2 Kings 1:13-18

13 Again he sent the third prince of fifty men, and [the] fifty men that were with him. And when the prince had come, he bowed the knees against Elijah (And when the leader had come near, he bowed his knees before Elijah), and prayed him, and said, Man of God, do not thou despise my life, and the lives of (these fifty men,) thy servants, that be with me.

14 Lo! fire came down from heaven, and devoured twain, the first (two) princes of fifty men, and the fifty men that were with them; but now, I beseech, that thou have mercy on my life. (Lo! fire came down from heaven, and devoured the first two leaders of fifty men, and the fifty men who were with each of them; but now, I beseech thee, that thou have mercy on my life.)

15 Forsooth the angel of the Lord spake to Elijah of Tishbe, and said, Go thou down with him; dread thou not (do not thou fear). Therefore Elijah rose (up), and came down with him to the king;

16 and he spake to the king, (and said,) The Lord saith these things, For thou sentest messengers to counsel Baalzebub, god of Ekron, as if no God were in Israel, of whom thou mightest ask a word; therefore thou shalt not go down off the bed, on which thou ascendedest, but thou shalt die by death. (and he spoke to the king, and said, The Lord saith these things, Because thou sentest out messengers to counsel with Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, as if God were not in Israel, of whom thou mightest ask a word; and so thou shalt not go down off the bed, on which thou liest, but thou shalt die.)

17 Therefore he was dead by the word of the Lord, which word Elijah spake; and Joram , his brother, reigned for him, in the second year of Jehoram , the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah; for Ahaziah had no son.

18 Soothly the residue of [the] words of Ahaziah, which he wrought, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Israel?

2 Kings 1:13-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS

\\COMMONLY CALLED THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE KINGS\\

This, and the preceding book, are properly but one book divided into two parts, because of the size of it, as the book of Samuel; it is a continuation of the history of the kings of Israel and Judah; and for a further account of it the reader is referred to the title of the preceding book.

\\INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 1\\

This chapter begins with the rebellion of Moab against Israel, 2Ki 1:1, relates a fall of the king of Israel in his house, which brought on him a sickness, about which he sent messengers to inquire of the god of Ekron, who were stopped by Elijah, and bid to return, as they did; and upon the king's examination of them about the cause of their return, he perceived it was Elijah that forbad them, 2Ki 1:2-8, upon which the king sent to him two captains, with fifty men each, one after another, to bring him to him, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 2Ki 1:9-12, but a third with fifty men sent to him were spared, and he is bid to go along with them with a message to the king, as he did, 2Ki 1:13-16 and the chapter is closed with the death of Ahaziah, 2Ki 1:17,18.