1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 4 1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria 5 and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, 6 “Go, ask 7 Baal Zebub, 8 the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”
1:3 But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 9 1:4 Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.
1 tn Heb “the people of the land.” The pronoun “they” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid the repetition of the phrase “the people of the land” from the beginning of the verse.
2 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
3 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
4 sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.
5 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
6 tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”
7 tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”
8 sn Apparently Baal Zebub refers to a local manifestation of the god Baal at the Philistine city of Ekron. The name appears to mean “Lord of the Flies,” but it may be a deliberate scribal corruption of Baal Zebul, “Baal, the Prince,” a title known from the Ugaritic texts. For further discussion and bibliography, see HALOT 261 s.v. זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25.
9 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are going to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question.