2 Kings 1:4

4 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’ ” So Elijah went.

2 Kings 1:4 in Other Translations

4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.

4 Now therefore thus says the LORD, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.'" So Elijah went.

4 Now, therefore, this is what the LORD says: You will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’” So Elijah went to deliver the message.

4 Here's a message from the God you've tried to bypass: 'You're not going to get out of that bed you're in - you're as good as dead already.'" Elijah delivered the message and was gone.

4 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: 'You will not get up from your sickbed-you will certainly die.' " Then Elijah left.

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 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”

3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’

4 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’ ” So Elijah went.

5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you come back?”

6 “A man came to meet us,” they replied. “And he said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” ’ ”

Cross References

• 1. ver 6,16; Psalms 41:8