2 Kings 3:18
in 2 Kings 3This is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD, and He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And this is but a light thing in the sight of Jehovah: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
KJV
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
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This verse in 2 Kings 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd 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.
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 Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
His grants out-do our requests and expectations. Those that sincerely seek for the dew of God's grace shall have it, and by it be made more than conquerors. It is promised that they shall be masters of the rebellious country, and they are permitted to lay it waste and ruin it,
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.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָקַ֥ל | venakal | and it will be trifling | H7043 → | 82 times |
| זֹ֖את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| בְּעֵינֵ֣י | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְנָתַ֥ן | venatan | and he will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מוֹאָ֖ב | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| בְּיֶדְכֶֽם׃ | beyedkhem | in hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
וְנָקַ֥לand it will be trifling
venakalH7043 →82 times
זֹ֖אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
בְּעֵינֵ֣יin [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְנָתַ֥ןand he will give
venatanH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מוֹאָ֖בMoab
moavH4124 →181 times
בְּיֶדְכֶֽם׃in hand your
beyedkhemH3027 →1618 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Ephesians 3:20Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
- Romans 4:21
being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
- Jude 1:24
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
- 1 Corinthians 2:9
Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
- Jeremiah 32:27
Through
Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
it leads to
- Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 32:17
“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
- Matthew 19:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 747: “'Make This Valley Full of Ditches'” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.