2 Kings 1:1-8

1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.

2 During the rebellion King Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upstairs room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers [to Ekron]. He had told them, "Go ask Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this injury."

3 Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah from Tishbe, "Meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and ask them, 'Do you seek advice from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, because [you think] there is no God in Israel?

4 This is what the LORD says: You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. Instead, you will die there.'" Then Elijah left.

5 When the messengers returned, the king asked them, "Why have you come back so soon?"

6 They told him that a man came to meet them and said to them, "Go back to the king who sent you. Tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: Do you send messengers to seek advice from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, because [you think] there is no God in Israel? You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. Instead, you will die there.'"

7 The king asked them, "What was the man who told you this like?"

8 They replied, "He was hairy and had a leather belt around his waist." "That's Elijah from Tishbe," the king answered.

2 Kings 1:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS

\\COMMONLY CALLED THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE KINGS\\

This, and the preceding book, are properly but one book divided into two parts, because of the size of it, as the book of Samuel; it is a continuation of the history of the kings of Israel and Judah; and for a further account of it the reader is referred to the title of the preceding book.

\\INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 1\\

This chapter begins with the rebellion of Moab against Israel, 2Ki 1:1, relates a fall of the king of Israel in his house, which brought on him a sickness, about which he sent messengers to inquire of the god of Ekron, who were stopped by Elijah, and bid to return, as they did; and upon the king's examination of them about the cause of their return, he perceived it was Elijah that forbad them, 2Ki 1:2-8, upon which the king sent to him two captains, with fifty men each, one after another, to bring him to him, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 2Ki 1:9-12, but a third with fifty men sent to him were spared, and he is bid to go along with them with a message to the king, as he did, 2Ki 1:13-16 and the chapter is closed with the death of Ahaziah, 2Ki 1:17,18.