2 Kings 1:5

5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned 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 But the angel of the LORD told Elijah, who was from Tishbe, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is there no God in Israel? Why are you going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will recover?

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.

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

6 They replied, “A man came up to us and told us to go back to the king and give him this message. ‘This is what the LORD says: Is there no God in Israel? Why are you sending men to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’”

7 “What sort of man was he?” the king demanded. “What did he look like?”