2 Kings 1:8

8 They answered him, "A hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist." He said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite."

2 Kings 1:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 1:8

And they answered him, he was an hairy man
Either the hair of his head and beard were grown very long, having been much neglected for a great while; or he had an hairy garment on, either of goats' hair, such as the Chinese wear ^F6, whose women spin it, see ( Exodus 35:26 ) and of which garments are made; or of camels' hair, such as John the Baptist wore, who came in his spirit and power, and imitated him in his dress, being also, as Elijah here, girt with a girdle of leather about his loins:
for more expeditious travelling, not for warmth, the climate being hot: and he said, it is Elijah the Tishbite;
for he had seen him formerly in his father's court in this dress.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Semedo's History of China, part 1. ch. 3.

2 Kings 1:8 In-Context

6 They answered him, "There came a man to meet us, who said to us, "Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him: Thus says the Lord: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but shall surely die.' "

7 He said to them, "What sort of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?"

8 They answered him, "A hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist." He said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite."

9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "O man of God, the king says, "Come down.' "

10 But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.