And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city [is] pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water [is] naught, and the ground barren.
Ver. 19. Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city, &c.] Say we so of such places, though never so pleasant, as have not the word and sacraments - those waters of life - purely and powerfully administered in them: and seek remedy.
But the water is naught, and the ground barren.] Heb., Making to miscarry. The cause whereof was not either that ancient malediction of Joshua, or the neighbourhood of that noisome lake of Sodom, but the recent sins of the inhabitants, - see Psalms 107:34, - and particularly Hiel's presumption in rebuilding it. 1Ki 16:34