2 Kings 1:5

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

2 Kings 1:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 1:5

And when the messengers turned back unto him
To Ahaziah king of Israel, as they did as soon as Elijah was gone from them; concluding from his habit, his gravity, and the authority with which he spoke, that he was a prophet of the Lord, and especially from his knowledge of them, and of what they were sent about: he said unto them, why are ye now turned back?
for, by the time they had been gone, he knew they could never have been at Ekron and returned.

2 Kings 1:5 In-Context

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?"