Bible Strands
2 Kings 3:4
Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator introduces Mesha, king of Moab, and his tribute obligations to the king of Israel in the period immediately preceding Mesha's rebellion after Ahab's death.
The words — The term נֹקֵד (no.Ked) literally identifies Mesha as a "sheep-breeder," while וְ/הֵשִׁ֤יב (ve./he.Shiv) means "he returned" or "rendered," describing the regular tribute payment.
The thread — This tribute arrangement parallels the livestock wealth motifs of Genesis 13:2 and Genesis 26:13, while the Moab-Israel political tension recalls the military subjugation recorded in 2 Samuel 8:2.
Why it lands — The verse records the concrete economic arrangement that will trigger a political revolt, requiring the reader to track how material obligations shape historical outcomes.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Genesis 26:13 and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy.
- 2 Samuel 8:2 David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.
- Genesis 13:2 And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.
- 1 Chronicles 18:2 David also defeated the Moabites, and they became subject to David and brought him tribute.
- 2 Chronicles 26:10 Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.
- Job 1:3 and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
- Job 42:12 So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
- Psalms 60:8 Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
- Psalms 108:9 Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
- Isaiah 16:1 Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.