^1:1After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.¹^1:2Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria² and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders,³ “Go, ask⁴ Baal Zebub,⁵ the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

^1:3But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron.⁶^1:4Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!” ’ ” So Elijah went on his way.

^1:5When the messengers returned to the king,⁷ he asked them, “Why have you returned?” ^1:6They replied,⁸ “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron.⁹ Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.” ’ ” ^1:7The king¹⁰ asked them, “Describe the appearance¹¹ of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” ^1:8They replied,¹² “He was a hairy man¹³ and had a leather belt¹⁴ tied around his waist.” The king¹⁵ said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”

^1:9The king¹⁶ sent a captain and his fifty soldiers¹⁷ to retrieve Elijah.¹⁸ The captain¹⁹ went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill.²⁰ He told him, “Prophet,²¹ the king says, ‘Come down!’ ” ^1:10Elijah replied to the captain,²² “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down²³ from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

^1:11The king²⁴ sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him,²⁵ “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’ ”²⁶^1:12Elijah replied to them,²⁷ “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from God²⁸ came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

^1:13The king²⁹ sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell³⁰ on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours. ^1:14Indeed,³¹ fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men.³² So now, please have respect for my life.” ^1:15The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down³³ with him to the king.

^1:16Elijah³⁴ said to the king,³⁵ “This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle!³⁶ Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’ ”³⁷

^1:17He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah.³⁸ In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son.³⁹^1:18The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.⁴⁰

Elijah Makes a Swift Departure

^2:1Just before¹ the Lord took Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal. ^2:2Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”² But Elisha said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ^2:3Some members of the prophetic guild³ in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?”⁴ He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

^2:4Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”⁵ But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. ^2:5Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

^2:6Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they traveled on together. ^2:7The fifty members of the prophetic guild went and stood opposite them at a distance, while Elijah and Elisha⁶ stood by the Jordan. ^2:8Elijah took his cloak, folded it up, and hit the water with it. The water divided, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

^2:9When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you,⁷ before I am taken away from you?” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you.”⁸^2:10Elijah⁹ replied, “That’s a difficult request!¹⁰ If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”

^2:11As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot¹¹ pulled by fiery horses appeared.¹² They went between Elijah and Elisha,¹³ and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm. ^2:12While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!”¹⁴ Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two. ^2:13He picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him, and went back and stood on the shore of the Jordan. ^2:14He took the cloak that had fallen off Elijah,¹⁵ hit the water with it, and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided and Elisha crossed over.

^2:15When the members of the prophetic guild in Jericho,¹⁶ who were standing at a distance,¹⁷ saw him do this, they said, “The spirit that energized Elijah¹⁸ rests upon Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. ^2:16They said to him, “Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the Lord¹⁹ may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But Elisha²⁰ replied, “Don’t send them out.” ^2:17But they were so insistent, he became embarrassed. So he said, “Send them out.” They sent the fifty men out and they looked for three days, but could not find Elijah.²¹^2:18When they came back, Elisha²² was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go’?”

Elisha Demonstrates His Authority

^2:19The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the city has a good location, as our²³ master can see. But the water is bad and the land doesn’t produce crops.”²⁴^2:20Elisha²⁵ said, “Get me a new jar and put some salt in it.” So they got it. ^2:21He went out to the spring and threw the salt in. Then he said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have purified²⁶ this water. It will no longer cause death or fail to produce crops.”²⁷^2:22The water has been pure to this very day, just as Elisha prophesied.²⁸

^2:23He went up from there to Bethel.²⁹ As he was traveling up the road, some young boys³⁰ came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!” ^2:24When he turned around and saw them, he called God’s judgment down on them.³¹ Two female bears came out of the woods and ripped forty-two of the boys to pieces. ^2:25From there he traveled to Mount Carmel and then back to Samaria.³²

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Footnotes

1 This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.
2 For location see ; ; ; ; .
3 Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”
4 That is, “seek an oracle from.”
5 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 זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
6 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.
7 Heb “to him.” 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.
8 Heb “said to him.”
9 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).
10 Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 Heb “What was the manner …?”
12 Heb “said to him.”
13 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 בַּעַל. 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).
14 Heb “belt of skin” (i.e., one made from animal hide).
15 Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 Heb “officer of fifty and his fifty.”
18 Heb “to him.”
19 Heb “he”; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 The prophet Elijah’s position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers.
21 Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13).
22 Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”
23 Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew יָרַד, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (יָרַד) on the arrogant king’s officer.
24 Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 The reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9.
26 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.
27 Two medieval Hebrew , the , and the have the singular “to him.”
28 Or “intense fire.” The divine name may be used idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the fire. Whether one translates אֱלֹהִים (’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.
29 Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30 Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.”
31 Heb “look.”
32 Heb “their fifty.”
33 In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, 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.
34 Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35 Heb “him”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
36 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?”
37 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.
38 Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through Elijah.”
39 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.
40 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?”
1 Or “when.”
2 For location see ; ; ; ; .
3 Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
4 Heb “from your head.” The same expression occurs in v. 5.
5 For location see ; ; ; ; ; .
6 Heb “the two of them.” The referents (Elijah and Elisha) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 Heb “Ask! What can I do for you.…?”
8 Heb “May a double portion of your spirit come to me.”
9 Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 Heb “You have made difficult [your] request.”
11 Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
12 Heb “look, a chariot of fire and horses of fire.”
13 Heb “and they made a division between the two of them.”
14 Elisha may be referring to the fiery chariot(s) and horses as the Lord’s spiritual army that fights on behalf of Israel (see 2 Kgs 6:15–17; 7:6). However, the juxtaposition with “my father” (clearly a reference to Elijah as Elisha’s mentor), and the parallel in 2 Kgs 13:14 (where the king addresses Elisha with these words), suggest that Elisha is referring to Elijah. In this case Elijah is viewed as a one man army, as it were. When the Lord spoke through him, his prophetic word was as powerful as an army of chariots and horses. See M. A. Beek, “The Meaning of the Expression ‘The Chariots and Horsemen of Israel’ (2 Kings 2:12),” The Witness of Tradition ( 17), 1–10.
15 Heb “Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him.” The wording is changed slightly in the translation for the sake of variety of expression (see v. 13).
16 For location see ; ; ; ; ; .
17 Heb “and the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho, [who were standing] opposite, saw him and said.”
18 Heb “the spirit of Elijah.”
19 Or “the spirit of the Lord.”
20 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 Heb “him”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 Heb “my.”
24 Heb “miscarries” or “is barren.”
25 Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 Or “healed.”
27 Heb “there will no longer be from there death and miscarriage [or, ‘barrenness’].”
28 Heb “according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.”
29 For location see ; ; ; ; .
30 The word נַעַר (na’ar), here translated “boy,” can refer to a broad age range, including infants as well as young men. But the qualifying term “young” (or “small”) suggests these youths were relatively young. The phrase in question (“young boy”) occurs elsewhere in 1 Sam 20:35; 1 Kgs 3:7 (used by Solomon in an hyperbolic manner); 11:17; 2 Kgs 5:14; and Isa 11:6.
31 Heb “he cursed them in the name of the Lord.” A curse was a formal appeal to a higher authority (here the Lord) to vindicate one’s cause through judgment. As in chapter one, this account makes it clear that disrespect for the Lord’s designated spokesmen can be deadly, for it is ultimately rejection of the Lord’s authority.
32 The two brief episodes recorded in vv. 19–25 demonstrate Elisha’s authority and prove that he is the legitimate prophetic heir of Elijah. He has the capacity to bring life and blessing to those who recognize his authority, or death and judgment to those who reject him. For location see ; ; ; ; .