2 Kings 3:15-18

3:15 But now, get me a musician.” ¹  When the musician played, the Lord energized him, ²  3:16 and he said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Make many cisterns in this valley,’ ³  3:17 for this is what the Lord says, ‘You will not feel ⁴  any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’ 3:18 This is an easy task for the Lord; ⁵  he will also hand Moab over to you.

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¹ tn The term used refers to one who plays a stringed instrument, perhaps a harp.

² tn Heb “the hand of the Lord came on him.” This may refer to what typically happened, “[for] when a musician played, the hand of the Lord would come upon him.”

³ tn Heb “making this valley cisterns, cisterns.” The Hebrew noun גֵּב (gev) means “cistern” in Jer 14:3 (cf. Jer 39:10). The repetition of the noun is for emphasis. See GKC 396 §123.e. The verb (“making”) is an infinitive absolute, which has to be interpreted in light of the context. The translation above takes it in an imperatival sense. The command need not be understood as literal, but as hyperbolic. Telling them to build cisterns is a dramatic way of leading into the announcement that he would miraculously provide water in the desert. Some prefer to translate the infinitive as an imperfect with the Lord as the understood subject, “I will turn this valley [into] many pools.”

⁴ tn Heb “see.”

⁵ tn Heb “and this is easy in the eyes of the Lord.”