2 Kings 1

2 Kings Chapter 1

The Divided Monarchy (1:1-17:41)

The Era of Israel’s Third Dynasty (1:1-8:29)

Elijah Confronts King Ahaziah

      • After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah had fallen through the latticed window of his upper room in Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers instructing them, “Go inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.”

        • NLT Illustrated Study Bible writes, “After Ahab’s death, the Moabites felt secure enough to declare themselves free from their overlords (see 3:4-5). The historical notice anticipates the troubles that Israel would experience after the short-lived reign of Ahaziah…”

        • ESV Study Bible adds, “…An inscribed stone monument of King Mesha of Moab (commonly known as the ‘Mesha Inscription’ or ‘Moabite Stone’) probably refers to this same Moabite rebellion…”

“The Mesha Stele in its current location: The brown fragments are pieces of the original stele, whereas the smoother black material is Ganneau’s reconstruction from the 1870s.” via wikipedia

        • On the latticed widow, ESV Archaeology Study Bible notes, “These second-story rooms with latticed windows provided fresh air and sunlight for the palace and were apparently large enough to accommodate an adult (see Jer 22:13-14).”

        • Many scholars believe that the reference to “Baal Zebub,” which literally translates to “Lord of the flies,” is a deliberate scribal change from what should be “Baal Zebul,” which means “Baal, the prince. However, there is debate. I’ll cite one source for each view:

          • ESV Archaeology Study Bible: “Baal-zebub, meaning ‘lord of the flies,’ is probably a deliberate corruption of ‘Baal-zebul’ (meaning ‘Baal the exalted,’ ‘Baal the prince,’ or ‘lord of the heavenly house’; compare NT ‘Beelzebul’) intended to express the author’s contempt for this false god. There is no mention of ‘Baal of the flies’ in Canaanite texts from Ugarit, but the title “Baal-zebul’ (zbl b’l or b’l zbl) or Prince Baal’ appears four times. Further, zbl (‘prince’) is a title given to several other Canaanite deities at Ugarit, including Yam, god of the sea, amd Mot, god of death and the underworld. In the OT, the Hebrew cognate zebul (‘exalted dwelling place’) describes the Jerusalem temple (1 Kings 8:13; 2 Chron 6:2) and God’s lofty abode in heaven (Isa 63:15) but is not applied to Yahweh himself. When Messiah is described as ‘Prince of Peace’ in Isa 9:6, and different name for ‘prince’ (Hb sar) is used.”

        • NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: “…Alternatively, Baal-Zebub, rather than being a corruption, is a title indicating mastery over flies, the spreaders of pestilence, and thus over the curing of disease. An Ugaritic deity named El Dhubub may signify something similar..”

          • This source goes on to remark, “Ahaziah himself does not scorn this deity, however, but regards him as a source of information and power. In this our authors depict the king as only one of those many Israelites who, in the monarchic period, prefers Baal to Yahweh- or at least does not wish to give Yahweh exclusive allegiance…”

      • But the angel of Yahweh told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up and go meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Are you going to inquire of the god of Ekron, Baal Zebub, because there is no God in Israel?’ Therefore this is what Yahweh says: ‘You will never leave the bed you’re lying on. You will certainly die.’” So Elijah went.

        • NLT Illustrated Study Bible says, “The angel of the Lord does not appear to be a christophany in the book of Kings, as in other OT texts (e.g., Judg 6:11-18). Elijah, who had previously confronted Ahaziah’s father, Ahab, had a twofold message for the king: a condemnation for failure to acknowledge that Yahweh, not Baal, is God (see 1 Kgs 18:16-18), and a pronouncement of doom (see 1 Kgs 21:17-24).”

      • When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you come back?” They answered, “A man came to meet us and told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what Yahweh says: Are you going to inquire of the god of Ekron, Baal Zebub, because there is no God in Israel? Therefore, you will never leave the bed you’re lying on. You will certainly die.”’” The king asked, “What did the man who came to meet you and told you these things look like?” They replied, “He was a hairy man and he was wearing a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “It is Elijah from Tishbe.”

        • Does the author mean that Elijah was a hairy man or that he was wearing clothing made of hair? ESV Study Bible remarks, “The Hebrew is lit., ‘He was a man who was a lord/owner of hair’…The ‘hair’ could be either animal or human, which is why translations of the Hebrew have varied between ‘garment of hair’ and ‘hairy’ (i.e., long-haired, bearded).”

      • Then the king sent a captain with his company of 50 men to Elijah. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’” Elijah replied to the captain, “If indeed I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men.

        • ESV Study Bible notes, “The odds would seem good for 50 soldiers to be able to bring back one man, but the Lord is on Elijah’s side. This is not the first time a negative oracle addressed to a king elicits an attempt to capture the prophet who delivered it (cf 1 Kgs 13:1-7; 17:1-4; 18:9-10; also 1 Sam 19:19-24). The prophetic word, however, cannot be brought under human control, and the God of Mount Carmel sends fire from heaven to underline this fact (cf 1 Kgs 18:38)…Here 100 soldiers die as a result of Ahaziah’s choice to turn from God, again showing that the sins of leaders often lead to tragic consequences for those whom they lead…”

        • Guzik writes, “The captain here admitted the righteousness of Elijah when he called him ‘Man of God.’ Therefore they were wrong in doing this, even though they were on orders from their king. The Bible clearly teaches that we owe submission to the government and governing authorities (Romans 13:1-2). Yet in the human sphere, the Biblical command to submit is never absolute, but always conditioned by the greater responsibility to submit to God (Acts 5:29). This commander should have resisted the ungodly and immoral command from King Ahaziah and obeyed God instead. His fifty men should have refused to obey the ungodly and immoral command of their captain. Elijah put the issue in stark contrast. If he really were a man of God, then the captain and his men were on an ungodly and immoral mission. Since Elijah could not bring down fire from heaven without Divine approval, he asked God to evaluate these men and the rightness of their actions against God’s prophet…God brought judgment on these men who acted as if Yahweh was not a real God and as if Elijah was not truly His servant.”

      • So the king sent another captain with his company of 50 men to Elijah. The captain went up and told Elijah, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” Elijah answered, “If indeed I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men.

      • The king sent a third captain with his company of 50 men to Elijah. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God, please let my life and the lives of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your eyes. Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first 2 captains with their 50 men each. But please let my life be precious in your eyes.” The angel of Yahweh told Elijah, “Go down with him; don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

        • ESV Study Bible writes, “This man shows Elijah the respect he is due as a prophet of the Lord and escapes with his life. On the other hand, Ahaziah has his desired meeting with Elijah, and it changes nothing; the king dies…”

      • Elijah said to the king, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Did you go to inquire of the god of Ekron, Baal Zebub, because there is no God in Israel? Therefore, you will never leave the bed you’re lying on. You will certainly die.’”

        • Guzik says, “This was the same message Elijah gave to the men Ahaziah sent to inquire of Baal-Zebub. The message from God did not change just because Ahaziah didn’t want to hear it the first time.”

      • So he did die, in accordance with the word of Yahweh, which Elijah had spoken. Since Ahaziah didn’t have a son to succeed him, his brother Jehoram succeeded him. This took place in the 2nd year of King Jehoram of Judah, who was Jehoshaphat’s son. The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are written in the book, “Annals of the Kings of Israel.”

        • NLT Illustrated Study Bible includes the following footnote, “Hebrew Jehoram, a variant spelling of Joram.”

        • NET Bible adds the following textual note, “Heb ‘Jehoram replaced him as king…because he had no son.’ Some ancient textual witnesses add ‘his brother,’ perhaps to clarify that it is not the contemporary Jehoram of Judah.”

        • HCSB writes, “…The ‘second year’ was 852 BC. Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was co-regent with his father at the end of his father’s reign.”

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