What Does 2 Kings 3:4 Mean?

(4) The revolt of Moab, continued from 2Kings 1:1. Ahaziah did not reign two full years, and his accident seems to have prevented any attempt on his part to reduce the Moabites. **Mesha.**—The name means “deliverance, salvation,” and occurs on the monument set up by this king, describing his victories and buildings. (See Note on 2Kings 1:1.) **A sheep-master.**—Heb., *nôqēd* (Amos 1:1). In Arabic, *naqad* means a kind of sheep of superior wool; *naqqâd*, the owner or shepherd of such sheep. The land of Moab is mountainous, but well watered, and rich in fertile valleys, and thus specially suited for pasture; and the Arabian wilderness lay open to the Moabite shepherds and their flocks. **Rendered.**—*Used to render* (*waw* conversive of the perfect); scil., year by year. This tribute is referred to in Isaiah 16:1. **With the wool.**—Rather, *in wool* (an accusative of *limitation*). The word rendered “lambs” (*kārîm*) means lambs fatted for food. The expression “in wool,” therefore, relates only to the *rams*. Mesha’s annual tribute was paid in kind, and consisted of a hundred thousand fatted lambs and the fleeces of a hundred thousand rams. This was a heavy burden for a country no larger than the county of Huntingdon. (Comp. Mesha’s own allusions to the “oppression” of Moab by Omri and Ahab, 2Kings 1:1, Note.) The LXX. adds, ἐν τῇ ἐπαναστάσει (“in the revolt”); implying that the present rebellion was distinct from that of 2Kings 1:1, and that this tribute was imposed as an indemnity for the former revolt. The addition is probably due to a transcriber.