29 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 3 This chapter gives the character of Jehoram king of Israel, 2 Kings 3:1, relates the rebellion of the king of Moab against him, 2 Kings 3:4, the war that he and his allies entered into on that account, 2 Kings 3:6 the distress the combined army were in for want of water, their application upon this to Elisha, who promised...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
We are now called to attend the public affairs of Israel, in which we shall find Elisha concerned. Here is, I. The general character of Jehoram, king of Israel, ver. 1-3. II. A war with Moab, in which Jehoram and his allies were engaged, ver. 4-8. III. The straits which the confederate army were reduced to in their expedition against Moab, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 1 Kings 22:47 and they fetched a compass of seven days journey; they went round the Dead Sea, and through the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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.