2 Kings 1:11-12

1:11 The king¹ sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him,² “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’”³ 1:12 Elijah replied to them,⁴ “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from God⁵ came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

2 Kings 3:11

3:11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we might seek the Lord’s direction?”⁶ One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant.”⁷

2 Kings 7:2

7:2 An officer who was the king’s right-hand man⁸ responded to the prophet,⁹ “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?”¹⁰ Elisha¹¹ said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!”¹²

2 Kings 7:13

7:13 One of his advisers replied, “Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people – we’re all going to die!)¹³ Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.”¹⁴

2 Kings 7:19

7:19 But the officer replied to the prophet, “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?”¹⁵ Elisha¹⁶ said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!”¹⁷

¹tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9.

³sn In this second panel of the three-paneled narrative, the king and his captain are more arrogant than before. The captain uses a more official sounding introduction (“this is what the king says”) and the king adds “at once” to the command.

⁴tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta have the singular “to him.”

⁵tn Or “intense fire.” The divine name may be used idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the fire. Whether one translates אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) here as a proper name or idiomatically, this addition to the narrative (the name is omitted in the first panel, v. 10b) emphasizes the severity of the judgment and is appropriate given the more intense command delivered by the king to the prophet in this panel.

⁷tn Heb “that we might inquire of the Lord through him?”

⁸tn Heb “who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.

¹⁰tn Heb “the officer on whose hand the king leans.”

¹¹tn Heb “man of God.”

¹²tn Heb “the Lord was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?” Opening holes in the sky would allow the waters stored up there to pour to the earth and assure a good crop. But, the officer argues, even if this were to happen, it would take a long time to grow and harvest the crop.

¹³tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”

¹³tn Heb “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.” The MT is dittographic here; the words “that remain in it. Look they are like all the people of Israel” have been accidentally repeated. The original text read, “Let them take five of the remaining horses that remain in it. Look, they are like all the people of Israel that have come to an end.”

¹⁴tn Heb “and let us send so we might see.”

¹⁶tn Heb “the Lord was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?” See the note at 7:2.

¹⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”