2 Kings 1 (NET)

2 Kings

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.1 2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria2 and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders,3 “Go, ask4 Baal Zebub,5 the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

3 But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron.6 4 Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.

5 When the messengers returned to the king,7 he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 6 They replied,8 “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron.9 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’” 7 The king10 asked them, “Describe the appearance11 of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 8 They replied,12 “He was a hairy man13 and had a leather belt14 tied around his waist.” The king15 said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”

9 The king16 sent a captain and his fifty soldiers17 to retrieve Elijah.18 The captain19 went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill.20 He told him, “Prophet,21 the king says, ‘Come down!’” 10 Elijah replied to the captain,22 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down23 from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

11 The king24 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him,25 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’”26 12 Elijah replied to them,27 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from God28 came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

13 The king29 sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell30 on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours. 14 Indeed,31 fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men.32 So now, please have respect for my life.” 15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down33 with him to the king.

16 Elijah34 said to the king,35 “This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle!36 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’”37

17 He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah.38 In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son.39 18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.40

11:1sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22. 21:2map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1. 31:2tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.” 41:2tn That is, “seek an oracle from.” 51:2sn Apparently Baal Zebub refers to a local manifestation of the god Baal at the Philistine city of Ekron. The name appears to mean “Lord of the Flies,” but it may be a deliberate scribal corruption of Baal Zebul, “Baal, the Prince,” a title known from the Ugaritic texts. For further discussion and bibliography, see HALOT 261 s.v. זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25. 61:3tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are going to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question. 71:5tn Heb “to him.”sn The narrative is elliptical and telescoped here. The account of Elijah encountering the messengers and delivering the Lord’s message is omitted; we only here of it as the messengers report what happened to the king. 81:6tn Heb “said to him.” 91:6tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question. In v. 3 the messengers are addressed (in the phrase “you are on your way” the second person plural pronoun is used in Hebrew), but here the king is addressed (in the phrase “you are sending” the second person singular pronoun is used). 101:7tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 111:7tn Heb “What was the manner…?” 121:8tn Heb “said to him.” 131:8tn Heb “an owner of hair.” This idiomatic expression indicates that Elijah was very hairy. For other examples where the idiom “owner of” is used to describe a characteristic of someone, see HALOT 143 s.v. בַּעַל. For example, an “owner of dreams” is one who frequently has dreams (Gen 37:19) and an “owner of anger” is a hot-tempered individual (Prov 22:24). 141:8tn Heb “belt of skin” (i.e., one made from animal hide). 151:8tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 161:9tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 171:9tn Heb “officer of fifty and his fifty.” 181:9tn Heb “to him.” 191:9tn Heb “he”; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 201:9sn The prophet Elijah’s position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers. 211:9tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13). 221:10tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.” 231:10tn Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew יָרַד, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (יָרַד) on the arrogant king’s officer. 241:11tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 251:11tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9. 261:11sn In this second panel of the three-paneled narrative, the king and his captain are more arrogant than before. The captain uses a more official sounding introduction (“this is what the king says”) and the king adds “at once” to the command. 271:12tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta have the singular “to him.” 281:12tn Or “intense fire.” The divine name may be used idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the fire. Whether one translates אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) here as a proper name or idiomatically, this addition to the narrative (the name is omitted in the first panel, v. 10b) emphasizes the severity of the judgment and is appropriate given the more intense command delivered by the king to the prophet in this panel. 291:13tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 301:13tn Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.” 311:14tn Heb “look.” 321:14tn Heb “their fifty.” 331:15sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative. 341:16tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 351:16tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 361:16tn Heb “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is there no God in Israel to inquire of his word?” 371:16sn For the third time in this chapter we read the Lord’s sarcastic question to king and the accompanying announcement of judgment. The repetition emphasizes one of the chapter’s main themes. Israel’s leaders should seek guidance from their own God, not a pagan deity, for Israel’s sovereign God is the one who controls life and death. 381:17tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through Elijah.” 391:17tn Heb “Jehoram replaced him as king…because he had no son.” Some ancient textual witnesses add “his brother,” which was likely added on the basis of the statement later in the verse that Ahaziah had no son. 401:18tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not recorded in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”