; the captain and his men:



and be not afraid of him; of King Ahaziah, whom he might fear, because of the message he had sent him, that he should die of that sickness, and for turning back his messengers to the god of Ekron, and for destroying his two captains and their fifties; nor of his mother Jezebel, who had threatened his life for killing her prophets:



and he arose, and went down with him unto the king; boldly and courageously, not fearing his wrath; so that the captain not only had his life and the life of his men spared, but answered the end of his message also.



{g} rbdyw "edixerat autem", Junius & Tremellius.





2 Kings 1:16



Ver. 16. And he said unto him,.... Elijah to King Ahaziah when introduced into his chamber; and after some discourse passed between them, he confirmed what he had said to his messengers, and expressed it in the same language as in 2Ki 1:3

See Gill on "2Ki 1:3" see Gill on "2Ki 1:4"





2 Kings 1:17



Ver. 17. So he died, according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken,.... How long or how soon after this is not said; however, he died of the sickness, and on the bed to which he went up, as he said:



and Jehoram reigned in his stead: who was another son of Ahab, and brother of Ahaziah, 2Ki 3:1, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; but as he must begin his reign in the nineteenth, or in the latter end of the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, see 1Ki 22:51 and Jehoshaphat reigned in all twenty five years, 1Ki 22:42, he must live and reign after this six or seven years; this therefore is to be reconciled by observing, that this son of Jehoshaphat was made viceroy, or was taken into partnership in the throne by his father when he went with Ahab to Ramothgilead; and it was in the second year of this his reign with his father that the other Jehoram began his:



because he had no son; that is, Ahaziah, wherefore his brother reigned in his stead.





2 Kings 1:18



Ver. 18. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did,.... During his two years' reign, which yet were imperfect, and his acts must be but few:



are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? in which were written his father Ahab's also, and his predecessors', see 1Ki 22:39.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 2:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 2



This chapter relates, how that Elisha accompanied Elijah to several places, and on the other side Jordan Elijah was taken up from him to heaven, which occasioned great lamentation in him, 2Ki 2:1, but having the mantle of Elijah, he divided the waters of Jordan, and passed over, 2Ki 2:13, and the sons of the prophets at Jericho, perceiving the spirit of Elijah on him, showed him great respect, and proposed sending men to seek his master, which they did in vain, 2Ki 2:15, when he healed the waters at Jericho, at the request of the men of it, 2Ki 2:19, and the chapter is concluded with the destruction of forty two children at Bethel by bears, who mocked him, 2Ki 2:23.



Ver. 1. And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind,.... Thereby lifting him up from the earth, and which, as it was the purpose and will of God, Elijah had notice of, as appears by his motions to different places, under a divine direction:



that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal, where it seems they met, a place where the Israelites first pitched when they came over Jordan, and where the tabernacle was for some time, and was famous for religious services, see Jos 4:19.





2 Kings 2:2



Ver. 2. And Elijah said unto Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee,.... Seemingly unwilling he should go with him, and be present at his assumption; which was either out of modesty, not affecting the spread of the honour and glory to be conferred upon him; or to prevent the grief of Elisha at his departure, or to try whether Elisha knew any thing of it, and what affection he had for him:



for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel; to give some comfort and some instruction and advice to the college of prophets there:



and Elisha said unto him, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee; being determined to see the last of him, and to have the benefit of his company and conversation, his heavenly discourse, and instruction from him as long as he could, and in hope of receiving a blessing from him at parting:



so they went down to Bethel; together, which, according to Bunting {h}, was six miles.



{h} Travels, &c. p. 205.





2 Kings 2:3



Ver. 3. And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel,.... Or the disciples of them, as the Targum; here, though a place where one of Jeroboam's calves was set up, was a school of the prophets, perhaps founded by Elijah as a nursery for religion, and a check upon the idolatry of the times:



came forth to Elisha; out of their college: and said unto him, knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? who was, as Abarbinel observes, the crown and glory of his head; or else this is said, as generally thought, in allusion to disciples sitting at the feet of their masters, and so they at the head of them; the rapture of Elijah was by a spirit of prophecy revealed unto them:



and he said, yea, I know it; being revealed to him in the same way:



hold your peace: not caring to continue any discourse with them on the subject, that his thoughts, which were intent upon it, might not be interrupted, and that his master might not know that he knew of it, and lest he should be snatched away from him, and he not see him, while discoursing with them.





2 Kings 2:4



Ver. 4. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee,.... At Bethel:



for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho; to the school of the prophets there, to strengthen, encourage, and advise them:



and he said, as the lord liveth, &c; using the same form of oath as before:



so they came to Jericho; together, which, as the above writer says {i}, was four miles from Bethel.



{i} Travels, &c. p. 205.





2 Kings 2:5



Ver. 5. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho,.... For though this place was lately rebuilt under a curse to the builder, yet was blessed with a school of the prophets: whose disciples came to Elisha, and said unto him; as in 2Ki 2:3 and to whom he made the same reply.





2 Kings 2:6



Ver. 6. And Elijah said unto him, tarry, I pray thee, here,.... At Jericho, seemingly very desirous to get rid of him, that he might not see his assumption:



for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan: where passing that he was to be taken up:



and he said, &c; Elisha swore, as before, he would not leave him:



and they two went on; to Jordan, which was six miles from Jericho {k}.



{k} Travels, &c. p. 205.





2 Kings 2:7



Ver. 7. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off,.... To have a view, if they could, of the assumption of Elijah to heaven, and be witnesses of it:



and they two stood by Jordan; on the banks of it, even Elijah and Elisha.





2 Kings 2:8



Ver. 8. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together,.... Folded it up close together, in a position to smite with it; this is thought to be not his hairy garment, but a shorter robe, that was worn upon his shoulders; but the Greek version renders it by "melotes", and so in 2Ki 2:14, which, according to Isidore {l}, was a goat's skin, hanging down from the neck, and girt at the loins; and being thus clothed, perhaps, may be the reason of his being called an hairy man, 2Ki 1:8,



and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither; just as Moses lifted up his rod, and the waters of the sea were divided for the Israelites:



so that they two went over on dry ground; in like manner as the Israelites did through the sea.



{l} Origin. l. 19. c. 24.





2 Kings 2:9



Ver. 9. And it came to pass, when they were gone over,.... Had got on the other side Jordan:



that Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken from thee; for, having followed him so closely, he now made no more a secret of his assumption, and having had full trial of his attachment to him, and affection for him:



and Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me; the two parts of the gifts of the spirit he had, that of prophecy, and that of doing miracles, as some think; or two parts out of three of what Elijah was possessed of; or rather double as much, and which he might desire, not from a spirit of vanity and ambition to be greater than his master, but from an eagerness to promote the glory of God, and the interest of religion, to reclaim the Israelites from their idolatry, and establish the true religion, which he might observe Elijah was not able to do with that measure of grace and gifts he had; or however this phrase denotes an abundance, a large portion or measure, as it everywhere does. Many, after Ben Gersom, have thought it refers to the double portion of the firstborn, and that Elisha does not mean a double portion with respect to Elijah, but with respect to the junior prophets, with whom he might be considered as a firstborn, and so desired a double or greater portion than they, and which may be most correct {m}; and when he asked this, he did not suppose it was in Elijah's power to give him it, only that he would pray to God, at parting with him, that he would bestow it on him.



{m} See Weemse of the Moral Law, l. 2. c. 7. p. 41.





2 Kings 2:10



Ver. 10. And he said, thou hast asked a hard thing,.... Not a common privilege, but what is rarely enjoyed, and difficult to obtain, few are so favoured of God:



nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee, but if not, it shall not be so; meaning, that if his rapture was visible to Elisha, and he was favoured with a sight of his assumption, and be an eyewitness of it, this would be a token both to Elijah that it was agreeable to the Lord to ask of him this favour for him, and to Elisha to expect it, otherwise not.





2 Kings 2:11



Ver. 11. And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked,.... About the donation of the gifts of the Spirit requested, about the state of religion in Israel, and about the training up of prophets in the colleges, and about Elisha's succession as a prophet in his room, and his discharge of that office, and such like things, as may be supposed, in which he gave him instruction and advice:



that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire; either angels in this form, see Ps 104:4, in which they appeared for the glory and honour of the prophet, and as emblems of his flaming love and zeal for the purity of religion, and that his assumption might be conspicuous to Elisha; and perhaps by this means might be seen by the fifty men on the other side Jordan: this chariot, drawn with these horses, was not seen in the heaven, but as running on the earth, and came between the two prophets, and separated them from each other, taking up Elijah into it by means of a wind whirling about him, and which was no other than the ministry of angels; or these might be a conflux of exhalations or clouds, formed in this likeness by a supernatural power, and, by the solar rays striking on them, might appear fiery or red; and so his assumption was much in such like manner as our Lord was taken up in a cloud, Ac 1:9,



and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven; body and soul; such a change passing on him, as he went through the region of the air, which divested him of his mortality and corruption, and fitted him for the invisible world.





2 Kings 2:12



Ver. 12. And Elisha saw it,.... The ascension of Elijah to heaven, the manner of it, and all relative to it, as the disciples saw the ascension of Christ, between which and this there is a great agreement, see Ac 1:9, and so Elisha had the token by which he might expect to have the double portion, as the disciples after the ascension of Christ had an extraordinary effusion of the Spirit and gifts upon them:



and he cried, my father, my father; or my master, my master, as the Targum; Elijah being a father to Elisha, and the rest of the prophets, in the same sense as disciples of the prophets are called sons:



the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof; who was a greater defence to Israel, and was of more service to them by his instructions and prayers, than an army consisting of chariots and horsemen; so the Targum,



"he was better to Israel by his prayers than chariots and horsemen:''



and he saw him no more; he was carried up in the above manner into the heaven of heavens, out of the sight of mortals, and never seen more, but at the transfiguration of Christ on the mount:



and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces; not on account of Elijah's case and circumstances, who was now in a most happy and glorious state and condition, but as lamenting his own loss, and the loss of the public.





2 Kings 2:13



Ver. 13. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him,.... Which he had now no further need of, and Elisha had, having rent his clothes in two; and this falling into his hands was a token of his succeeding him in his office, and that he should have the double portion of his spirit:



and he went back, and stood by the brook of Jordan; at the place where he and Elijah had passed over together.





2 Kings 2:14



Ver. 14. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters,.... He wrapped it together, as Elijah had done, and smote the waters in like manner, to make trial whether he had the same spirit and power conferred on him:



and said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? let him appear now, and show his power as he did by him; he knew the mantle would not do without the Lord, and the exertion of his might:



and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither; as when Elijah smote them. The words "aph-hu", rendered "he also", is left untranslated by the Septuagint, and is interpreted by Theodoret {n} "hidden". They stand immediately after "the God of Elijah", and may be rendered, "yea he", even he himself; meaning not Elijah, as if he was inquired after, or was present and smote the waters; but rather, as we and others, Elisha, even he also smote the waters; though some take it to be the name of God, as "Hu" was, and is with the Arabs to this day, See Gill on "Isa 43:13". Athanasius {o} interprets it of God, "Appho"; and so Elisha calls him by his title and attribute, "Aph-hu": but the words may be an answer to the prophet's question, "where is the Lord God of Elijah?" here he is, even he himself, in the faith of which the water, being smitten, parted; and with this agrees Abarbinel's note on the text; the meaning is, though we are deprived of Elijah, yet not of the providence of God; and though the servant is wanting, the Lord or master is not; for even he, the blessed God, is in his room, and his excellency is as it was before; which sense is approved of by Frischmuth {p}



and Elisha went over; the river Jordan, as on dry land.



{n} Apud Flamin. Nobil. in loc. So Suidas in voce apfw. {o} De Commun. Essent. Patris, &c. vol. 1. p. 374. See Weemse of the Moral Law, l. 1. c. 7. p. 162. {p} Dissert. de Eliae Nomine, &c. sect. 11, 12.





2 Kings 2:15



Ver. 15. And when the sons of the prophets, which were to view at Jericho, saw him,.... Who went out from thence towards Jordan, to have a sight if they could of the assumption of Elijah; these, when they saw Elisha come over Jordan, the waters being parted by him:



they said, the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha; or he has the same power and spirit to work miracles as he had, which they discerned by his dividing the waters of Jordan with his mantle:



and they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him; in reverence of him as their master, in the room of Elijah.





2 Kings 2:16



Ver. 16. And they said unto him, behold, now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men,.... Perhaps meaning themselves, 2Ki 2:7 who were young, stout, and strong, and able to travel for days together:



let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master; for though they knew he was to be taken away, yet knew not for what time, and imagined he might be found again:



lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up; as it seems he was wont to do, see 1Ki 18:12



and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley; where he sometimes had his abode; or they might fancy, if he was taken up to heaven, yet in his soul only, and that, when that was separated, his dead body would be left on a mountain, or in a valley; and therefore they were desirous of seeking and finding it, that it might not be exposed to birds and beasts of prey, but that they might bury it in a decent and honourable manner:



and he said, ye shall not send; he knew it was to no purpose, since he was translated to heaven, body and soul, and which he was an eyewitness of.





2 Kings 2:17



Ver. 17. And when they urged him until he was ashamed,.... To deny them any longer, being so very pressing and importunate:



he said, send; lest they should think he had not the respect for his master he should have had; or was so fond of his office, that he did not choose he should be found alive if he could, and return and reassume it:



they sent therefore fifty men; some one way, and some another:



and they sought three days, but found him not; and then returned.





2 Kings 2:18



Ver. 18. And when they came again to him, for he tarried at Jericho,.... Waiting their return to hear the report they made: which when they had,



he said unto them, did I not say unto you, go not? assuring them it would be fruitless, and to no purpose; though this search of theirs served both to confirm the assumption of Elijah, and the truth of Elisha being a prophet of the Lord.





2 Kings 2:19



Ver. 19. And the men of the city said unto Elisha,.... The inhabitants of Jericho, perceiving him to be a prophet, and endowed with a power of working miracles:



behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth; in a plain, surrounded with gardens and orchards, with vineyards, oliveyards, and groves of palm trees, and other odoriferous ones:



but the water is naught, and the ground barren; that is, that part of it where this water was, or ran, for from thence it became barren; or "caused to miscarry", as the word signifies {q}; not only trees cast their fruit, which it watered, but women became abortive that drank of it, as Josephus says {r}, and so cattle. Abarbinel thinks it was so from the times of Joshua, being cursed by him; but, if so, it would not have been inhabited again; rather this was owing to a new curse, upon its being rebuilt; though this might affect only a small part of the ground, not the whole, as before observed.



{q} tlkvm "orbans", Montanus, Vatablus; "facit abortum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {r} De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 3.





2 Kings 2:20



Ver. 20. And he said, bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein,.... One that had never been used, that it might not be thought that the virtue was owing to anything that had been, or was, put into it:



and they brought it to him; the pot with the salt in it.





2 Kings 2:21



Ver. 21. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters,.... The fountain from whence they flowed, the head of them:



and cast the salt in there; which was an unlikely means of making bad water good, since that makes it brackish, and not so drinkable, and what makes ground barren; but this method, contrary to nature, was taken, that the miracle might appear the greater; or, as the Jews express it, be a miracle within a miracle:



and said, thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; he did not pretend to heal them in his own name, and by his own power, but in the name and by the power of the Lord, to whom he would have it ascribed:



there shall not be from thence any more death, or barren land; or miscarrying; no more noxious and mortal diseases should be got by drinking them, nor any abortions occasioned by them in women, cattle, and fruit trees, as had been.





2 Kings 2:22



Ver. 22. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. In the name of the Lord; and not only they remained so unto the time of the writer of this history, but to the times of Josephus, as he testifies {s}, and even to ours; for there is a spring now called Elisha's spring or fountain, of which Mr. Maundrell says {t},



"its waters are at present received in a basin about nine or ten paces long, and five or six broad; and from thence issuing out in good plenty, divide themselves into several small streams, dispersing their refreshment to all the field between this and Jericho, and rendering it exceeding fruitful.''



So some other travellers {u} say of it, that the water is very clear and cool, and issues in a copious steam. Pliny {w} gives it the name of "Calirroe", the beautiful stream, and speaks of it as hot, wholesome, and medicinal, and of great note.



{s} De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 3. {t} Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 80. {u} Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 331. {w} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 16.





2 Kings 2:23



Ver. 23. And he went up from thence unto Bethel,.... From Jericho, which lay in a plain, to Bethel, situated on an hill, and therefore is said to go up to it; hither he went, to acquaint the sons of the prophets with the assumption of Elijah, to condole their loss of him, and to comfort and encourage them, and confirm his own authority among them as a prophet in his stead:



and as he was going up by the way; the ascent to the city:



there came forth little children out of the city; the word for "children" is used of persons of thirty or forty years of age; and though these are said to be "little", they were so well grown as to be able to go forth out of the city of themselves, without any to guide them, or to take care of them; and were of an age capable not only of taking notice of Elijah's baldness, but knew him to be a prophet, and were able to distinguish between good and evil; and, from a malignant spirit in them, mocked at him as such, and at the assumption of Elijah; which they had knowledge of, and to whom, taught by their idolatrous parents, they had an aversion: some Jewish writers {x} say, they were called "Naarim", which we render "children", because shaken from the commandments, or had shaken off the yoke of the commands; and "little", because they were of little faith:



and mocked him, and said unto him, go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head; meaning not up the hill to Bethel, where his coming was not desirable to the greater part in it, being idolaters; and perhaps these children were sent out to intimidate him with their flouts and jeers from entering there; but having heard of Elijah going up to heaven, as was said, they jeeringly bid him go up to heaven after him, and then they should have a good riddance of them both; thus at the same time mocking at him for his baldness, and making a jest of the wondrous work of God, the assumption of Elijah; which, with behaving so irreverently to an hoary head, a prophet of the Lord, was very heinous and wicked, and therefore what befell them need not be wondered at.



{x} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 46. 2.





2 Kings 2:24



Ver. 24. And he turned back, and looked on them,.... With a stern countenance, thereby reproving them, and in order to intimidate them, and make them ashamed, and cause them to leave off, but to no purpose; they repeated their mockeries with great vehemence:



and cursed them in the name of the Lord; moved thereunto, not from passion and a spirit of revenge, but by an impulse of the Spirit of God:



and there came forth two she bears out of the wood; which are fiercest, and especially when bereaved of their whelps, as these might be; the wood seems to be near to Bethel, perhaps in the wilderness of Bethel, of which see Jos 8:15, and Reland {y} thinks it is the same with the wood of Ephraim, 2Sa 18:6, though the Jews, to increase the miracle, say {z} there was no wood at all, and, if there was, that there were no bears in it; but though those creatures are mostly in northern countries, yet there were of them in Judea, see 1Sa 17:34



and tare forty and two children of them; it seems there were more than these; but such a number of them they tore to pieces and destroyed; which was very extraordinary, and was an awful punishment for their wickedness, which they knowingly and willingly committed, and of their parents in them, who had trained them up in such impiety, and put them upon it, and sent them out to do it.



{y} Palestin. Illustrat. p. 378. {z} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 47. 1.





2 Kings 2:25



Ver. 25. And he went from thence to Mount Carmel,.... Where Elijah used to frequent, and where also there might be a school of the prophets; this, according to Bunting {a}, was fifty six miles from Bethel:



and from thence he returned to Samaria; the capital of the kingdom of Israel; there to bear his testimony against idolatry, to reprove for it, and reclaim from it; this, as the same writer says {b}, was thirty two miles from Carmel.



{a} Travels, &c. p. 206. {b} Ibid.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 3:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 3



This chapter gives the character of Jehoram king of Israel, 2Ki 3:1, relates the rebellion of the king of Moab against him, 2Ki 3:4, the war that he and his allies entered into on that account, 2Ki 3:6 the distress the combined army were in for want of water, their application upon this to Elisha, who promised them water, and they had it in a wonderful manner, 2Ki 3:10 and the chapter is concluded with the rout of the Moabites, and the barbarity of their king to his eldest son, 2Ki 3:21.



Ver. 1. Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah,.... So that the two years of the reign of his brother Ahaziah were not complete, only part of the seventeenth and part of the eighteenth of Jehoshaphat, since he began to reign in his seventeenth year, at the beginning of that, and died towards the close of the eighteenth, when Jehoram succeeded him, see 1Ki 22:51, and reigned twelve years.





2 Kings 3:2



Ver. 2. And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Was guilty of idolatry:



but not like his father, and like his mother; his father Ahab, and his mother Jezebel:



for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made; he did not destroy it, only removed it from the temple of Baal where it was set, that it might not be worshipped, at least publicly, see 1Ki 16:31 this he did, either moved to it by his own conscience, observing the sudden deaths of his father and brother, which he might suppose was for their idolatry; or in order to obtain success in his war with Moab he was entering into; or being instigated by Jehoshaphat to do it, or otherwise he might refuse to join him.





2 Kings 3:3



Ver. 3. Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin,.... He closely adhered to the worship of the calves set up by him:



he departed not therefrom: that being a piece of state policy, to keep up the division of the two kingdoms.





2 Kings 3:4



Ver. 4. And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep master,.... With which his country abounded; he kept great numbers of them, and shepherds to take care of them; he traded in them, and got great riches by them; his substance chiefly consisted in them:



and rendered unto the king of Israel: either as a present, or as an annual tribute:



an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool; that is, upon them, unshorn, and so the more valuable; and it was usual for tributary nations to pay their tribute to those to whom they were subject in such commodities which they most abounded with; so the Cappadocians, as Strabo {c} relates, used to pay, as a tribute to the Persians, every year, 1500 horses and 2000 mules, and five myriads of sheep, or 50,000; and formerly, Pliny {d} says, the only tribute was from the pastures.



{c} Geograph. l. 11. p. 362. {d} Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 3.





2 Kings 3:5



Ver. 5. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. Who then was Ahaziah; but either through the pusillanimity of his temper, or the sickness that attended him, or the shortness of his reign, he took no steps to the reduction of him, or to oblige him to pay his tribute, which he neglected to do, and is meant by his rebellion.





2 Kings 3:6



Ver. 6. And King Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, &e.] As soon as he came to the throne:



and numbered all Israel; who were fit to bear arms, got them together at some certain place, and mustered them, and prepared for a war with Moab, to reduce them.





2 Kings 3:7



Ver. 7. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, the king of Moab hath rebelled against me,.... By refusing to pay him tribute:



wilt thou go up with me against Moab to battle? and he said, I will go up; which he agreed to, partly to encourage in the reformation of religion which he had begun, and partly to chastise the Moabites for their invasion of his country, 2Ch 20:1.



I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses; the same answer he returned to Ahab, See Gill on "1Ki 22:4".





2 Kings 3:8



Ver. 8. And he said, which way shall we go up.... That is, Jehoram said so to Jehoshaphat, consulting with him which was the best way to take to the land of Moab, whether the shortest way, over Jordan; or some other:



and he answered, the way through the wilderness of Edom; which bordered upon it, and the same through which the Israelites passed; for Kadesh was on the extreme border of Edom, whither they came, Nu 20:1 and this Jehoshaphat proposed, partly that they might come upon Moab unawares, and attack them where they were weakest, and not on their guard; and partly, to take the king of Edom with them, who was no other than Jehoshaphat's deputy, and so be assisting to them, and prevent him from revolting, which otherwise he might take this opportunity of doing.





2 Kings 3:9



Ver. 9. So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah,.... The way of the wilderness of Edom, proposed by the latter:



and the king of Edom; whom they took with them in their way, who was not properly a king, but a viceroy or deputy, see 1Ki 22:47



and they fetched a compass of seven days journey; they went round the Dead Sea, and through the wilderness of Edom, and so to the borders of Moab:



and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them; neither for the soldiers in the army, nor the cattle that drew the carriages, being in a wilderness.





2 Kings 3:10



Ver. 10. And the king of Israel said, alas!.... Lamenting their sad case, as being desperate; and the rather he was the more concerned, as he was the principal who had drawn the other kings into this affair, though he throws it upon the Lord and his providence:



that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hands of Moab; into whose hands they must inevitably fall, if they could have no water to refresh them; since they would be so weak as not to be able to stand a battle with them, and be dispersed here and there in search of water, and so fall into their hands. Extreme thirst is intolerable. It is reported {e} of Lysimachus, that he delivered himself and his army into the hands of the enemy for a draught of water. Leo Africanus {f} relates, that in the desert of Azaoad stand two marble pillars, testifying that a rich merchant bought of a carrier of wares a cup of water at the price of 10,000 ducats; but there not being water sufficient neither for the one nor the other, they were both died with thirst.



{e} Plutarch. in Apothegm. {f} Descriptio Africae, l. 1. p. 75.





2 Kings 3:11



Ver. 11. But Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?.... This the good king should have done before be set out, but had neglected it; however, it was not too late:



and one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said; who might be one that feared the Lord, and was intimate with Elisha, or however had knowledge of him, as appears by what follows:



here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah; or ministered to him, as the Targum; was his menial servant, waited on him, and assisted him when he washed his hands {g}; some Jewish writers understand it of his pouring water on the hand of Elijah at Carmel, when the altar and trench were filled with it, and when a miracle was wrought, as they fancy, and the fingers of Elijah became as fountains of water.



{g} See the like phrase of the business of a servant in Homer, Iliad. 3. ver. 270, & Iliad. 9. ver. 174. Odyss. 1. ver. 147. & Odyss. 3. ver. 388. & Odyss. 4. ver. 258, 261. & passim.





2 Kings 3:12



Ver. 12. And Jehoshaphat said, the word of the Lord is with him,.... To give them an answer, which he concluded from his being a servant and disciple of Elijah, whom he succeeded in his office, and of whom he had, doubtless, heard; and from his following the camp, and being in it, which he easily imagined was not to fight, but to assist by his advice and counsel, and by his prophecies, as there might be occasion for them:



so the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him; descended from their chariots, and went to the tent in the camp where he was; they did not send for him to come to them, but, in honour of him, went to him themselves.





2 Kings 3:13



Ver. 13. And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, what have I to do with thee?.... An idolater; I can hold no discourse nor have any conversation with thee, nor give thee any advice or assistance:



get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother; the prophets of Baal, and of the groves:



and the king of Israel said unto him, nay; meaning, he would not apply to them, who he was sensible could give him no relief, only to the Lord God, from whom this affliction was, and therefore begs he would pray to him to have mercy on them; so the Targum,



"I beseech thee remember not the sins of that wickedness, pray for mercy for us:''



for the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab; signifying, that he should not perish alone, but the other two kings with him, who had no connection with the prophets of his father and mother in their idolatry, and therefore hoped for their sakes mercy would be shown.





2 Kings 3:14



Ver. 14. Elisha said, as the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand,.... Whose minster and prophet he was, to whom he prayed, and whose service he was ready to perform:



surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah; revere him not only as a king, but as a pious prince, and a worshipper of the true God:



I would not look toward thee, nor see thee; give him no countenance at all, pay no regard to his request, not so much as to look at him in a civil way; but turn away his face from him with contempt and disdain, as unworthy to be conversed with by a prophet of the Lord.





2 Kings 3:15



Ver. 15. But now bring me a minstrel,.... A piper, a man that knows how to play upon the harp, as the Targum; according to Procopius Gazaeus, this was one of the Levites he ordered to be fetched, who was used to the spiritual melody of David, and could play on musical instruments as he directed. This he did to allay his passion, and compose his spirits, ruffled at the sight of Jehoram, and to fit him to receive prophetic inspiration, which sometimes came upon the Lord's prophets when thus employed, see 1Sa 10:5. Some think {h} the music the prophet called for is that sort the Greeks call "harmony", which is the gravest and saddest, and settles the affections:



and it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him; the spirit of prophecy, as the Targum, which came by the power of God, and as a gift from his hand.



{h} Weemse's Christ. Synagog. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4. p. 143.





2 Kings 3:16



Ver. 16. And he said, thus saith the Lord, make this valley full of ditches. In which the allied army lay encamped, that they might be ready to receive large quantities of water, sufficient for the whole army and cattle, when it came.





2 Kings 3:17



Ver. 17. For thus saith the Lord, ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see the rain,.... Neither perceive the south wind blow, which usually brings rain, nor clouds gathering in the heavens, as portending it, nor any filling from thence:



yet that valley shall be filled with water; and all the ditches dug in it:



that ye may drink, both ye and your cattle, and all your beasts; there would be such a quantity as would be enough for them all, the soldiers, the horses they rode on, and the beasts that drew their wagons.





2 Kings 3:18



Ver. 18. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord,.... To give them such a plenty of water in such an extraordinary manner: he would do for them what was greater, not only save them from falling into the hand of Moab, which they feared,



but he wilt deliver the Moabites into your hands; which was more than was asked for, or expected.





2 Kings 3:19



Ver. 19. And ye shall smite every fenced city and every choice city,.... That is, the inhabitants of them with the sword, and demolish them also, 2Ki 3:25, and shall fell every good tree; which seems contrary to the law in De 20:19, but that may respect trees belonging to a city when besieged only, or only to Canaanitish cities; or the law was now dispensed with, and that for this time only, to make the punishment of Moab the greater, for their rebellion and other sins:



and stop all wells of water; which must be very distressing to those that survived the calamity of the sword:



and mar every good piece of land with stones; as that it could not be ploughed and sowed, nor anything spring up and grow upon it.





2 Kings 3:20



Ver. 20. And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered,.... At Jerusalem; which always went along with the daily burnt offering of the lamb, which might not indeed be offered before break of day, yet quickly after; for no sacrifice could be offered before that, See Gill on "Ex 29:39",



that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom; not from the heavens, but it may be out of some rock, rolling along on the earth from the hills and mountains, down into the valleys, where the armies were:



and the country was filled with water; all round about them. Who has not heard of the "thundering" legion, as it was called by the Emperor M. Aurelius, who, when the army under him was about to engage with the Germans and Sarmatians, and sadly distressed with thirst, fell down on their knees and prayed, upon which a large shower of rain came down to the refreshment of the army, and thunder bolts, which annoyed and put the enemy to flight {i}? at the battle of the Romans with Jugurtha, a sudden and unexpected shower of rain fell, to the refreshment of the Romans, in intolerable thirst {k}.



{i} Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l. 5. c. 5. Orosii Hist. l. 7. c. 15. p. 120. {k} Orosii Hist. l. 5. c. 15. p. 77.





2 Kings 3:21



Ver. 21. And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them,.... The kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom:



they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward; that were of an age capable of that, and all who were more grown; or "girt on a girdle" {l}, a military one, with which the sword was girt, who were at age to wear and knew how to wield a sword: and stood in the border; of their land, between Edom and them, to defend themselves and their country against these invaders.



{l} hrgx rgx "eingente cingulo", Montanus.





2 Kings 3:22



Ver. 22. And they rose up early in the morning,.... To watch the motions of their enemies, and be upon their guard against them:



and the sun shone upon the water; with which the valley was filled:



and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood; so it appeared through the rays of the sun reflected on it.





2 Kings 3:23



Ver. 23. And they said, this is blood,.... They were very confident of it, having no notion of water, there having been no rain for some time; and perhaps it was not usual to see water at any time in this place:



the kings are surely slain; they and their forces:



and they have smitten one another; having quarrelled either about their religion, or about want of water, and the distress they were come into through it, laying the blame of their coming out to war, or of their coming that way, on one another; and the Moabites might rather think something of this kind had happened, from what had lately been done among themselves, and their allies, 2Ch 20:23



now therefore, Moab, to the spoil; having no occasion to fight, or prepare for it; all they had to do was to march directly to the enemy's camp, and plunder it.





2 Kings 3:24



Ver. 24. And when they came to the camp of Israel,.... Not in an orderly regular manner, in rank and file, as an army should march, but in a confused manner, everyone striving who should get thither first, and have the largest share of the booty:



the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them; being prepared for them, they fell upon them sword in hand, and soon obliged them to flee:



but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country; they pursued them closely, and slew them as they fled, and followed them not only to their borders, but into their own country: though Schultens {m}, from the use of the word hbn in the Arabic language, renders the passage, "and they blunted their swords in it (in that slaughter), even by smiting the Moabites".



{m} De Defect. Hod. Ling. Heb. sect. 26.





2 Kings 3:25



Ver. 25. And they beat down the cities,.... Demolished the walls of them, and houses in them, wherever they came:



and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; which they had taken out of the walls and houses they pulled down; or which they picked up in the highway, as they passed along, being a stony country; or which being laid in heaps, gathered out of the fields, they took and scattered them all over them:



and they stopped all the wells of water; with stones and dirt:



and felled all the good trees; fruit bearing ones;

See Gill on "2Ki 3:19",



only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; not able to demolish it, it being a strong fortified city, the principal of the kingdom, and into which the king of Moab had thrown himself, and the remains of his forces; of which see Isa 16:7,



howbeit, the slingers went about it, and smote it; smote the soldiers that appeared upon the walls of it; though Kimchi, and other Jewish writers, understand it of engineers, who cast out large stones from a sort of machines then in use, to batter down and break through the walls of cities.





2 Kings 3:26



Ver. 26. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him,.... The siege was so close, the slingers or engineers did so much execution, that he saw the city would soon be taken, and he be obliged to deliver it up:



he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords; men expert in war, bold and daring:



to break through even unto the king of Edom; through his quarters, and so escape, he lying nearest to the city, and perhaps the weakest body of men with him; or he might think he was not so hearty in the cause of the kings, and would make but a feeble resistance, and let him pass:



but they could not; break through they met with a greater opposition than was expected perhaps the Edomites remembered how they had lately used them, which made them fight more desperately against them, see

2Ch 20:23.





2 Kings 3:27



Ver. 27. 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 Am 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}:



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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