Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 1

Verses 1-18

Elijah calls down Fire from Heaven

1. Moab.. Ahab] Moab had been conquered by David (2 Samuel 8:2), and at the revolt of the Ten Tribes had. passed under the authority of the northern kingdom. The revolt here alluded to took place, according to the inscription of Mesha, before the death of Ahab, whereas the present passage implies that it happened later, in the reign of Ahaziah or Joram: cp. 2 Kings 3:6.

2. A lattice] lit. ’a network,’—perhaps a balustrade. Baal-zebub] supposed to mean ’lord of flies,’ in the sense of being their controller and averter, since flies are one of the greatest plagues of Eastern countries: cp. the Gk. Zeus Apomuios. But in kindred names like Baal-Peor, Baal-Hermon, etc., the second element is the name of a place, which suggests that -zebub is likewise a local name. Ekron] One of the five confederate Philistine cities, lying nearest to the frontiers of Israel.

3. Is it not because, etc.] RV ’Is it because there is no God in Israel?’ and so in 2 Kings 1:6, 2 Kings 1:16.

8. An hairy man] better, as in RM, ’a man with a garment of hair,’ a characteristic dress of the prophets: cp. Zechariah 13:4; Mark 1:6.

9. A captain of fifty] a recognised division of the Israelite army: cp. 1 Samuel 8:12.

10. Let fire come down] The king in despatching soldiers to arrest the prophet dishonoured the Lord, whose servant Elijah was; and the unity that subsisted between a king and his subjects (as between a father and his children) was so strongly felt in ancient times that there was little sense of the injustice involved in the death of so many innocent persons for the sin of another: see on 2 Kings 9:26. A consciousness of individual rights only asserted itself gradually in Israel (see Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:2-4); and a spirit akin to that of Elijah was manifested even by the Apostles, but met with rebuke from then-Lord (Luke 9:55).

17. In the second year of Jehoram] The calculation here arrived at seems to follow upon what is stated in 1 Kings 16:23, where Omri begins to reign in Asa’s thirty-first year (Omri’s 12 + Ahab’s 22 + Ahaziah’s 2 + Jehoram’s 1 = Asa’s last 10 + Jehoshaphat’s 25 + Jehoram’s 2). A different reckoning is adopted in 1 Kings 3:1.

Had no son] Jehoram, who succeeded Ahaziah, was his brother.