2 Kings 3:4

2 Kings 3:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
• New International Version (NIV)Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to pay the king of Israel a tribute of a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheepbreeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.

Context of 2 Kings 3:4

2He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not like his father and mother, for he removed the sacred pillar of Baal his father had made. 3Nevertheless, Joram clung to the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit. He did not turn away from them. King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He used to pay the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams, 5but when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6So King Joram marched out from Samaria at that time and mobilized all Israel.

2 Kings 3:4 word by word

וּמֵישַׁ֥ע מֶֽלֶךְ־מוֹאָ֖ב הָיָ֣ה נֹקֵ֑ד וְהֵשִׁ֤יב לְמֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מֵאָה־אֶ֣לֶף כָּרִ֔ים וּמֵ֥אָה אֶ֖לֶף אֵילִ֥ים צָֽמֶר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Meshaמֵישַׁעmêysha‛ · MeshaH4338
• kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of Moabמוֹאָבmô'âb · MoabH4124
• was a sheepmasterנֹקֵדnôqêd · shepherdH5349
• and renderedשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• an hundredמֵאָהmê'âh mê'yâh · hundredH3967
• thousandאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · thousandH505
• lambsכַּרkar · ramH3733
• ramsאַ֫יִל'ayil · ramH352
• with the woolצֶ֫מֶרtsemer · woolH6785

Cross-references for 2 Kings 3:4

• Genesis 13:2Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.
• Genesis 26:13and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy.
• 2 Chronicles 26:10Since he had many cattle both in the Judean foothills and the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many wells. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands.
• Job 1:3His estate included seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.
• Job 42:12So the Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the first. He owned fourteen thousand sheep and goats, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
• 2 Samuel 8:2He also defeated the Moabites, and after making them lie down on the ground, he measured them off with a cord. He measured every two cord lengths of those to be put to death and one full length of those to be kept alive. So the Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute.
• 1 Chronicles 18:2He also defeated the Moabites, and they became David’s subjects and brought tribute.
• Psalms 60:8Moab is my washbasin. I throw my sandal on Edom; I shout in triumph over Philistia.”
• Psalms 108:9Moab is my washbasin; I throw my sandal on Edom. I shout in triumph over Philistia.”
• Isaiah 16:1Send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mountain of Daughter Zion.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 3:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Was a sheepmaster - The original is נקד naked, of which the Septuagint could make nothing, and therefore retained the Hebrew word : but the Chaldee has גיתי מרי marey githey, "a sheepmaster;" Aquila has ; and Symmachus, ; all to the same sense. The original signifies one who marks or brands, probably from the marking of sheep. He fed many sheep, etc., and had them all marked in a particular way, in order to ascertain his property. A hundred thousand lambs…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Moab, the region immediately east of the Dead Sea and of the lower Jordan, though in part suited for agriculture, is in the main a great grazing country. Mesha resembled a modern Arab Sheikh, whose wealth is usually estimated by the number of his flocks and herds. His tribute of the wool of 100,000 lambs was a tribute in kind, the ordinary tribute at this time in the East. Mesha is the monarch who wrote the inscription on the “Moabite stone” (2 Kings 1:1…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-5The Moabite rebellion (see 2 Kings 1:1) started when they stopped paying their yearly tribute. The Moabite Stone (Mesha Stela) describes how Israel controlled northern Moab during the time of Omri and Ahab. This control continued under the rule of Ahaziah and Joram.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-64-6. Mesha king of Moab, &c.--As his dominions embraced an extensive pasture country, he paid, as annual tribute, the wool of a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand rams. It is still common in the East to pay custom and taxes in the fruits or natural produce of the land.Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 3:4

• Mesha
• Sheep

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Moab
• Moab; Moabites
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Moab, Moabite
• Colour
• Compass
• Indignation
• Jehoram

Commentaries on 2 Kings 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings