2 Kings 1:9

9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, ¹"O man of God, the king says, 'Come down.'"

2 Kings 1:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 1:9

Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty,
&c.] Not in honour to him, but to bring him by force if he refused to come willingly: and he went up to him, and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill;
generally supposed to be Mount Carmel; and he spake unto him;
at the bottom of the hill, so loud that he might hear him: thou man of God;
or the prophet of the Lord, as the Targum, as thou callest thyself; for this was said in a sneering, flouting, manner: the king hath said, come down;
and in the king's name he ordered him to come down, signifying, if he would not, he would send his men to fetch him down.

2 Kings 1:9 In-Context

7 He said to them, "What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?"

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."

9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "O man of God, the king says, 'Come down.'"

10 But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

11 Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, "O man of God, this is the king's order, 'Come down quickly!'"

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 33:1; Judges 13:6; 1 Samuel 2:27; 1 Samuel 9:6