2 Kings 3:4 BSB — MannaFest

Original language & word study

15 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וּמֵישַׁ֥ע	u.mei.Sha'	and Mesha	H4338 →
מֶֽלֶךְ־	Me.lekh-	[the] king of	H4428 →
מוֹאָ֖ב	mo.'Av	Moab	H4124 →
הָיָ֣ה	ha.Yah	he was	H1961 →
נֹקֵ֑ד	no.Ked	a sheep-breeder	H5349 →
וְהֵשִׁ֤יב	ve.he.Shiv	and he returned	H7725 →
לְמֶֽלֶךְ־	le.Me.lekh-	to [the] king of	H4428 →
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙	Yis.ra.'El	Israel	H3478 →
מֵאָה־	me.'ah-	one hundred	H3967 →
אֶ֣לֶף	'E.lef	thousand	H505 →
כָּרִ֔ים	ka.Rim	lambs	H3733 →
וּמֵ֥אָה	u.Me.'ah	and one hundred	H3967 →
אֶ֖לֶף	'E.lef	thousand	H505 →
אֵילִ֥ים	'ei.Lim	rams	H352 →
צָֽמֶר׃	Tza.mer	wool	H6785 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

H4124moavMoab181×

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Job 1:3
and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
leads to
- Job 29:25
  I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.
- Job 42:12
  So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
- Judges 6:3
  Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
- Proverbs 10:22
  The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
- Numbers 23:7
  And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and…
Through
Psalms 60:8
Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
leads to
- 2 Samuel 8:1–2
  Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from the hand of the Philistines.
- 2 Samuel 8:14
  He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
Through
2 Samuel 8:2
David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one…
leads to
- Numbers 24:17
  I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and…

The gold bar shows how strongly the cross-reference sources tie the two verses together: a long bar means many compiled references make the connection, a short one means few.

Isaiah 16:1Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.2 Samuel 8:2David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.Genesis 26:13–14and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy.2 Chronicles 17:11Some Philistines also brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat, and the Arabs brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats from their flocks.Psalms 60:8Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”Job 1:3and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.Psalms 108:9–10Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”Job 42:12So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.2 Chronicles 26:10Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.Genesis 13:2And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.Isaiah 16:1–2Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.1 Chronicles 18:2David also defeated the Moabites, and they became subject to David and brought him tribute.2 Samuel 13:23Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, he invited all the sons of the king.Ecclesiastes 2:7I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me,

Evidence2

What the record shows

Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone)undisputed
Dhiban (biblical Dibon), Jordan, 1868 · Louvre, Paris (AO 5066)
Counterpoint: The stele is Mesha's own victory monument and tells the war very differently from 2 Kings 3, claiming Moab threw off Israel while Kings has the coalition win the field and withdraw. Its possible second mention of the 'House of David' in line 31 rests on AndrÃ© Lemaire's restoration of damaged letters; Nadav Na'aman and others read the line otherwise, and Michael Langlois's high-resolution imaging has revived rather than settled the argument.
Mesha — attested in contemporary inscriptionundisputed
Mesha Stele (self-authored)
Biblical figure (King of Moab, mid-9th c. BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.

Featured studies on this passage

On 2 Kings 3:4

Archaeology and the Bible (the Evidence Ledger), MannaFest

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Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

Original language & word study

The walk

Where the connections lead

Featured studies on this passage

About 2 Kings

The record, by era

What the record shows

Where the connections lead

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

What the record shows

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 2 Kings

The record, by era

What the record shows

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 2 Kings