1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, 4 he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 1:6 They replied, 5 “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. 6 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’” 1:7 The king 7 asked them, “Describe the appearance 8 of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 1:8 They replied, 9 “He was a hairy man 10 and had a leather belt 11 tied around his waist.” The king 12 said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”
1:9 The king 13 sent a captain and his fifty soldiers 14 to retrieve Elijah. 15 The captain 16 went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. 17 He told him, “Prophet, 18 the king says, ‘Come down!’” 1:10 Elijah replied to the captain, 19 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down 20 from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:11 The king 21 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, 22 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 23
1 tc The MT has וְיַתֵּם (vÿyattem), “and let them add up” (Hiphil of תָּמָם [tammam], “be complete”), but the appearance of הִתִּיכוּ (hitikhu), “they melted down” (Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh], “pour out”) in v. 9 suggests that the verb form should be emended to וְיַתֵּךְ (vÿyattekh), “and let him melt down” (a Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh]). For a discussion of this and other options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 281.
2 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
3 tn Heb “and walked in all the way of David his father.”
4 tn Heb “to him.”
5 tn Heb “said to him.”
6 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question. In v. 3 the messengers are addressed (in the phrase “you are on your way” the second person plural pronoun is used in Hebrew), but here the king is addressed (in the phrase “you are sending” the second person singular pronoun is used).
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “What was the manner…?”
9 tn Heb “said to him.”
10 tn Heb “an owner of hair.” This idiomatic expression indicates that Elijah was very hairy. For other examples where the idiom “owner of” is used to describe a characteristic of someone, see HALOT 143 s.v. בַּעַל. For example, an “owner of dreams” is one who frequently has dreams (Gen 37:19) and an “owner of anger” is a hot-tempered individual (Prov 22:24).
11 tn Heb “belt of skin” (i.e., one made from animal hide).
12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “officer of fifty and his fifty.”
15 tn Heb “to him.”
16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 sn The prophet Elijah’s position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers.
18 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13).
19 tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”
20 tn Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew יָרַד, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (יָרַד) on the arrogant king’s officer.
21 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tc 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.
23 sn 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.
24 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
25 tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”
26 tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”
27 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.