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2 Kings 3:9

in 2 Kings 3

So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and after they had traveled a roundabout route for seven days, they had no water for their army or for their animals.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey: and there was no water for the host, nor for the beasts that followed them.

KJV

So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days’ journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.

This verse in 2 Kings 3

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
Seven days’ journey - The distance of the route probably followed is not much more than 100 miles. But the difficulties of the way are great; and the army might not be able to move along it at a faster rate than about 15 miles a day. No water - The kings had probably expected to find sufficient water for both men and baggage animals in the Wady-el-Ahsy, which divides Edom from Moab, and which has a stream that is now regarded as perennial.

This site's exposition

fetched a compass of seven days’ journey

on 2 Kings 3:9-10

Seven days through the wilderness of Edom leave three armies and their cattle without water, and the crisis exposes the difference between the two kings before Elisha ever speaks. Jehoram's response is fatalism dressed as piety, alas, that the LORD hath called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab, blaming God for a route his own alliance chose. It is the same reflex Ahab showed toward Elijah at 1 Ki 18:17, trouble laid at the prophet's door rather than the king's.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 3:9 · Written before 373.

proposed

After the death of Ahab, his son Ahaziah died too, and since he had no children, his brother Jehoram took his place. Therefore the Scripture reports that he moved with his army against the king of Moab. He went to war because Mesha, king of …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

King of Edom - That is, the vice-roy under Jehosaphat, 1 Kings xxii, 47, here called king: because that word is sometimes used for any prince or chief ruler. Seven days - Because they made a great army, which could move but slowly; and they fetched a greater compass than was usual, for some advantage which they expected by it.
So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

God suffers his people, by their own improvidence, to bring themselves into distress, that the wisdom, power, and goodness of his providence may be glorified in their relief. What is more cheap and common than water? It is drink to every beast of the field, Ps. civ.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

They were disappointed by finding the wady of this valley, the brook Zered (De 2:13-18) [ROBINSON], dry. But the pious mind of Jehoshaphat inquired for a prophet of the Lord; and, on being informed that Elisha was at hand, the three kings "went down to him"; that is, to his tent, which was either in the camp, or close by it.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

A compass of seven days’ journey - By taking a circuitous route, to go round the southern part of the Dead Sea, they probably intended to surprise the Moabites; but it appears their journey was ill planned, as they at last got into a country in which it was impossible to obtain water, and they were brought in consequence to the utmost extremity.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

To hand them over, etc. For they will die of thirst. 6 The three kings will be handed over to Moav because either they will die of thirst, or if they scatter across the countryside in search for water, they will be in an unprotected and vulnerable position.—Radak
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Kings 3:10:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

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

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֵּלֶךְ֩and he went

    vaiyelekhH19801546 times

  • מֶ֨לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH44282525 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֤לIsrael

    yisraelH34782507 times

  • וּמֶֽלֶך־and [the] king of

    umelekh-H44282525 times

  • יְהוּדָה֙Judah

    yehudahH3063819 times

  • וּמֶ֣לֶךְand [the] king of

    umelekhH44282525 times

  • אֱד֔וֹםEdom

    ʾedomH12399 times

  • וַיָּסֹ֕בּוּand they went around

    vaiyasobuH5437161 times

  • דֶּ֖רֶךְa journey of

    derekhH1870707 times

  • שִׁבְעַ֣תseven

    shivatH7651394 times

  • יָמִ֑יםdays

    yamimH31172304 times

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H38085168 times

  • הָיָ֨הit belonged

    hayahH19613559 times

  • מַ֧יִםwater

    mayimH4325581 times

  • לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֛הto the army

    lamachanehH4264215 times

  • וְלַבְּהֵמָ֖הand to the animal[s]

    velabehemahH929

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • בְּרַגְלֵיהֶֽם׃[was] at feet their

    beragleihemH7272247 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Kings 22:27

    and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 16:10

      Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.

    • 2 Chronicles 18:25–27

      And the king of Israel declared, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son,

  • Through

    Judges 4:10

    where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

    it leads to

    • Judges 5:18

      Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield.

    • Judges 5:15

      The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.

  • Through

    Exodus 15:22

    Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 16:7

      Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur.

  • Through

    1 Kings 22:47

    And there was no king in Edom; a deputy served as king.

    it leads to

    • 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.

    • 2 Kings 8:20

      In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king.

  • Through

    Numbers 20:2

    Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 16:19

      When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation.

Where this verse is studied

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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 3:9; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.