Kings II 1:2

2 And it came to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came from the camp, from the people of Saul, and his garments were rent, and earth upon his head: and it came to pass when he went in to David, that he fell upon the earth, and did obeisance to him.

Kings II 1:2 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 1:2

And Ahaziah fell down a lattice in his upper chamber that was
in Samaria
Which was either a window or lattice in the form of network, to let in light; or rather were the rails of a balcony or battlement on the roof of his palace, in this form, on which leaning, it broke down, and he fell into the garden or court yard; or walking on the roof of his house, and treading unawares on a sky light, which let in light into a room underneath, he fell through it into it:

and was sick;
the fall perhaps threw him into a fever, and which seemed threatening, being violent:

and he sent messengers, and said unto them, go inquire of Baalzebub,
the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease;
not to heal him of it, but to know the issue of it; a vain curiosity this! Ekron was one of the principalities of the Philistines, and this idol was the god they worshipped, which signifies a master fly: which some think was a large metallic fly; made under a planet that rules over flies; and the Heathens had deities they called Myiodes, Myagros, and (apomuiov) , which signifies a driver away of flies; as Jupiter and Hercules were called by the Eleans and Romans, and worshipped and sacrificed to by them on that account ^F1; and so the Cyreneans, a people of Lybia, worshipped the god Achor, which seems to be a corruption of the word Ekron, because he freed them from flies, after they had been infested with a pestilence through them ^F2; and Ekron being a place near the sea, and both hot and moist, might be much infested with those creatures. Within the haven of Ptolemais, or Acco, was formerly a temple of Baalzebub, called in later times "the tower of flies", and used as a Pharus ^F3.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Pausan. Eliac. 1. sive, l. 5. p. 313. & Arcadica, sive, l. 8. p. 491. Clement. Alex. Admon. ad Gentes, p. 24.
F2 Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 27. Vid. Chartarii Imagines Deorum, p. 151. & Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 26.
F3 Adrichom. Theatrum Ter. Sanct. fol. 6. 1.

Kings II 1:2 In-Context

1 And it came to pass after Saul was dead, that David returned from smiting Amalec, and David abode two days in Sekelac.

2 And it came to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came from the camp, from the people of Saul, and his garments were rent, and earth upon his head: and it came to pass when he went in to David, that he fell upon the earth, and did obeisance to him.

3 And David said to him, Whence comest thou? and he said to him, I have escaped out of the camp of Israel.

4 And David said to him, What the matter? tell me. And he said, The people fled out of the battle, and many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead.

5 And David said to the young man who brought him the tidings, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?