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2 Kings 1:6

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) 2 Kings 1:6 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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2 Kings 1:6 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/2-kings/1/6.

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English Translation
They said to him, There came up a man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king who sent you, and tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely die.
World English Bible · Public Domain
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    They said to him, There came up a man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king who sent you, and tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely die.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and you shall say to him, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘ because there is no God in Israel you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed where you have gone up there, you will not come down from it, for dying, you will die.’”’”

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    They said to him, There came up a man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king who sent you, and tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely die.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”
  • King James Version Public Domain
    And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    And they said unto him, There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    And they said unto him, There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    And they answered him, There came a man and met vs, and saide vnto vs, Goe, and returne vnto the King which sent you, and say vnto him, Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baal-zebub the God of Ekron? Therefore thou shalt not come downe from the bed, on which thou art gone vp, but shalt die ye death.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    But they answered him: A man met us, and said to us: Go, and return to the king, that sent you, and you shall say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Is it because there was no God in Israel that thou sendest to Beelzebub the god of Accaron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed, on which thou art gone up, but then shalt surely die.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    And they say unto him, `A man hath come up to meet us, and saith unto us, Go, turn back unto the king who sent you, and ye have said unto him, Thus said Jehovah, Is it because there is not a God in Israel -- thou art sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub god of Ekron? therefore, the bed whither thou hast gone up, thou dost not come down from it, for thou dost certainly die.'
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    And they say to him, “A man has come up to meet us and says to us, Go, return to the king who sent you, and you have said to him, Thus said YHWH: Is it because there is not a God in Israel—you are sending to inquire of Ba‘al-Zebub god of Ekron? Therefore, the bed to where you have gone up, you do not come down from it, for you certainly die.”
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    They said to him, “A man came to meet us who said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, “Yahweh says this: 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you sent men to consult with Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed to which you have gone up; instead, you will certainly die.'”'”
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and you shall say to him, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘ because there is no God in Israel you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed where you have gone up there, you will not come down from it, for dying, you will die.’”’”
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    And they said unto him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king that sent you and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    They said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and tell him, “The LORD says, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”’”
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    And they said to him, There came up a man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king that sent you, and say to him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    “A man came and met us,” they replied. “He told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and tell him, This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to ask advice from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? As a result you will not leave the bed on which you are lying. You're definitely going to die.’”
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    And they said to him, On our way we had a meeting with a man who said, Go back to the king who sent you and say to him, The Lord says, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? For this reason, you will not come down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    And they said unto him: 'There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us: Go, return unto the king that sent you, and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD: Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.'

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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בְּבַ֥עַל
Baʻal Zᵉbûwb
H1176
“in/at · Baal-zebub”
Preposition + Noun, Proper
Part of Speech
Preposition + Noun
Type
Proper
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H1168 and H2070

TWOT: None

Baal-zebub = "lord of the fly" - a Philistine deity worshipped at Ekron
  1. וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ ʼâmar H559 “and · to say” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  2. אֵלָ֜יו ʼêl H413 “to · him” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  3. אִ֣ישׁ ʼîysh H376 “man” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  4. עָלָ֣ה ʻâlâh H5927 “to go up” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  5. לִקְרָאתֵ֗נוּ qirʼâh H7125 “to meet · us” Preposition + Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Plural
  6. וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ʼâmar H559 “and · to say” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  7. אֵלֵינוּ֮ ʼêl H413 “to · us” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Plural
  8. לְכ֣וּ yâlak H3212 “walk” Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  9. שׁוּבוּ֮ shûwb H7725 “return” Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  10. אֶל ʼêl H413 “to” Preposition
  11. הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ melek H4428 “the · king” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  12. אֲשֶׁר ʼăsher H834 “which” Particle, Relative
  13. שָׁלַ֣ח shâlach H7971 “to send” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  14. אֶתְכֶם֒ ʼêth H853 “- · you” Particle, Direct Object + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  15. וְדִבַּרְתֶּ֣ם dâbar H1696 “and · to speak” Conjunction + Verb, Piel, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural
  16. אֵלָ֗יו ʼêl H413 “to · him” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  17. כֹּ֚ה kôh H3541 “thus” Adverb
  18. אָמַ֣ר ʼâmar H559 “to say” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  19. יְהוָ֔ה Yᵉhôvâh H3068 “LORD” Noun, Proper
  20. הַֽמִבְּלִ֤י bᵉlîy H1097 “from · without” Particle, Interrogative + Preposition + Adverb
  21. אֵין ʼayin H369 “nothing” Particle, Negative
  22. אֱלֹהִים֙ ʼĕlôhîym H430 “God(s)” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
  23. בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Yisrâʼêl H3478 “in/at · Israel” Preposition + Noun, Proper
  24. אַתָּ֣ה ʼattâh H859 “you” Pronoun, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  25. שֹׁלֵ֔חַ shâlach H7971 “sending” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  26. לִדְרֹ֕שׁ dârash H1875 “to seek” Preposition + Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct
  27. זְב֖וּב Baʻal Zᵉbûwb H1176 “Baal-zebub” Noun, Proper
  28. אֱלֹהֵ֣י ʼĕlôhîym H430 “God(s) of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  29. עֶקְר֑וֹן ʻEqrôwn H6138 “Ekron” Noun, Proper
  30. לָ֠כֵן kên H3651 “to/for · thus” Preposition + Adverb
  31. הַמִּטָּ֞ה miṭṭâh H4296 “the · bed” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  32. אֲשֶׁר ʼăsher H834 “which” Particle, Relative
  33. עָלִ֥יתָ ʻâlâh H5927 “to go up” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  34. שָּׁ֛ם shâm H8033 “there” Adverb
  35. לֹֽא lôʼ H3808 “not” Particle, Negative
  36. תֵרֵ֥ד yârad H3381 “to go down” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  37. מִמֶּ֖נָּה min H4480 “from · her” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular
  38. כִּֽי kîy H3588 “that” Conjunction
  39. מ֥וֹת mûwth H4191 “to die” Verb, Qal, Infinitive Absolute
  40. תָּמֽוּת mûwth H4191 “to die” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

41
words
30
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is בְּבַ֥עַל Baal-zebub H1176 — appearing just 8 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

בְּבַ֥עַל Baal-zebub H1176 occurs in 4 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 15 verbs
  • 10 nouns
  • 1 pronoun
  • 5 prepositions
  • 1 conjunction
  • 4 adverbs
  • 5 particles

Verb forms

  • וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • עָלָ֣ה Qal · Perfect
  • לִקְרָאתֵ֗נוּ Qal · Infinitive Construct
  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶר Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • לְכ֣וּ Qal · Imperative
  • שׁוּבוּ֮ Qal · Imperative
  • שָׁלַ֣ח Qal · Perfect
  • וְדִבַּרְתֶּ֣ם Piel · Sequential Perfect
  • אָמַ֣ר Qal · Perfect
  • שֹׁלֵ֔חַ Qal · Participle Active
  • לִדְרֹ֕שׁ Qal · Infinitive Construct
  • עָלִ֥יתָ Qal · Perfect
  • תֵרֵ֥ד Qal · Imperfect
  • מ֥וֹת Qal · Infinitive Absolute
  • תָּמֽוּת Qal · Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ to say H559 ×3
  • עָלָ֣ה to go up H5927 ×2
  • שָׁלַ֣ח to send H7971 ×2
  • אֱלֹהִים֙ God H430 ×2
  • בְּבַ֥עַל Baal-zebub H1176 ×2
  • מ֥וֹת to die H4191 ×2
  • אֵלָ֜יו to H413 ×4
  • אֲשֶׁר which H834 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 70 words from the Hebrew and 78 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 41 Hebrew tokens and 60 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

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Cross-references

4

Topical passages linked to 2 Kings 1:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • Psalms 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink-offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take their names on my lips.
  • 2 Kings 1:2–4 Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this sickness.
  • 1 Chronicles 10:13–14 So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against Yahweh, because of the word of Yahweh, which he didn't keep; and also because he asked counsel of one who had a familiar spirit, to inquire [thereby],
  • Isaiah 41:22–23 Let them bring forth, and declare to us what shall happen: declare you the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Kings 1:6 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֵלָ֜יו אִ֣ישׁ עָלָ֣ה לִקְרָאתֵ֗נוּ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלֵינוּ֮ לְכ֣וּ שׁוּבוּ֮ אֶל הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַ֣ח אֶתְכֶם֒ וְדִבַּרְתֶּ֣ם אֵלָ֗יו כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה הַֽמִבְּלִ֤י אֵין אֱלֹהִים֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אַתָּ֣ה שֹׁלֵ֔חַ לִדְרֹ֕שׁ בְּבַ֥עַל זְב֖וּב אֱלֹהֵ֣י עֶקְר֑וֹן לָ֠כֵן הַמִּטָּ֞ה אֲשֶׁר עָלִ֥יתָ שָּׁ֛ם לֹֽא תֵרֵ֥ד מִמֶּ֖נָּה כִּֽי מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת

They said to him, There came up a man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king who sent you, and tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely die.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Kings 1:6 Septuagint · lemma form

καί εἶπον πρός αὐτός ἀνήρ ἀναβαίνω εἰς συνάντησις ἐγώ καί εἶπον πρός ἐγώ δεῦτε ἐπιστρέφω πρός ὁ βασιλεύς ὁ ἀποστέλλω σύ καί λαλέω πρός αὐτός ὅδε λέγω κύριος εἰ παρά ὁ μή εἰμί θεός ἐν ἰσραήλ σύ πορεύομαι ζητέω ἐν ὁ βααλ μυῖα θεός ακκαρων οὐ οὕτως ὁ κλίνη ἐπί ὅς ἀναβαίνω ἐκεῖ οὐ καταβαίνω ἀπό αὐτός ὅτι θάνατος ἀποθνήσκω

And they said to him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king that sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you go to enquire of Baal fly, the God of Accaron? it shall not be so: the bed on which you are gone up, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

1

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)
    וַאֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ גַבְרָא סְלִיק לִקֳדָמוּתָנָא וַאֲמַר לָנָא אֱזִילוּ תוּבוּ לְוַת מַלְכָּא דִשְׁלַח יַתְכוֹן וּתְמַלְלוּן עִמֵיהּ כִּדְנַן אֲמַר יְיָ הֲלָא אֱלָהָא קַיָם דִשְׁכִנְתֵּיהּ שַׁרְיָא בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אַתְּ שְׁלַח לְמִתְבַּע בְּבַעַל זְבוּב טַעֲוַת עֶקְרוֹן בְּכֵן עַרְסָא דִסְלֵיקְתָּא תַמָן לָא תֵיחוּת מִנָהּ אֲרֵי מְמַת תְּמוּת:

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 2 Kings 1:6 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

2Ki 1:6 And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, [Is it] not because [there is] not a God in Israel, [that] thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

Ver. 6. There came a man up to meet us.] Samaria stood on a hill. They were not gone far out of town, it seemeth, ere the prophet met them.

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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

2Ki 1:6. There came a man up to meet us — Elijah was a man of such a venerable presence, and spake to them with such authority, in the name of the Lord, that they were overawed thereby, and induced to obey him rather than the king.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Ignorance is the mother of error and idolatry.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Thou sendest.—Art sending. Elijah had said, ye are going, in his question to the messengers (2Ki_1:3). (See Note on 2Ki_1:4.) Bähr is wrong in supposing the servants anxious to shift the prophet’s blame from themselves to their lord, or that Elijah had addressed them as accomplices in the king’s guilt. They had no choice but to obey the royal mandate.

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

6. There came a man up to meet] The R.V. puts ‘up’ before ‘a man’, because the Hebrew verb signifies ‘to come up’. So in A.V. in the next verse. It would appear as though the prophet had met the messengers very early in their journey while they were going down from the hill on which Samaria was built. They did not know Elijah, for he, like John the Baptist afterwards, was not one of those who were to be found in kings’ houses. And the messengers were most likely some of the persons in close attendance on the king.

Go, turn again &c.] These words are not in verse 3, but they are natural as a preface to the message there given.

that thou sendest] Elijah speaking to the messengers (verse 3) said naturally ‘that ye go’, but they put the words into a form suitable to their position as servants obeying an order. Yet we can see from some parts of the narrative which follows that some of the king’s servants were willing enough to follow where he led them.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And they said unto him, there came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, go, turn again unto the king that sent you,.... King Ahaziah:

and say unto him; and then they repeated all that is said by the angel to Elijah, and he had delivered to them, Kg2 1:3 and which was a sufficient reason for their turning back, since they got a full answer from a man of God, of what they were to inquire of at Ekron; which was, whether the king would recover of this disease or not.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

There came a man. It is not likely that the messengers did not know Elijah by sight. He was too prominent a person in the history of the time, and too remarkable in his appearance, not to have been recognized, at any rate by some of them. But they thought it best to keep back the prophet"s name, and to call him simply "a man" (ish) perhaps actuated by good will towards Elijah, perhaps by a fear for their own safety, such as had been felt by Obadiah. (1Ki_18:8-14)

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

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Kings, in the Historical, opens this verse with 41 words (30 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Baʻal Zᵉbûwb (“Baal-zebub”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. What does “Baal-zebub” (Baʻal Zᵉbûwb) contribute to the verse as a whole?
  2. How does 2 Kings 1:2, which shares the word «Baal-zebub», read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “to say” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  4. These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
  5. «וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

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