2 Kings 1:8

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

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FOOTNOTES:

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

2 Kings 1:8 In-Context

6 And they said unto him, There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

7 And he said unto them, What manner of man was he that came up to meet you, and told you these words?

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

9 Then [the king] sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he spake unto him, O man of God, the king hath said, Come down.

10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.