2 Kings 1:9

9 Then he sent a captain with his fifty men to Elijah. The captain went to Elijah, who was sitting on top of the hill, and said to him, "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 Ahaziah asked them, "What did the man look like who met you and told you this?"

8 They answered, "He was a hairy man and wore a leather belt around his waist." Ahaziah said, "It was Elijah the Tishbite."

9 Then he sent a captain with his fifty men to Elijah. The captain went to Elijah, who was sitting on top of the 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, let fire come down from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men." Then fire came down from heaven and burned up the captain and his fifty men.

11 Ahaziah sent another captain and fifty men to Elijah. The captain said to him, "Man of God, this is what the king says: 'Come down quickly!'"