¹sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22
²map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
³tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”
⁴tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”
⁵sn 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. bWbz= lu^B^ and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25.
⁶tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are going to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question.
⁷tn Heb “to him.”
sn The narrative is elliptical and telescoped here. The account of Elijah encountering the messengers and delivering the Lord’s message is omitted; we only here of it as the messengers report what happened to the king.
⁸tn 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).
⁹tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁰tn Heb “What was the manner…?”
¹¹tn 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. lu^B^. 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).
¹²tn Heb “belt of skin” (i.e., one made from animal hide).
¹³tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁴tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁵tn Heb “officer of fifty and his fifty.”
¹⁶tn Heb “to him.”
¹⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁸sn The prophet Elijah’s position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers.
¹⁹tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13).
²⁰tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”
²¹tn Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew dr~y`, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (dr~y`) on the arrogant king’s officer.
²²tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²³tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (/u^Y~w~, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (lu^Y~w~, vayya’al). See v. 9.
²⁴sn 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.
²⁵tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta have the singular “to him.”
²⁶tn Or “intense fire.” The divine name may be used idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the fire. Whether one translates <yh!Oa$ (’elohim) here as a proper name or idiomatically, this addition to the narrative (the name is omitted in the first panel, v. 10b) emphasizes the severity of the judgment and is appropriate given the more intense command delivered by the king to the prophet in this panel.
²⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²⁸tn Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.”
²⁹tn Heb “look.”
³⁰tn Heb “their fifty.”
³¹sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (dr~y`, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.
³²tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³³tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³⁴tn Heb “Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is there no God in Israel to inquire of his word?”
³⁵sn For the third time in this chapter we read the Lord’s sarcastic question to king and the accompanying announcement of judgment. The repetition emphasizes one of the chapter’s main themes. Israel’s leaders should seek guidance from their own God, not a pagan deity, for Israel’s sovereign God is the one who controls life and death.
³⁶tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through Elijah.”
³⁷tn Heb “Jehoram replaced him as king…because he had no son.” Some ancient textual witnesses add “his brother,” which was likely added on the basis of the statement later in the verse that Ahaziah had no son.
³⁸tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not recorded in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”