The king of Edom and his troops joined them, and all three armies traveled along a roundabout route through the wilderness for seven days. But there was no water for the men or their animals.
Parallel translations
- WEB So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched for seven days along a circuitous route. There was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them.
- KJV So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days’ journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.
- BSB So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and after they had traveled a roundabout route for seven days, they had no water for their army or for their animals.
- NKJV So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them.
- NASB So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey. But there was no water for the army or for the cattle that followed them.
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
The three kings march seven days but run out of water for the army and animals. The crisis exposes their helplessness apart from God.
Overview
The circuitous desert route left the combined forces stranded without water, threatening the whole campaign. The predicament humbles the kings and prepares them to seek divine help. Human plans, however shrewd, falter when God's provision is absent.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 1 Kgs 22:47There was no king in Edom. A deputy ruled.
- Judg 4:10Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh; and ten thousand men followed him; and Deborah went up with him.
- Exod 17:1All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
- Exod 11:8All these servants of yours will come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, “Get out, with all the people who follow you”; and after that I will go out.’” He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.
- Num 20:2There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
- Exod 15:22Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
- Num 21:5The people spoke against God, and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this light bread.”
- Num 33:14They traveled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
- Num 20:4Why have you brought Yahweh’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?
- 1 Kgs 22:27Say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.”’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:9 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.