Did God lose a fight to another deity?

Question

2 Kings 3:26-27 reads

26 When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack the king of Edom, but they failed. 27 So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel, so they broke off the attack and returned to their homeland. (NET)

If you were to read this naturally, even after vigorous examination of the surrounding texts, it would seem that this passage would creat a huge conundrum from a theological standpoint. What it suggests is that, by sacrificing his son, the king of Moab manages to call down the wrath of a very real god, who then proceeds to invoke his power onto the Israelites in a manner not dissimilar to the way God has supported his followers in previous and following chapters.

It was prophesied that God would hand over the Moabites to them in earlier chapters as well. As far as the rest of the story went before this, it seemed like a sure victory. But this deity actually managed to drive off the Chosen People even as they were being backed up by God to win this battle.

This raises a number of questions, the first and foremost being where in the world this "divine anger" is coming from. Is there really another god out there that we have only just heard of, and if so, shouldn't an omnipotent and omniscient God surely possess the means to keep him down and allow his people to triumph? And after this seeming defeat at the hands of Chemosh, is Elisha's prophecy now proven a lie, thus rendering him a false prophet? Scriptural evidence supporting opinions would be preferable.

Answer 1

The New American Bible, in note 4 to 2 Kings chapter 3, does initially attribute this triumph to the god Chemosh. However, the New American Bible then suggests an alternative, monotheistic explanation, which inevitably recognises the polytheistic beliefs of the early Israelites and their belief in the efficacy of child sacrifice:

The wrath against Israel: probably the wrath of Chemosh, the Moabite god to whom the child was offered. He was feared by the Israelites who lost heart on foreign soil.

As some background, there are several different verses in the Old Testament where Israelites and Jews performed child sacrifice, leading some scholars to believe that this was not an uncommon practice in pre-Exilic times, especially in times of national emergency. For example, 2 Kings 16:3 reports that King Ahaz sacrificed a son, but the author is at pains to say that God this was a heathen practice:

2 Kings 16:3: But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.

This establishes that the Israelites practised child sacrifice when they believed the occasion demanded it, even if the biblical authors denied it as a heathen practice. Mark S. Smith (Skirball Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, NYU) says in The Early History of God, page 171, denials such as this may suggest that the sacrifice did occur in Yahweh's name.

If the Israelites believed in the efficacy of child sacrifice, they could have seen defeat as inevitable once the opposing king visibly sacrificed his own son. It only remains that they believed in the existence and power of gods other than their own chief God, Yahweh, for them to accept defeat and retreat. And Mark S. Smith says (Ibid, page 64) that on the available evidence, Israelite religion in its earliest form was polytheistic. So, God did not suffer a defeat by another god, but the Israelites feared that other god, not thinking him to be merely imaginary, because they expected the god to reciprocate the sacrifice to him and assist in an Israelite defeat.

Answer 2

The Douay-Rheims Bible - slightly older than the KJV, renders the passage as such:

2Ki 3:27 Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall: and there was great indignation in Israel, and presently they departed from him, and returned into their own country.

It may seem odd to say that the Israelites were grossed out by seeing a burnt body on the wall & left of their own volition, but that's what appears to be the case, here. Several other translations render a similar sense including the Jubilee Bible, Apostolic Bible Polyglot, Contemporary English Version.

The word translated as "divine" in some Bibles is actually better rendered "great" and what is seen as "anger" is more likely "regret" - so there was a great regret in Israel [ABP "repentance a great in Israel."] There was no anger poured out from another god that caused them to turn back, they reacted and retreated on their own volition.

Answer 3

Consider the facts and the context.

• The king of Moab restores 200,000 sheep to king Ahab of Israel.
• After king Ahab of Israel dies, the shepherd king of Moab annuls his allegiance.
• Ahab's son, the new king of Israel, goes to war as a result, and the kings of Judah and Edom agree to help him.
• The three kings run into supply problems and then decide to consult Elijah.
• Elijah is sarcastic with them but accurately describes their victory over Moab.
• After losing all the engagements and in desperation, the king of Moab sacrifices his firstborn son as a burnt offering in view of the three (nearly completely victorious) kings.

In the Septuagint (TABP) we then read, "And came to pass a great repentance (metamelos) in Israel. And they departed from him, and returned to the land."

Obviously, Israel was now deeply ashamed of their violence against Moab, and of the tragic extremity to which they drove the king of Moab, their former friend.

Answer 4

What is the "divine anger"?

According to Jewish scholar Ziony Zevit, Jewish interpreters are unsure what the expression a great wrath came upon Israel actually means in the Masoretic Text (footnote in the Oxford Jewish Study Bible).

The Septuagint translates the older proto-Hebrew text as great regret [μετάμελος] came in Israel. The word only occurs in the Septuagint. Elsewhere (with Brenton's translation):

Proverbs 11:3

When a just man dies he leaves regret [i.e. "will be missed"]: but the destruction of the ungodly is speedy, and causes joy.

3 Maccabees 2:22–24

Shaking him to and fro as a reed is shaken with the wind, he cast him upon the pavement, powerless, with limbs paralyzed ... When in course of time he had come to himself, this severe check caused no repentance within him, but he departed with bitter threatenings.

The Latin Vulgate also originates in a text older than the Masoretic, being derived from Jerome's original Latin translation of some proto-Hebrew. It reads the underlying word as something that is in Israel and not against Israel:

et facta est indignatio magna in Israel

and there was great indignation in Israel (Douay-Rheims)

All of the above points to an interpretation NOT that the king of Moab eventually prevailed - helped by an "outburst of divine anger" - against Israel, after sacrificing his son; but RATHER, I think, that the king of Moab was regretful at/in Israel because everything that he tried - including his filial sacrifice - had failed.

Is there really another god out there that we have only just heard of?

I am not sure it is correct to say that Scripture never admits the existence of [other] gods (small "g"). Although there are numerous admonitions not to worship or honor other gods (e.g. Exodus 20:3, 34:14; Deuteronomy 5:7), I do not believe there is any place in the Old Testament that states that no other "gods" exist.

As to who these other "gods" are, the Septuagint reading of Psalm 96 (95 in the LXX) tells us:

The gods of the nations are demons.

- Psalm 95:5 LXX

If so, shouldn't an omnipotent and omniscient God allow His people to triumph?

As I plead above, I do not believe that the Israelites were defeated in the end, but even if it were the case, God's omnipotence and omniscience does not preclude His allowing His people to fail. If so, then one should argue why the Fall (capital "F") was allowed to occur.

God chastens those whom He loves (Proverbs 3:12; also Hebrews 12:6). In the Old Testament, there are several examples, I think, of where the Israelite's enemies were permitted to prevail because of some disobedience on their part. Examples of this would include the defeats by the Amorites (Numbers 14) and Ai (Joshua 7), Egypt (2 Chronicles 12), and Egypt (2 Chronicles 12). Of the last, Scripture says:

2 Chronicles 12:1 (KJV 1900)

And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.

2 Chronicles 12:5

Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

After this defeat at the hands of Chemosh, is Elisha's prophecy now proven a lie, thus rendering him a false prophet?

A skewed reading of 2 Kings 3 would certainly make this seem so, as argued, for example, in the exegesis presented in this particular posting of the blog, "Politely Rejecting Jesus". (link expired)

I don't think that's the case, though, when the Scripture is really studied in the full context available to us.

Answer 5

The ritual sacrifice known as Malech or Called Moloch has nill to do with Kamōs, outside of Solomon building a shrine for Kamōs and one for Melech. Which simply is to sacrifice. The Child Sacrifice for a being called 'Moloch' is propagated from later monotheistic Judea under the rule of Josiah.

Chemosh or Kamōs is equated with El is some old Moabite names, such as 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤀𐤋 Kamōs-is-El. El is the Polytheistic Most High God of the ancient Semetic peoples. And in Deut 32-8 there is a clear distinction between El and YHWH.

Take what you will from this as a grain of very fine salt. But I must also point out that Josiah's reign is the start for most of all the confusion in Semetic history. For he attempted to erase everything else, or rewrite it to suit his ideologies.

And Kamōs sent YHWH packing.

For reference on the word 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤀𐤋Albertz, Rainer [in German]; Schmitt, Rüdiger (2012). Family and Household Religion in Ancient Israel and the Levant. Winona Lake, United States: Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-575-06668-4.

Answer 6

No!

Keil and Delitzsch's Commentary on this passage reads:

"And there was (came) great wrath upon Israel, and they departed from him (the king of Moab) and returned into their land." As על קצף היה is used of the divine wrath or judgment, which a man brings upon himself by sinning, in every other case in which the phrase occurs, we cannot understand it here as signifying the "human indignation," or ill-will, which broke out among the besieged (Budd., Schulz, and others). The meaning is: this act of abomination, to which the king of the Moabites had been impelled by the extremity of his distress, brought a severe judgment from God upon Israel. The besiegers, that is to say, felt the wrath of God, which they had brought upon themselves by occasioning human sacrifice, which is strictly forbidden in the law (Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 20:3), either inwardly in their conscience or in some outwardly visible signs, so that they gave up the further prosecution of the siege and the conquest of the city, without having attained the object of the expedition, namely, to renew the subjugation of Moab under the power of Israel.

The extremity of the circumstance for the Moabites had propelled the king to sacrifice his own son -of course, to his own deity(Chemosh), who is NOT a deity, as the prophets, including Isaiah, says,

"And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them."

The Scripture is very clear there are no other 'gods' but God, therefore, no "false god" can be attributed to the breaking off of the seige of Moab.

The analogy here is one of "forceably removing" someone who is ready to annihilate the one they have already severely beaten. In this case, God "caused indignation" which impelled Israel to cease from further slaughtering Moab.