Mother-land

In 2 Kings 2, Elisha heals a “barren land,” a land described as “causing miscarriage” or as “abortive” itself. The land is mother, and the new “father” of the prophets sows salt to heal the land and make it fruitful.

2 Kings 3 picks up on this mother-land analogy. Elisha predicts what the three kings will do to the land of Moab. Along with destroying cities, the three kings are going to make war on the land itself, felling trees and stopping up springs and ruining the ground with stones. Two of these phrases point to larger symbolic concerns. The word for “spring” has sexual connotations in Pr 5:16 and Song of Songs 4:12; stopping up the springs of the land is sterilizing the mother land. Likewise, the word for “mar” or “ruin” often connotes “to cause pain” or “to wound” (Gen 34:25; Job 5:18). The three kings are going to “stone” the land, like a woman caught in adultery.