1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, 7 he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
1 tn Heb “walked in all the way which his father walked.”
2 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
3 tn Heb “and he served the disgusting idols which his father served and he bowed down to them.”
4 tn Heb “and did not walk in the way of the
5 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
6 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
7 tn Heb “to him.”
8 sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.