me.sha.ke.let describes a condition in which land or waters bring barrenness rather than life.

The two occurrences describe barrenness as a harmful condition associated first with the land and then with what the waters will no longer bring forth.

1. Barrenness associated with land and waters · dominant

   In 2 Kings 2:19, the feminine singular active participle occurs in the city's complaint that its waters are bad and its land is barren. In 2 Kings 2:21, the same form occurs in the declaration that death and barrenness shall not come from the healed waters again; the APB renders the clauses with “barren” and “barrenness.”

   2 Kings 2:192 Kings 2:21

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB presents the condition as “barren” for the land in 2 Kings 2:19 and as “barrenness” that will not come from the waters in 2 Kings 2:21. These renderings confirm the clauses' overall presentation rather than isolate every contribution of the form.