2 Kings 3:16
in 2 Kings 3and he said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Dig this valley full of ditches.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Thus saith Jehovah, Make this valley full of trenches.
KJV
And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches.
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This verse in 2 Kings 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseMake this valley full of ditches - The word נחל nachal may be translated brook, as it is by the Vulgate and Septuagint. There probably was a river here, but it was now dry; and the prophet desires that they would enlarge the channel, and cut out various canals from it, and reservoirs, where water might be collected for the refreshment of the army and of the cattle; and these were to be made so wide that the reflection of the sun’s rays from this water might be the means of confounding and destroying the Moabites.
This site's exposition
Make this valley full of ditches
on 2 Kings 3:16-18
The command asks for labor before the miracle, ditches dug in a dry valley with no cloud in sight, and the promise that follows refuses ordinary means on purpose: no wind, no rain, yet the valley filled with water. Water without a storm to send it is named a light thing beside the greater gift, the Moabites themselves delivered into their hand. The order runs the same course as the widow's jars in 2 Ki 4:1-7, obedience supplying the vessel that the LORD alone fills.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The harpist played, and the water flowed to the bed of the streams." Through this figure the voice of Christ is conveniently foreshadowed, because he kept the harp of the spirit on the cross. Indeed, our Lord cried twice and gave up his spirit with …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
God is not tied to second causes. Ordinarily it is by a plentiful rain that God confirms his inheritance ( Ps. lxviii. 9 ), but here it is done without rain, at least without rain in that place.
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.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
MANY useful lessons might be gathered from this narrative if we had but time. Upon the very surface we are led to observe the weakness of man when at his utmost strength. Three kings, with three armies well-skilled in war, were gathered to subdue Moab, and lo, the whole of the hosts were brought to a standstill by the simple circumstance that there was a lack of water. How easily can God nonplus and checkmate all the wisdom and the strength of mankind! In circumstances of need how utterly without strength men become!
MANY useful lessons might be gathered from this narrative if we had but time. Upon the very surface we are led to observe the weakness of man when at his utmost strength. Three kings, with three armies well-skilled in war, were gathered to subdue Moab, and lo, the whole of the hosts were brought to a standstill by the simple circumstance that there was a lack of water. How easily can God nonplus and checkmate all the wisdom and the strength of mankind! In circumstances of need how utterly without strength men become! A sere leaf in the hurricane is not more helpless than an army when it finds itself in a wilderness and there are no springs of water. Now they may call their soothsayers but these cannot deliver them. The allied sovereigns may sit in solemn conclave but they cannot command the clouds. In vain your shields, O you mighty! In vain your banners, you valiant hosts! The armies must perish, perish painfully, perish without exception, and all for lack of so simple but so necessary a thing as water! Man would gladly play the god and yet a little water will lay him low. We may also learn here how easily men in times of difficulty, which they have brought upon themselves, will lay their distress upon Providence rather than honestly see it to be the result of their own foolish actions. Hear the king of Israel cast the blame upon Jehovah: "For the Lord has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hands of Moab." Providence is a most convenient horse to bear the saddles of our folly. As I said in the reading, if we prosper and succeed, we proudly sacrifice to our own wisdom. But if shame and loss follow our folly, then we complain of an unpropi-tious Providence.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ditches - Or “pits” Jer 14:3. They were to dig pits in the broad valley or wady, wherein the water might remain, instead of flowing off down the torrent course.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Bring me a musician. Because of his anger, the Divine Presence departed from him. 11 See Maseches Pesachim 66b. Alternatively, Elisha was unable to prophesy because he was mourning Eliyahu’s departure. The Divine Presence does not reside with people who are sad.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כֹּ֖ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עָשֹׂ֛ה | ʾasoh | make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הַנַּ֥חַל | hanachal | the wadi | H5158 → | 141 times |
| הַזֶּ֖ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| גֵּבִ֥ים׀ | gevim | ditches | H1356 → | |
| גֵּבִֽים׃ | gevim | ditches | H1356 → |
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
כֹּ֖הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עָשֹׂ֛הmake
ʾasohH6213 →2628 times
הַנַּ֥חַלthe wadi
hanachalH5158 →141 times
הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
גֵּבִ֥ים׀ditches
gevimH1356 →
גֵּבִֽים׃ditches
gevimH1356 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
4 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 4:3“Go,” said Elisha, “borrow jars, even empty ones, from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few.
it leads to
- John 2:7
Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim.
- John 16:24
Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
- Psalms 81:10
I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.
- 2 Kings 13:18–19
Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” So he took them, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck the ground three times and stopped.
- John 2:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 747: “'Make This Valley Full of Ditches'” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 3:16; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.