Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, 6 but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. 3:26 When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, 7 he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack 8 the king of Edom, but they failed. 3:27 So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel, 9 so they broke off the attack 10 and returned to their homeland.
1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Moabites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn The translation assumes the verb is חָרַב (kharav, “to be desolate”). The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb form for emphasis. (For another example of the Hophal infinitive with a Niphal finite verb, see Lev 19:20. Cf. also IBHS 582 §35.2.1c.) Some prefer to derive the verb from a proposed homonym meaning “at HALOT 349 s.v. II חרב and BDB 352 s.v. חָרְבָה).
3 tn Heb “they.”
4 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) suggests, “and they went, striking down,” but the marginal reading (Qere) is “they struck down, striking down.” For a discussion of the textual problem, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 46.
5 tn Heb “and [on] every good portion they were throwing each man his stone and they filled it.” The vav + perfect (“and they filled”) here indicates customary action contemporary with the situation described in the preceding main clause (where a customary imperfect is used, “they were throwing”). See the note at 3:4.
6 tn Heb “until he had allowed its stones to remain in Kir Hareseth.”
7 tn Heb “and the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him.”
8 tn Heb “he took with him seven hundred men, who drew the sword, to break through against.”
9 tn Heb “there was great anger against Israel.”
10 tn Heb “they departed from him.”