Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 3:10
And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
10. Alas, that [R.V. for ] the Lord hath called ] Thus R.V. conforms to the rendering of A.V. in verse 13. The lamentation is caused by what Jehoram thinks will be their fate. And the conjunction, which can be rendered ‘for’ or ‘that’ seems to be here used to express the ground for the lament. Josephus makes Jehoram cry unto God, asking of what evil they had been guilty that He had brought them thither to give them up without a battle into the hand of Moab.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 10. The Lord hath called these three kings together] That is, This is a Divine judgment; God has judicially blinded us, and permitted us to take this journey to our destruction.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
So he chargeth his calamity upon God; and not upon himself, whose sins were the true and proper causes of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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; into whose hands they must inevitably fall, if they could have no water to refresh them; since they would be so weak as not to be able to stand a battle with them, and be dispersed here and there in search of water, and so fall into their hands. Extreme thirst is intolerable. It is reported e of Lysimachus, that he delivered himself and his army into the hands of the enemy for a draught of water. Leo Africanus f relates, that in the desert of Azaoad stand two marble pillars, testifying that a rich merchant bought of a carrier of wares a cup of water at the price of 10,000 ducats; but there not being water sufficient neither for the one nor the other, they were both died with thirst.
e Plutarch. in Apothegm. f Descriptio Africae, l. 1. p. 75.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(10) That.Omit (k, emphatically introducing the assertion).
Together.Omit.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Observe the daring impiety of the king of Israel, in charging this plan of his own upon the Lord. Oh! how disposed the mind of man is to evil.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 3:10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
Ver. 10. Alas! that the Lord hath called. ] Vox est admirantis et desperantis, saith Vatablus. He seeketh to lay the blame upon the Lord: though it were himself especially that brought the army into that distress. “The wickedness of a man perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord.” Pro 19:3
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Lord: 2Ki 6:33, Gen 4:13, Psa 78:34-36, Pro 19:3, Isa 8:21, Isa 51:20
Reciprocal: Jos 7:7 – wherefore 2Ki 3:13 – Nay 2Ki 6:5 – master
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 3:10-11. The king of Israel said, Alas, &c. He did not cry to God for help, but only bewailed the straits into which they were fallen; which his own guilt made him imagine God had brought to pass for their destruction. Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet This he should have asked before, when they first undertook the expedition, as he did in a like case, (1Ki 22:5,) and for that neglect he now suffers; but better late than never: his affliction brings him to the remembrance of his former sin, and present duty. Here is Elisha, who poured water, &c. Who was his servant: this being one office of a servant: and this office was the more necessary among the Israelites, because of the frequent washings which their law required. Probably it was by a special direction from God that Elisha followed them, unasked, unobserved. Thus does God prevent us with the blessings of his goodness, and provide for those who provide not for themselves.