Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 3:25

"And they beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir-hareseth [only] they left the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it." — 2 Kings 3:25 (ASV)

And they beat down the cities. — Rather, And the cities they would overthrow, describing what happened again and again.

On every ... filled it. — Literally, And every good plot, they would cast each man his stone, and fill it; and every fountain of water they would stop, and every good tree they would fell. All this as Elisha foretold, 2 Kings 3:19.

Only in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof. — Literally, as the margin indicates, until one left her stones in Kir-harèseth. This clause connects itself with the opening statement, “And the cities they would overthrow (or, kept overthrowing) until her stones were left in Kir-harèseth,” i.e., the work of destruction stopped before the walls of this, the principal stronghold of the country. In the other cities the invaders had not left one stone upon another.

Kir-haraseth. — Called “Kir-moab,”Isaiah 15:1, and “Kir-hères,”Isaiah 16:11. The Targum on Isaiah 15:0 calls it “Kerak (castle) of Moab,” and it still bears that name. It stands upon a steep cliff of chalk.

Howbeit the slingers went about it. — And the slingers went round, surrounded it.

And smote it — i.e., shot at the men on the walls with deadly effect.