2 Kings 3 · Verse 19

2 Kings 3:19

And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
2 Kings 3:19, King James Version

2 Kings 3:19 in other translations

BSBAnd you shall attack every fortified city and every city of importance. You shall cut down every good tree, stop up every spring, and ruin every good field with stones.”
WEBYou shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’”
ASVAnd ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
YLTand ye have smitten every fenced city, and every choice city, and every good tree ye cause to fall, and all fountains of waters ye stop, and every good portion ye mar with stones.'
DARBYAnd ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
BBEAnd you are to put every walled town to destruction, cutting down every good tree, and stopping up every water-spring, and making all the good land rough with stones.
WebsterAnd ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

What does 2 Kings 3:19 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 19 Shall fell every good tree - Every tree by which your enemies may serve themselves for fortifications, etc. But surely fruit trees are not intended here; for this was positively against the law of God, Deu 20:19, Deu 20:20 : "When thou shalt besiege a city - thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof - for the tree of the field is man's life - only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down." Stop all wells of water - In those hot countries this would lead sooner than any thing else to reduce an enemy. Mar every good piece of land with stones - Such a multitude of men, each throwing a stone on a good field as they passed, would completely destroy it.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Kings 3:6-19

The king of Israel laments their distress, and the danger they were in. He called these kings together, yet he charges it upon Providence. Thus the foolishness of man perverteth his way, and then his heart fretteth against the Lord, Pr 19:3. It was well that Jehoshaphat inquired of the Lord now, but it had been much better if he had done it before he engaged in this war. Good men sometimes neglect their duty, till…

Read the full comment on 2 Kings 3:6-19 →

2 Kings 3:19 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהִכִּיתֶ֞םve.hi.ki.Temand you will strike downH5221
כָּל\־kol-everyH3605
עִ֤יר'ircity ofH5892
מִבְצָר֙miv.TzarfortificationH4013
וְכָל\־ve.kholand everyH3605
עִ֣יר'ircity ofH5892
מִבְח֔וֹרmiv.ChorchoiceH4004
וְכָל\־ve.kholand everyH3605
עֵ֥ץ'etztreeH6086
טוֹב֙tOvgoodH2896
תַּפִּ֔ילוּta.Pi.luyou will make fallH5307
וְכָל\־ve.kholand allH3605
מַעְיְנֵי\־ma'.ye.nei-[the] springs ofH4599
מַ֖יִםMa.yimwaterH4325
תִּסְתֹּ֑מוּtis.To.muyou will stop upH5640
וְכֹל֙ve.Kholand everyH3605
הַחֶלְקָ֣הha.chel.Kah<the> portion of landH2513
הַטּוֹבָ֔הha.to.Vah<the> goodH2896
תַּכְאִ֖בוּtakh.'I.vuyou will spoilH3510
בָּאֲבָנִֽים\׃ba.'a.va.Nimwith <the> stonesH68

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Kings 3:19

  • 1 Samuel 15:3

    Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

  • Judges 6:16

    And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

  • 2 Kings 13:17

    And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

  • 2 Kings 3:25

    And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kir–haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.

  • Numbers 24:17

    I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

  • 1 Samuel 23:2

    Therefore David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.

  • Deuteronomy 20:19-20

    When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege: Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
And ye.
13:17; Nu 24:17; Jud 6:16; 1Sa 15:3; 23:2
fell.
De 20:19,20
mar. Heb. grieve.
25

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Kings 3:18

    And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.

  • 2 Kings 3:19

    And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

  • 2 Kings 3:20

    And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

Read all of 2 Kings 3

2 Kings 3:19 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y vosotros heriréis á toda ciudad fortalecida y á toda villa hermosa, y talaréis todo buen árbol, y cegaréis todas las fuentes de aguas, y destruiréis con piedras toda tierra fértil.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
et vous frapperez toutes les villes fortes et toutes les villes principales, et vous abattrez tous les bons arbres, et vous boucherez toutes les sources d’eau, et vous ruinerez avec des pierres toutes les bonnes portions de terre.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und ihr werdet alle festen Städte und alle auserlesenen Städte schlagen, und werdet alle guten Bäume fällen und alle Wasserquellen verstopfen und alle guten Ackerstücke mit Steinen verderben.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et percutietis omnem civitatem munitam, et omnem urbem electam, et universum lignum fructiferum succidetis, cunctosque fontes aquarum obturabitis, et omnem agrum egregium operietis lapidibus.