Chapter One

2–18. The illness of Ahaziah, king of Israel, and his death, in accordance with the prediction of the prophet Elijah.

2 Kings 1:1. And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. Concerning the rebellion of Moab, which had become a tributary of Israel from the time of David (2 Sam 8:2) and even under Ahab, paying tribute to the Kingdom of Israel (by 100,000 sheep and 100,000 lambs annually, 2 Kgs 3:4), mention is made again below (2 Kgs 3:5) in connection with the war caused by this rebellion. Here (2 Kgs 1:1) concerning the rebellion of the Moabites, as later (verse 2 and onward) concerning the illness of Ahaziah, is spoken of as a consequence of Ahaziah’s wickedness (1 Kgs 22:52-53), and at the same time, probably, also in accordance with the chronological sequence of events (compare blessed Theodoret, question 1 on 4 Book of Kings). Ahaziah could not undertake a campaign against the Moabites on account of his illness (verse 2).

2 Kings 1:2. And Ahaziah fell through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was injured. And he sent messengers, and said to them: Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron: shall I recover from this illness? [And they went to inquire.] 2 Kings 1:3. Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite: Arise, go to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them: Is there no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? 2 Kings 1:4. Therefore thus says the Lord: From the bed on which you have lain, you shall not get down, but you shall surely die. And Elijah went. [And he said to them.] In his illness, which came about as a consequence of the fall from the roof (a flat roof, as was customary in the ancient and modern east, furnished with railings or parapets in case of a fall, per (Deut 22:8); compare blessed Theodoret, question 2 on 4 Book of Kings). Ahaziah, the unworthy king of the theocratic Israel, turns for help and counsel not to Jehovah, but to the Philistine city Ekron to some sort of pagan god, Baal-Zebub, to consult the oracle of that god about the outcome of his illness. Ekron, Hebrew Ekron, LXX: Akkarōn, Vulg. Accaron, — a city in the northernmost of the five Philistine regions (Josh 13:3), consequently very close to the residence of the kings of Israel — Samaria; it was originally assigned as an inheritance to the tribe of Judah (Josh 15:45), then to Dan (Josh 19:43), but remained continuously in the hands of the Philistines (1 Sam 6:17; compare Jer 25:20; Amos 1:8); it is now identified with the village Akir between Yamneh (Jaffa) and Jaffa. (Onomast 61. Robins. Palast. III, 230). The name of the Philistine god Baal-Zebub, “baal or god of flies” or “god-fly” (LXX in this place renders: Baal myan, Symmachus Beelzebul, as later also in the Gospel, Matt 10:25; Matt 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15; in Aquila according to the Hebrew zebub, also in the Vulgate: Beelzebub) is explained in two ways: 1) or (according to Gesenius, Ewald and others) “averter of flies” — deus averruncus moscarum, similar to the one worshipped in Elis Zeus apotoxias (myth of Hercules, who, making a sacrifice on Olympus, in order to drive away flies and other insects, made a sacrifice to Zeus — the fly-chaser), and another similar cult of the god theós myiagros, which existed in Arcadia and later in Rome; 2) according to others (Müller, Keil and others), relying on the rendering of the LXX and Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 9:2, 1 — theós Myia), Baal-Zebub is a god-fly (and not an enemy of flies), who had an idol in the form of a fly, or a god to whom flies were dedicated. In any case, Baal-Zebub represented the announcement of summer solar heat, accompanied (especially in the seaside Philistine region) by a mass of flies and other sometimes harmful insects; later the significance of the god and cult expanded, and around it was formed a mantic institution — an oracle; probably here they also sought healing of diseases: from both sides Baal-Zebub appears in the account of Ahaziah. (Completely separate stands the opinion of Halevy, that “zebub” — not “fly,” but a proper name of a place). Later Jews identified the name of the Phoenician god with the name of this spirit or Satan (so also in the Gospel): the reason could be the similarity of zebub and debaba, which for later Jews meant an enemy, an evil spirit. In the altered form (Greek Beelzebul — change of b to l is frequent in Greek transcription of Hebrew “esheth”), the name “Beelzebul” meant “god of the dwelling” or “god of dung,” by which the rabbis expressed contempt for the Philistine god, and then for the “prince of demons” (see Riehm. Handworterbuch des bibl. Alterthuns, I, p. 135–196. Compare A. Glagolev, “Old Testament biblical teaching on angels,” p. 607–610). “And they went to inquire” — an addition of the LXX. Once more appears (verse 3) the prophet Elijah the Tishbite, and again as a messenger of doom to the house of Ahab; where he was after his last denunciation of Ahab (1 Kgs 21:1), is unknown. The command to go announce the dreadful denunciation against Ahaziah is received by the prophet Elijah from the “Angel of Jehovah” (verse 3), as before his departure to Horeb the Angel gave him commands (1 Kgs 19:5). Regarding the Angel of Jehovah, as the Lord of the Old Testament theocracy, as the Logos, see in A. Glagolev, “Old Testament biblical teaching on angels,” p. 85–175.

2 Kings 1:5. And the messengers returned to Ahaziah. And he said to them: Why have you returned? 2 Kings 1:6. And they said to him: A man came out to meet us and said to us: Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him: Thus says the Lord: Is there no God in Israel that you send to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore from the bed on which you have lain, you shall not get down, but you shall die. 2 Kings 1:7. And he said to them: What kind of appearance did the man have who came out to meet you and spoke these words to you? 2 Kings 1:8. They said to him: He was a hairy man, and girded with a leather belt about his loins. And he said: It is Elijah the Tishbite. When the messengers of Ahaziah returned to him and reported to him the fateful prediction, then he, from their description of the appearance (Hebrew mishpat, properly “custom,” Vulg.: figura et habitus) of the predictor: “a hairy man (Hebrew baal se’ar — one who wore a haircloth, compare adderet, 1 Kgs 19:19; Matt 3:4) and girded with a leather belt” (verse 8), decides without hesitation that it is — the prophet Elijah: evidently, such clothing was typical for the prophet Elijah, as later for many other prophets (Isa 20:2-3); in its significance it was close to sack, sackcloth (1 Kgs 21:27): it meant a state of repentance, which the prophets expressed in their person, and also the denial of the luxury of contemporary life and a call to primitive simplicity (compare Matt 3:4; Heb 11:37).

2 Kings 1:9. And he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, when he was sitting on the top of the mountain, and said to him: Man of God! The king says: Come down. 2 Kings 1:10. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty: If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. 2 Kings 1:11. And he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he began to speak to him: Man of God! Thus says the king: Come down quickly. 2 Kings 1:12. And Elijah answered and said to him: If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. From the very fact that Ahaziah sent a detachment of 50 men soldiers (the Hebrew army was divided into detachments of 50, 100, 1000 men (Num 31:14)) to Elijah, one sees the hostile intent of the king toward the prophet (perhaps the king feared resistance from the worshippers of the prophet). And the addressing of the first two captains to the prophet (verses 10, 12), lacking in respect, expressing, on the contrary, a command and perhaps mockery of the prophetic dignity of Elijah. By this common attitude of a hundred warriors and their two commanders with the attitude of the wicked king himself, one might explain the severity of the heavenly punishment brought down upon them by Elijah, though this punishment remains the exclusive property of the Old Testament in its distinction from the New (Luke 9:54). “Those who accuse the prophet (of cruelty) move their tongue against God and His prophet, because by Him fire was sent... One must know the truthfulness of God’s providence, know that God justly punishes those who sin and bestows good on those who please Him. It is evident that the captains and those subject to them were in agreement with the intention of the one who sent them, therefore they suffered punishment from God” (blessed Theodoret, question 4 on 4 Book of Kings).

2 Kings 1:13. And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the captain of the third fifty went up, and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him: Man of God! I pray, let my soul and the souls of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your eyes; 2 Kings 1:14. Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the two captains of the first fifty with their fifties; but now let my soul be precious in your eyes! Instead of the expression “a third time” (Hebrew shelishim) it is better to accept the reading “the third” according to the LXX (codices XI, 44, 52, 56, 64, 74, 92, 106, 119, 120, 121, 123, 134, 144, 236, 242, 243, 244, 247 in Holmes; in the accepted Greek text there is no corresponding word at all), the Vulgate, and the Slavonic text; the pious disposition of the third captain of fifty, the commander of the new fifty, saved him and his soldiers from the fate of the first two detachments (compare blessed Theodoret, question 4). Prophets, as bearers of the revelation of God, were to be met by people with respect (compare 2 Kgs 2:23-24), as also with absolute obedience (compare 1 Kgs 13). The destruction of the first two detachments was a warning to the worshippers of Baal in the Kingdom of Israel.

2 Kings 1:15. And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah: Go down with him, be not afraid of him. And he arose and went down with him to the king. 2 Kings 1:16. And he said to him: Thus says the Lord: Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, as if there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word, — from the bed on which you have lain, you shall not get down, but you shall die. Fearlessly appearing to Ahaziah, the prophet Elijah repeated to him the former (2 Kgs 1:6) prediction of death.

2 Kings 1:17. And he died according to the word of the Lord, which Elijah spoke. And Joram [the brother of Ahaziah] reigned in his place, in the second year of Joram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because he had no son. 2 Kings 1:18. The rest of the acts of Ahaziah, what he did, is written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. Instead of the childless Ahaziah (the LXX and Slavonic do not have the remark of verse 17 about the childlessness of Ahaziah) his brother Joram reigned. “There was a law, so that the kingdom was inherited by the children of kings, and if there were no children, the older brother or nearest relative” (blessed Theodoret, question 5 on 4 Book of Kings). The time of the reign of Joram of Israel is determined differently in three different places: a) here (verse 17) — in the 2nd year of the reign of Joram of Judah the son of Jehoshaphat (compare 1 Kgs 22:50); b) in (2 Kgs 3:1): in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat and c) in (2 Kgs 8:16) it is said that, on the contrary, Joram of Judah reigned in the 5th year of Joram of Israel. The last two dates are justified by the testimony of chapter 3 about the joint campaign of Joram with Jehoshaphat against Moab; the date of this place is explained, perhaps, by the fact that Jehoshaphat of Judah could have had his son Joram as a coregent for some time (around 5 years).