2 Kings 1:4

4 The LORD says to Ahaziah, 'You will never leave the bed you are lying on. You can be sure that you will die!' " So Elijah went to see the messengers.

2 Kings 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 1:4

Now therefore thus saith the Lord
Jehovah, the only true God:

thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but
shall surely die;
this sickness should be unto death, and the bed he had betaken himself to should be his deathbed. The phrases of going up to bed, and coming down, are used with great propriety; for in the eastern countries, in their bedchambers, they had a gallery raised four or five feet above the floor, with a balustrade on the front ^F4, and steps leading up to it; or ladders, which had more or fewer rounds, according as the beds were higher or lower ^F5:

and Elijah departed;
having met the messengers, and delivered his message from the Lord unto them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 See Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 209. Ed. 2.
F5 Vid. Isidor. Origin. l. 20. c. 11. & Alstorph. de Lect. Vet. c. 2.

2 Kings 1:4 In-Context

2 Ahaziah had fallen through the window of his upstairs room in Samaria. He had hurt himself. So he sent messengers to ask the god Baal-Zebub for advice. Baal-Zebub was the god of the city of Ekron. Ahaziah said to the messengers, "Go and ask Baal-Zebub whether I will get well again."

3 But the angel of the LORD spoke to Elijah, who was from Tishbe. He said, "Go up to see the messengers of Ahaziah, the king of Samaria. Tell them, 'You are on your way to ask Baal-Zebub for advice. He is the god of Ekron. Are you going to that god because you think there is no God in Israel?'

4 The LORD says to Ahaziah, 'You will never leave the bed you are lying on. You can be sure that you will die!' " So Elijah went to see the messengers.

5 They returned to the king. He asked them, "Why have you come back?"

6 "A man met us on our way there," they replied. "He said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you. Tell him, "The LORD says, 'You are sending messengers to ask Baal-Zebub for advice. He is the god of Ekron. Are you going to that god because you think there is no God in Israel? You will never leave the bed you are lying on. You can be sure that you will die!' " ' "