Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great indignation against Israel. So they departed from him and returned to their own land.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he took his oldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
- KJV Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
- BSB So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him, and offered him as a burnt offering on the city wall. And there was great fury against the Israelites, so they withdrew and returned to their own land.
- NASB Then the king of Moab took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And great anger came upon Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.
- NLT Then the king of Moab took his oldest son, who would have been the next king, and sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the wall. So there was great anger against Israel, and the Israelites withdrew and returned to their own land.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In desperation Mesha sacrifices his firstborn son on the wall, and great wrath comes on Israel, who withdraw. The grim scene marks a sudden end to the campaign.
Overview
Mesha's human sacrifice to his god Chemosh reveals the dark depths of pagan religion in contrast to Yahweh's ways. The "great wrath against Israel" and their withdrawal are debated among faithful interpreters: some see it as the fury of Moab's emboldened defenders, others as a divine displeasure connected to Israel's spiritual state, while the text does not fully explain it. What is clear is that the horror of child sacrifice exposes the bankruptcy of idolatry and magnifies, by contrast, the one true and final sacrifice of God's own Son freely given for salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Mic 6:7Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
- Deut 12:31You shall not do so to Yahweh your God; for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
- Judg 11:31then it shall be, that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
- Amos 2:1Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;
- Ezek 16:20“‘“Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter,
- Ps 106:37–38Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
- Judg 11:39At the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. She was a virgin. It was a custom in Israel
- Gen 22:2He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”
- Gen 22:13Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
- 1 Sam 14:36–46Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take plunder among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them.” They said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then the priest said, “Let us draw near here to God.”
- 1 Kgs 20:13Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today; and you will know that I am Yahweh.’”
- 1 Kgs 20:28A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “Yahweh is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys”; therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’”
- 1 Kgs 20:43The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 3:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
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