2 Kings 1:8

8 They replied, “He had a garment of hair^[a] and had a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

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2 Kings 1:8 in Other Translations

KJV

8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

ESV

8 They answered him, "He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist." And he said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite."

NLT

8 They replied, “He was a hairy man, and he wore a leather belt around his waist.” “Elijah from Tishbe!” the king exclaimed.

MSG

8 "Shaggy," they said, "and wearing a leather belt." He said, "That has to be Elijah the Tishbite!"

CSB

8 They replied, "A hairy man with a leather belt around his waist." He said, "It's Elijah the Tishbite."

2 Kings 1:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 1:8

And they answered him, he was an hairy man
Either the hair of his head and beard were grown very long, having been much neglected for a great while; or he had an hairy garment on, either of goats' hair, such as the Chinese wear ^F6, whose women spin it, see ( Exodus 35:26 ) and of which garments are made; or of camels' hair, such as John the Baptist wore, who came in his spirit and power, and imitated him in his dress, being also, as Elijah here, girt with a girdle of leather about his loins:
for more expeditious travelling, not for warmth, the climate being hot: and he said, it is Elijah the Tishbite;
for he had seen him formerly in his father's court in this dress.

FOOTNOTES:

F6 Semedo's History of China, part 1. ch. 3.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

2 Kings 1:8 In-Context

6 “A man came to meet us,” they replied. “And he said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” ’ ”

7 The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?”

8 They replied, “He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

9 Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’ ”

10 Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

Cross References 1

1. S 1 Kings 18:7; Zechariah 13:4; Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6

Footnotes 1

[a]. Or "He was a hairy man"