Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Kings 2:19 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 19. 19And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse states Jericho's attractive setting and its life-damaging water problem.
Read It With
- 2 Kings 2:19–2:22
Read 2 Kings 2:19 within 2 Kings 2:19–2:22. The city's men report bad water and miscarrying or unproductive land; Elisha uses a new cruse of salt and declares the water healed.
Why This Verse Appears Here
This verse states Jericho's attractive setting and its life-damaging water problem. This detail is necessary to the thought unit “Jericho's harmful water is healed,” but it is not the unit's whole claim.
Read 2 Kings 2:19–22 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Kings 2:19–2:22 forms one scene or regnal notice: The city's men report bad water and miscarrying or unproductive land; Elisha uses a new cruse of salt and declares the water healed.
Verse 19. 19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.
Verse 20. 20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
Verse 21. 21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
Verse 22. 22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
Follow the Context
- The city's men report bad water and miscarrying or unproductive land; Elisha uses a new cruse of salt and declares the water healed.
- The unit's narrated outcome or evaluation prepares the next movement without making every described action exemplary.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Kings 2:19 does not stand alone from 2 Kings 2:19–2:22. This sign does not make salt a medical sacrament, guarantee environmental healing, or blame residents when water and fertility crises persist.
What Remains True
This verse states Jericho's attractive setting and its life-damaging water problem. In the complete scene, that detail supports this larger account: The city's men report bad water and miscarrying or unproductive land; Elisha uses a new cruse of salt and declares the water healed.
How It Can Shape Life
- When teaching 2 Kings 2:19, keep this contribution and 2 Kings 2:19–2:22 together. This sign does not make salt a medical sacrament, guarantee environmental healing, or blame residents when water and fertility crises persist.
Teach It Back
Explain 2 Kings 2:19's precise role in 2 Kings 2:19–2:22. Include the first historical horizon, surrounding verses, one person or cost that a royal or miracle-centered reading could obscure, material uncertainty, and one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Kings 2:19–2:22 — Jericho's harmful water is healedSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The KJV's 'barren' can concern land loss or miscarriage; the sign is narrated as divine healing, not a reproducible treatment.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Kings 2:19–2:22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, royal formulas, clause relationships, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 2:19–2:22
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: A unit-bounded translation comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence is not treated as evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Kings PDF, printed pp. 627–629, translation and translator notes for 2:19–2:22
Open source ↗