2 Kings 3:24-27

3:24 When they approached the Israelite camp, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, who then ran from them. The Israelites ¹  thoroughly defeated ²  Moab. 3:25 They tore down the cities and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. ³  They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree.

Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, ⁴  but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. 3:26 When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, ⁵  he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack ⁶  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, ⁷  so they broke off the attack ⁸  and returned to their homeland.

¹ tn Heb “they.”

² 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.

³ 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.

⁴ tn Heb “until he had allowed its stones to remain in Kir Hareseth.”

⁵ tn Heb “and the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him.”

⁶ tn Heb “he took with him seven hundred men, who drew the sword, to break through against.”

⁷ tn Heb “there was great anger against Israel.”

⁸ tn Heb “they departed from him.”