Commentary for II Kings 2:19

But the water is bad. And because of the water, the land causes people to die, and send them to their graves. If so, what is the meaning of, “the city is a good place to live”?¹⁸Above, at the beginning of this verse. From here [we learn] that a place’s charm is perceived by its inhabitants.¹⁹Maseches Sotah 47a. Rabbi Yochonon said that there are three types of charm. 1. The charm a place that is perceived by its inhabitants. 2. The charm a woman holds for her husband. 3. The charm of a newly purchased item for its buyer.

"Look, the town is a pleasant place to live..." Up to this point we have no indication that the waters of Jericho were bad, or that they caused bereavement. If it had been son, the people would not have loved it nor would they have transgressed the ban against rebuilding it. Furthermore, if the waters had been bad all along how is it that Eliyahu did not heal them? Finally, if they had caused bereavement for the many years they had been settled there the people would have given up and left. Therefore it appears that the evil had come to the waters recently due to the wickedness of the city's residents, and it was the bad waters which caused the ground to be a source of bereavement - killing many who drank from them. From an interpretive perspective, the verse is saying that Jericho was cursed and a source of bereavement because Joshua had cursed it. Then Eliyahu added his own curse in the when Hiel's two sons died and Eliyahu and King Ahav came to comfort him, as described above in I Kings 16:34 and the midrash. The Sages taught "Look, the town is a pleasant place to live in...but the water is bad and the land causes bereavement." What could be good about it?! R' Yochanan said: the inhabitants always see the grace of a place. (Sotah 47a)