2 Kings 3:1 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

2 KINGS CHAPTER 3 Jehoram followeth the sin of Jeroboam; he, with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom, goeth to battle against Moab, 2 Kings 3:1-8. They, in distress for water, obtain it by Elisha, and a promise of victory, 2 Kings 3:9-20. The Moabites, deceived by the colour of the water, coming to spoil, are overcome, 2 Kings 3:21-25. The king of Moab, by sacrificing his eldest son, raiseth the siege, 2 Kings 3:26,27. The eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat. Quest. How can this be true, when Ahaziah, Jehoram's predecessor, who reigned two years, began his reign in Jehoshaphat's seventeenth year, 1 Kings 22:51 ? Answ. Either Ahaziah reigned the greatest part of two years, to wit, of the seventeenth and eighteenth years of Jehoshaphat, (parts of years being oft called years in the computation of times, both in Scripture and other authors,) and Jehoram began his reign towards the end of his eighteenth year; or Ahaziah reigned part of this two years with his father, and the rest after him.