Verse Lens · Context pointer

2 Kings 3:2 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 2. And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Role in This Section

This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Jehoram's coalition marches against Moab.”

Read It With

  • 2 Kings 3:1–8

Read 2 Kings 3:2 with 3:1–8. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Jehoram receives a mixed royal evaluation, Mesha withholds tribute, and Israel, Judah, and Edom take the wilderness route toward Moab.

Why It Needs Context

2 Kings 3:2 depends on 3:1–8; isolating “And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his…” would detach a supporting action, quotation, name, number, object, or transition from “Jehoram's coalition marches against Moab.”

Read 2 Kings 3:1–8 together

Why these verses belong together: 2 Kings 3:1–8 forms one scene or regnal notice: Jehoram receives a mixed royal evaluation, Mesha withholds tribute, and Israel, Judah, and Edom take the wilderness route toward Moab.

Verse 1. Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.

Verse 2. And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.

Verse 3. Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

Verse 4. 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.

Verse 5. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

Verse 6. And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.

Verse 7. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.

Verse 8. And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read 2 Kings 3:1–8 — Jehoram's coalition marches against Moab
Sources used for this context pointer

How certain is this explanation? strong

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 3:1–8, 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 3:1–8

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