Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he supplied the king of Israel with the wool of one hundred thousand lambs, and of one hundred thousand rams.
- 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.
- 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.
- NASB Now Mesha the king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he used to make tribute payments to the king of Israel of a hundred thousand lambs, and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
- NLT King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He used to pay the king of Israel an annual tribute of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.
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
Mesha king of Moab was a wealthy sheep breeder who paid Israel an enormous tribute of wool. The detail explains what was at stake in the rebellion.
Overview
Moab's tribute of lambs and rams' wool represented a major economic resource for Israel. Mesha is known also from the Moabite Stone, an extrabiblical inscription describing this conflict. The lost revenue gives the political motive for the campaign Israel now undertakes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Sam 8:2David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.
- Gen 26:13–14and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy.
- Gen 13:2And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.
- Isa 16:1–2Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.
- Job 42:12So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
- 1 Chr 18:2David also defeated the Moabites, and they became subject to David and brought him tribute.
- 2 Chr 26:10Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.
- Ps 108:9–10Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
- Ps 60:8Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
- Job 1:3and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
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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 3:4 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.
Original language
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