2 Kings 3:15–20, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
2 Kings 3:15–20
Music precedes a promise of water and victory
A musician, then ditches, then water without rain
Elisha asks for a musician, and as the music plays the hand of the Lord comes on him. The promise is strangely practical: make this valley full of ditches. You will not see wind or rain, yet the valley will fill with water, and you will drink, you and your cattle and your animals. That is a light thing in the Lord's sight; he will also give Moab into their hand. They are to strike every fortified city, fell every good tree, stop the springs, and ruin the good land with stones.
In the morning, at the time of the offering, water comes from the direction of Edom and fills the country. The sign arrives on God's schedule, not as a weather trick the army can repeat. Music here is not a technique for forcing prophecy. It is the setting in which this prophet becomes able to speak.
How this should shape us
Receive a promise that includes ordinary work — digging ditches — without turning the accompaniment into a method. God may supply what you cannot see coming, and still refuse to be managed by your rituals.
Teach it back
Explain 2 Kings 3:15–20 in your own words. Include its movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, one affected or obscured person, and one misuse the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The route and hydrology invite natural proposals, while the narrative explicitly interprets the water as divine provision and ties it to a conquest oracle.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
2 Kings 3:15–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, royal formulas, clause relationships, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 3:15–20
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.
NET Bible 2 Kings PDF, printed pp. 629–631, translation and translator notes for 3:15–20
Supports: Unit-level literary, compositional, historical, and theological orientation used as one concise scholarly synthesis rather than consensus.
Dietrich, '1 and 2 Kings,' Oxford Bible Commentary (2001), printed pp. 249–253, exposition covering 2 Kings 3:15–20
Supports: An external Moabite royal voice about Omride control, revolt, territory, deity, and victory, used as interested primary evidence rather than a harmonizing key.
Louvre official Mesha Stele presentation, ninth-century BCE monument and Moabite royal inscription; compared with Dietrich, printed pp. 249–250
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
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 3:15–20, 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 3:15–20
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. 629–631, translation and translator notes for 3:15–20
Open source ↗scholarly commentary chapter
1 and 2 Kings
Walter Dietrich
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2001
Supports: Unit-level literary, compositional, historical, and theological orientation used as one concise scholarly synthesis rather than consensus.
Exact location: Dietrich, '1 and 2 Kings,' Oxford Bible Commentary (2001), printed pp. 249–253, exposition covering 2 Kings 3:15–20
Open source ↗ninth century bce primary inscription and museum record
Mesha Stele
King Mesha of Moab; modern museum record by the Louvre
Musee du Louvre, ninth century BCE; current museum presentation
Supports: An external Moabite royal voice about Omride control, revolt, territory, deity, and victory, used as interested primary evidence rather than a harmonizing key.
Exact location: Louvre official Mesha Stele presentation, ninth-century BCE monument and Moabite royal inscription; compared with Dietrich, printed pp. 249–250
Open source ↗