And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good piece of farmland until it was covered and ruined. They plugged up all the water wells and cut down all the good trees. Only in Kir-haraseth did they leave the stone walls standing, but even there the slingers surrounded the city and attacked it.
The writer is describing how the Israelite and allied armies completely devastated Moab's land, destroying cities, ruining farmland, cutting off water sources, and attacking their last stronghold.
📚 Historical Context
This verse describes the aftermath of Israel and Judah's successful campaign against Moab around 850 BC. The Moabites had rebelled against paying tribute to Israel after King Ahab's death. The systematic destruction described here was a common ancient warfare tactic called 'scorched earth' - making the land unusable for the enemy.
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