2 Kings 1:4

2Ki 1:4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.

Ver. 4. Thou shalt surely die.] Tempore non tuo {Ecc 7:17} then, when it were better for thee to do anything else than to die.

And Elijah departed.] Vanished, say some; and that so amazed the messengers that they presently returned. But whether he vanished or departed, they had their errand.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou shalt not come down from that bed--On being taken up, he had probably been laid on the divan--a raised frame, about three feet broad, extended along the sides of a room, covered with cushions and mattresses--serving, in short, as a sofa by day and a bed by night, and ascended by steps.

Elijah departed--to his ordinary abode, which was then at Mount Carmel (Kg2 2:25; Kg1 18:42).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. But shalt surely die.] The true God tells you this; he in whose hands are both life and death, who can kill and make alive. Baal-zebub can do nothing; God has determined that your master shall die.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) Now therefore.—For this act of faithlessness, and to prove by the event that there is a God in Israel, whose oracle is unerring. (Comp. 1Ki_18:24, seq.)

Thus saith.—Or, hath said. After these words the prophetic announcement comes in rather abruptly. Perhaps the verse has been abridged by the compiler, and in the original account from which he drew, the words of 2Ki_1:6 may have followed here, “Go, return to the king . . . Ekron.”

And Eijah departed.—On the Lord’s errand. The LXX. adds, “and said unto them,” or “told them,” which is perhaps due to a copyist’s eye having wandered to the words “unto him,” or “unto them,” in next verse (Thenius).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. And Elijah departed] i.e. to fulfil the command which had been given him by the angel. The LXX. adds ‘and spake unto them’. The compiler of the Kings leaves out here any mention of the first meeting of the messengers by the prophet, because it may be assumed that what the prophet was bidden to do, he did.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now therefore thus saith the Lord,.... Jehovah, the only true God:

thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die; this sickness should be unto death, and the bed he had betaken himself to should be his deathbed. The phrases of going up to bed, and coming down, are used with great propriety; for in the eastern countries, in their bedchambers, they had a gallery raised four or five feet above the floor, with a balustrade on the front (d), and steps leading up to it; or ladders, which had more or fewer rounds, according as the beds were higher or lower (e):

and Elijah departed; having met the messengers, and delivered his message from the Lord unto them.

(d) See Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 209. Ed. 2. (e) Vid. Isidor. Origin. l. 20. c. 11. & Alstorph. de Lect. Vet. c. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Therefore ... - As a punishment for this insult to Yahweh.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Away; probably to his usual abode, at Carmel, where the king sent to seize him.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Now therefore; for this was a very heinous crime, to deny the perfections of God, and to transfer them to an idol. See Lev 19:31; 20:6,27; Deu 18:10.

Elijah departed; the messengers not daring to apprehend him, as suspecting him to be more than man, because he knew the secret message which the king delivered to them in his bedchamber.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Now therefore. The word translated, "therefore" (kel;) is emphatic, and means "for this reason," "on this account." Because Ahaziah had apostatized from Cod, God sentenced him to die from the effects of his fall, and not to recover. It is implied that he might have recovered if he had acted otherwise. And Elijah departed; i.e. quitted the messengers, showing that his errand was accomplished he had said all that he was commissioned to say.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.