2 Kings 1 - Pulpit Commentary vs Calvin John vs Coke Thomas

2 Kings 1

2 Kings 1:1

Verse 1. - Then Moab rebelled; literally, and Moab rebelled, but with an idea, not merely of sequence, but of consequence. The "Moabite Stone," discovered in 1869, throws considerable light on the character and circumstances of this rebellion. Moab had, we know, been subjected by David (2 Samuel 8:2), and had been very severely treated. Either in the reign of Solomon, or more probably at his death, and the disruption of his kingdom, the Moabites had revolted, and resumed an independent position, which they had maintained until the reign of Omri. Omri, who was a warlike monarch, the greatest of the Israelite monarchs after Jeroboam, after settling himself firmly upon the throne of Israel, attacked the Moabite territory, and in a short time reduced it, making the native king, Chemosh-gad, his tributary. At the death of Omri, Ahab succeeded to the suzerainty, and maintained it during his lifetime, exacting a tribute that was felt as a severe "oppression" (Moabite Stone, line 6; comp. 2 Kings 3:4). The death of Ahab in battle and the defeat of his army encouraged Mesha, who had succeeded his father, Chemosh-gad, to raise the standard of revolt once more, and to emancipate his country after a period of subjection which he estimates roughly at "forty years." The "Stone" is chiefly occupied with an account of the steps by which he recovered his territory. After the death of Ahab. Probably, as soon as he heard of it. In Oriental empires the death of a brave and energetic monarch is constantly the signal for a general revolt of the subject peoples. They entertain a hope that his successor will not inherit his vigor and capacity.

2 Kings 1:2

Verse 2. - Ahaziah fell down through a lattice; rather, through the lattice. It is implied that the upper chamber had a single window, which was closed by a single lattice, or shutter of interlaced woodwork. The shutter may have been insufficiently secured; or the woodwork may have been too weak to bear his weight, Compare the fall of Eutychus (Acts 20:9), where, however, there is no mention of a "lattice." Was sick; i.e. "was so injured that he had to take to his bed." Inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron. As a worshipper of Baal, bent on walking in the evil way of his father and of his mother (1 Kings 22:52), Ahaziah would naturally inquire of some form of the Baal divinity. Why he chose "Baal-zebub the god of Ekron," it is impossible to say. Perhaps Baal-zebub had at the time a special reputation for giving oracular responses. Perhaps the Ekron temple was, of all the ancient sites of the Baal-worship, the one with which he could most readily communicate. Philistia lay nearer to Samaria than Phoenicia did, and of the Philistine towns Ekron (now Akir) was the most northern, and so the nearest. "Baal-zebub" has been thought by some to be equivalent to "Beel-samen," "the lord of heaven" - a divine title well known to the Phoenicians; but this view is etymologically unsound, since zebub cannot possibly mean "heaven." "Baal-zebub" is "the lord of flies " - either the god who sends them as a plague on any nation that offends him (setup. Exodus 8:21-31), or the god who averts them from his votaries and favorites, an equivalent of the Greek Ζεὺς ἀπόμυιος, or the Roman "Jupiter Myiagrus," flies being in the East not infrequently a terrible plague. The Septuagint translation, Βάαλ μυι'αν, though inaccurate, shows an appreciation of the true etymology. Of this disease; rather, of this illness (ἐκ τῆς ἀρρωστίας μου ταύτης, LXX.).

2 Kings 1:3

Verse 3. - The angel of the Lord. It would be better to translate, with the LXX., an angel (ἄγγελος, not ὁ ἄγγελος). An angel had appeared to Elijah on a previous occasion (1 Kings 19:5, 7). Elijah the Tishbite (comp. 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 21:17, 28; 2 Kings 1:8; and for the meaning of the expression, hat-Tishbi, see the comment on 1 Kings 17:1). Arise, go up. Elijah was, apparently, in the low tract of the Shefelah, or in Sharon, when the messengers started, and was thus commanded to go up and meet them, or intercept them on their journey before they descended into the plain. God would not have the insult to his majesty, carried out. Is it not because there is not a God in Israel? rather, Is it that there is no God at all in Israel? The double negative is intensitive, and implies that the king's consultation of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, is a complete and absolute denial of the Divinity of Jehovah. To consult a foreign oracle is equivalent to raying that the voice of God is wholly silent in one's own land. This was going further in apostasy than Ahab had gone (see 1 Kings 22:6-9).

2 Kings 1:4

Verse 4. - Now therefore. The word translated, "therefore" (לָכֵן) is emphatic, and means "for this reason," "on this account." Because Ahaziah had apostatized from Cod, God sentenced him to die from the effects of his fall, and not to recover. It is implied that he might have recovered if he had acted otherwise. And Elijah departed; i.e. quitted the messengers, showing that his errand was accomplished - he had said all that he was commissioned to say.

2 Kings 1:5

Verse 5. - And when the messengers turned back; rather, when the messengers returned; i.e. when they reached the presence of Ahaziah, he perceived at once that they could not have been to Ekron and come back in the time. He therefore inquired of them, Why are ye now turned back? "Why have ye not completed your journey?"

2 Kings 1:6

Verse 6. - 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 (1 Kings 18:8-14).

2 Kings 1:7

Verse 7. - What manner of man was he? literally, what was the manner of the man? What was his appearance? Were there any marks about him by which he might be recognized and known? Ahaziah may have already suspected that the man who had denounced woe on him would be the same who had denounced woe on his father (see 1 Kings 21:20-22).

2 Kings 1:8

Verse 8. - A hairy man; literally, a lord of hair (בַּעַל שַׂעָר). Some take the meaning to be that he was rough and unkempt, with his hair and beard long; and so the LXX., who give ἀνὴρ δασύς. But the more usual explanation is that he wore a shaggy coat of untanned skin, with the hair outward. Such a garment seems certainly to have been worn by the later prophets (Zechariah 13:4; Matthew 3:4), and to have been regarded as a sign of their profession. But there is no positive evidence that the dress had been adopted by Isaiah's time. Girt with a girdle of leather. Generally the Israelites wore girdles of a soft material, as linen or cotton. The "curious girdle" of the high priest's ephod was of "fine twined linen," embroidered with gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet (Exodus 28:8). Girdles of leather, rough and uncomfortable, would only be worn by the very poor and by the ascetic. Elijah may have adopted his rough and coarse costume, either to show contempt for things earthly, as Hengstenberg thinks; or as a penitential garb indicating sorrow for the sins of the people, as Keil supposes; or simple to chastise and subdue the flesh, as other ascetics. It is Elijah the Tishbite. The description given is enough. The king has no longer any doubt. His suspicion is turned into certainty. There is no living person but Elijah who would at once have the boldness to prophesy the death of the king, and would wear such a costume as described. Elijah is, of course, his enemy, as he had been his father's "enemy" (1 Kings 21:20), and will wish him ill, and prophesy accordingly, the wish being "father to the thought." It is not improbable that Elijah had withdrawn himself into obscurity on the accession of Ahaziah, or at any rate on his exhibition of strong idolatrous proclivities (Ewald), as he had done on more than one occasion from Ahab (1 Kings 17:10; 1 Kings 19:8-8). Ahaziah may have been long wishing to arrest and imprison him, and now thought he saw his opportunity.

2 Kings 1:9

Verse 9. - The king sent unto him a captain of fifty. "Captains of fifties" were first instituted in the wilderness by the advice of Jethro (Exodus 18:21-25). Though not expressly mentioned in the military organization of David, they probably formed a part of it, and so passed into the institutions of the kingdom of Israel. With his fifty. Some recognition of Elijah's superhuman power would seem to have led Ahaziah to send so large a body. His doing so was a sort of challenge to the prophet to show whether Ahaziah or the God whom he represented was the stronger. The circumstances recall those of the "band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees" (John 18:3), which was sent, "with swords and staves," to arrest another righteous Person. He sat on the top of a hill; literally, on the top of the hill (ἐπὶ τῆς κορυφῆς τοῦ ὄρους, LXX.). The high ground where Elijah had met the messengers (ver. 3) seems to be intended. When they were gone, the prophet took his seat on the highest point, conspicuous on all sides, so avoiding any attempt at concealment, and awaiting the next step that the king would take, calmly and quietly. He spake unto him; Thou man of God. The captain is thought by some to have spoken ironically; but there is no evidence of this. The address is respectful, submissive. The miraculous powers of Elijah (1 Kings 17:22; 1 Kings 18:38) were probably known to the officer, who hoped by the tone of his address to escape the prophet's anger. In the same spirit he avoids issuing any command of his own, and prefers simply to deliver the king's command - The king hath said, Come down.

2 Kings 1:10

Verse 10. - And Elijah answered... let fire come down. The LXX. render, καταβήσεται πῦρ - "fire will come down;" and so some moderns, who are anxious to clear the prophet of the charges of cruelty and bloodthirstiness which have been brought against him. But there is no need of altering the translation, Elijah undoubtedly "commanded fire to come down from heaven" (Luke 9:54), or, in other words, prayed to God that it might come down, and in answer to his prayer the fire fell. The narrative may be set aside as an embellishment of later times, having no historical foundation, by those who (like Ewald) deny that miracles are possible; but, if it be accepted, it must be accepted as it stands, and Elijah must be regarded, not as having merely prophesied a result, but as having been instrumental in producing it. We must judge Elijah, not by the ideas of our own day, but by those of the age wherein he lived. He was raised up to vindicate God's honor, to check and punish idolatry, to keep alive a faithful remnant in Israel, when all the powers of the earth were leagued together to destroy and smother true religion. He was an embodiment of the Law - of absolute, strict, severe justice. The fair face of mercy was not revealed to him. Already, at Carmel, he had executed the Divine vengeance on idolaters after an exemplary fashion (1 Kings 18:40). Now, Ahaziah, the son of the wicked Jezebel, had challenged Jehovah to a trial of strength by first ignoring him, and then sending a troop of soldiers to arrest his prophet. Was Elijah to succumb without an effort, or was he to vindicate the majesty and honor of Jehovah? He had no power of himself to do either good or harm. He could but pray to Jehovah, and Jehovah, in his wisdom and perfect goodness, would either grant or refuse his prayer. If he granted it, the punishment inflicted would not be Elijah's work, but his. To tax Elijah with cruelty is to involve God in the charge. God regarded it as a fitting time for making a signal example, and, so regarding it, he inspired a spirit of indignation in the breast of his prophet, who thereupon made the prayer which he saw fit to answer. The judgment was in accordance with the general tone and tenor of the Law, which assigns "tribulation and anguish to every soul of man that doeth evil" (Romans 2:9), and visits with death every act of rebellion against God. There came down fire. Josephus says that the "fire" was a flash of lightning (πρηστήρ), and so the commentators generally.

2 Kings 1:11

Verse 11. - Again also; rather, and again (see the Revised Version). He answered and said; rather, he spoke and said (ἐλάησε καὶ εἴτε, LXX.). Come down quickly. The king has grown impatient. It is conceivable that the death of the first captain with his band of fifty had been kept from him, and that he was only aware of an unaccountable delay. He therefore changes his order from "Come down" to "Come down quickly."

2 Kings 1:12

2 Kings 1:13

Verse 13. - A captain of the third fifty; rather, the captain of a third fifty (see the Revised Version). This captain went up - i.e. ascended the hill on which Elijah was still seated, and there fell on his knees, or bowed himself down, before the prophet, as suppliants were wont to do, beseeching his compassion. The fate of the two former captains had become known to him by some means or other, and this induced him to assume an attitude, not of command, but of submission. He acknowledged that the prophet held his life and the lives of his fifty men at his free disposal, and begged that they might be precious in his sight, or, in other words, that he would spare them. What response Elijah would have made, had he been left to himself, is uncertain. But he was not left to himself. An angel of God again appeared to him, and directed his course of action.

2 Kings 1:14

2 Kings 1:15

Verse 15. - Go down with him: be not afraid of him; i.e. "descend the hill with him - have no fear of him, accompany him to the presence of the king; do my will, and there shall no harm happen unto thee." And he arose, and went down. Elijah showed no hesitation, no fear, no undue regard for his own personal safety. He had been contending for God's honor, not for his own advantage. Now that God bade him contend no more, but yield, he complied promptly, and ceased all resistance.

2 Kings 1:16

Verse 16. - He said unto him; i.e. Elijah said to the king. Introduced into the royal presence, as a prisoner, perhaps fettered and chained, the prophet in no way lowered his tone or abated from the severity of his speech. Distinctly, in the plainest possible words, he warned the monarch that his end approached - he would never quit the bed whereon he lay, but, because he had insulted Jehovah by sending to consult the god of Ekron, would surely die. Apparently the king, abashed and confounded, released the prophet, and allowed him to go his way. Thus saith the Lord. Elijah rehearses the words of the message which he had sent by the first of the three captains (see ver. 6). Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word! Therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. God's determinations are unalterable.

2 Kings 1:17

Verse 17a. - So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. Not only did he die in consequence of his fall without once quitting his bed, but his death was, as Elijah had said, a judgment on his sin in sending to consult Baal-zebub. REIGN OF JEHORAM. Verse 17b. - And Jehoram - or, Joram LXX., "whom Jehovah exalts;" another evidence that Ahab did not regard himself as having abandoned altogether the worship of Jehovah (see the comment on 1 Kings 22:40) - reigned in his stead ("his brother," אחיו, has probably fallen out after "Jehoram," and requires to be inserted in order to give force to the last clause of the verse) in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat King of Judah. In 2 Kings 3:1 it is said that Jehoram, the son of Ahab and brother of Ahaziah, began to reign over Israel in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat himself. The apparent discrepancy is reconciled by supposing that Jehoshaphat associated his son Jehoram in the kingdom in his seventeenth year, when he was about to enter upon the Syrian war, so that the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat was also the second year of Jehoram. It is certain that association was largely practiced in Egypt at a date long anterior to Jehoshaphat, and David's proclamation of Solomon as king was an association, so that the explanation is not untenable. On the other hand, the difficulties of the chronology of 2 Kings are so numerous and so great as to defy complete reconciliation, and to lead to a suspicion that the numbers have either suffered extensive corruption, or have been manipulated by an unskillful reviser (see Introduction, p. 3.). Because he had no son; i.e. because he, Ahaziah, had no son, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Jehoram.

2 Kings 1:18

Verse 18. - Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did. These may have included some months of warfare against Mesha, King of Moab, who seems to have rebelled at the very beginning of Ahaziah's reign (ver. 1 and 2 Kings 3:5). Mesha's war of independence consisted of a succession of sieges, whereby he recovered one by one the various strongholds in his territory, which were occupied by the Israelites - Medeba, Ataroth, Nebo, Jahaz, Horonaim, and others - expelling the foreign garrisons, rebuilding or strengthening the fortifications, and occupying the cities by garrisons of his own. On one occasion, at the siege of Nebo, he declares that he killed seven thousand men. He found in the town a place of worship containing vessels, which he regarded as "vessels of Jehovah" (Moabite Stone, line 18); these he took? and dedicated them to Chemosh, the special god of Moab. How much of the war fell into the reign of Ahaziah, and how much into that of Jehoram his brother, is uncertain. Are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the tines of Israel? Mesha's stone is a striking testimony to the contemporary record of historical events by the Palestinian monarchs of the time, which has sometimes been doubted.

2 Kings 1

We recommend to consult our biblical commentaries list one different to get more information.Thanks for use " Bibliatodo".

2 Kings 1

2Ki 1:2. Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber- Through the lattice into his upper chamber, Houbigant; who thinks that as he was walking on the top of the house the wooden lattice gave way, and he fell through. See Calmet's Dissertation upon the buildings of the ancient Hebrews.

Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron- Baal-zebub is generally interpreted the god of flies; but why he was so called, there is no substantial reason given. Mr. Roque, in his 10th Dissertation, has treated at large upon this subject, and to him we refer. Mr. Jurieu is of opinion, that the Baal-zebub of Scripture was the same with the Pluto of the ancients. As זב zab signifies to flow, Parkhurst says, that זבוב zebub, signifies the flower, the Baal, lord or power (generally supposed to be the sun) which, always flowing forth himself, is the first mover and causer of all fluidity. See his Lexicon. It is plain enough from all antiquity, but from the hymns of Orpheus especially, that the ancient idolaters deified and worshipped nature in all her constituent and operating parts. Ekron was a city and government of the Philistines, which fell by lot to the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:45 but was afterwards given to the tribe of Dan, though it does not appear that the Jews ever had a quiet and peaceable possession of it.

2Ki 1:4. Thou shalt not come down from that bed, &c.- At one end of each chamber in the eastern buildings there is a little gallery raised three, four, or five feet above the floor, having a ballustrade in the front, with a few steps likewise leading up to it. There they placed their beds; a situation frequently alluded to in the Scriptures. See Shaw's Travels, p. 211, &c.

2Ki 1:5. When the messengers turned back unto him, &c.- It may seem something strange, that Ahaziah's messengers should stop their journey to Ekron at Elijah's command. But he was a man of such a venerable presence, and spake to them with such authority in the name of the Lord, that they were over-awed thereby to obey him rather than the king.

2Ki 1:8. He was an hairy man- Elijah being a hairy man may either denote his wearing long hair on his head and his beard, according to the manner of the ancient Greek philosophers, or it may denote his habit, which was made of skins, rough, and with the hair on; as the ancient heroes were clothed with the skins of tygers, lions, and bears; as the evangelist represents the Baptist, in a raiment of camel's hair; or as the apostle describes the prophets, wandering about in sheep-skins and goat-skins.

Note; 1. It is a vain curiosity to enquire when we shall die; but it is our best wisdom to be always ready. 2. If once we offer worship to any object below the glorious, self-existent Jehovah, a fly is as worthy a god as any other subordinate created being. The difference is inconsiderable between an Arian and an Ekronite. 3. They who will not sue to God for mercy, may expect to hear from him in judgment. 4. Neglect of God, or setting the affections on any thing upon earth more than on him, is practical atheism.

2Ki 1:10-12. If I be a man of God, then let fire come down, &c.- We have before observed, that many of these prophetical denunciations might be rendered with equal propriety in the future; by which means they would no longer retain the appearance of revengeful imprecations, but be seen in their true light of prophetical denunciations. Many have been the objections made to this part of the sacred history. To set it in its true light, we must consider that the wickedness of Ahaziah and his people was extremely great. He was not moved by the untimely death of his father; but followed his pernicious example, still seducing the people, and provoking the God of Israel by his abominable idolatries. The author of the book of Chronicles informs us, that his impiety was so provoking, that God had abandoned him, and would not prosper the naval expedition of Jehoshaphat, because he joined the fleet of this vicious prince. And the wickedness of Ahab, so great in itself, was highly aggravated by his making the people to sin. By his evil example and authority, he corrupted their worship, and justly drew upon himself the guilt of their transgressions. Ahaziah and his people could not but know what judgments this prophet had denounced against his family on account of their idolatries. How great then must their guilt be, in persisting in them, notwithstanding these warnings? The king himself was certainly an incorrigible sinner; for, when he was dangerously ill from his fall through the lattice, he did not repent, but sent to inquire of Baal-zebub, the idol of the Ekronites. This fresh instance of his impiety so offended the true God, that he decreed he should not recover, and sent Elijah to foretel his death to the messengers. But even this message, instead of touching him with remorse, excited in him the wicked resolution of murdering the prophet. No one can doubt that he designed to take away his life, who reflects on the implacable hatred which his family bore this holy man for reproving their wickedness, the resolution his mother Jezebel had formed of cutting him off, and the obstinacy with which the king himself persisted in his sins. The manner of sending for him confirms this to have been his design. Why did he not send the same messengers as he did to Ekron? How came he to send a company of soldiers, if he had not the same design against him as the king of Syria had against Elisha? chap. 2Ki 6:13. The captains commanded him to come down, but in a haughty manner, because they thought he must surrender himself; and had he refused to go with them, would undoubtedly have compelled him by force: and Josephus positively asserts, that the captain threatened as much. If the king himself was so obdurately wicked, though his life was endangered by the fall, we may justly presume that they who were employed on this occasion were not much better; for they must have been either idolaters, or the worshippers of the true God. If they were idolaters, their sin must have received no shall aggravation from their engaging in this attempt; and they could not but know that Elijah did not deserve death for predicting as a prophet the consequences of their master's indisposition. If they worshipped the true God, it was a great crime in them to go against the prophet of that God in whom they believed, and attempt his life, contrary to the dictates of their own conscience. Yet were they either, they could not be excusable; and, supposing them to have been idolaters, we may conclude that they executed this commission with pleasure. And if they who went first upon this design were culpable, what daring sinners must they be who made the second attempt, though such signal vengeance had overtaken those who preceded them! That it was the will of God to destroy these men, may be inferred from the presence of the angel who guarded this prophet. This is still farther evident from the nature of the punishment inflicted upon them. Though Elijah had been ever so much enraged, he could not bring down the devouring flames against them. Nor, had he prayed for this interposition, would his prayers have been heard, if he had desired what was unbefitting the conduct of infinite wisdom. The prophet appealed to this event for the truth of his mission, 2Ki 1:10; 2Ki 1:12. If I be a man of God, &c. which seems to imply that they had styled him a man of God by way of derision; but to convince them of the reality of this claim, he assured them that God himself would vindicate his character by sending down fire from heaven. What he foretold happened, to the cost of those who called down this punishment upon themselves by persisting in their infidelity. Should it be asked, Why these men were singled out to suffer divine punishment, when the whole nation was plunged in the same idolatrous practices and immoralities? it is easy to reply, that these men suffered in the case before us because there was not the same reason why others should suffer, nor could the death of any others so well answer the ends of infinite wisdom. If this catastrophe was intended for the punishment of evildoers, who so fit to be made examples as those who were actually engaged in the wicked enterprize? It was done for the security of a righteous man, whose life was in almost inextricable danger. It would have been impossible for him to escape when beset by a whole company of soldiers; and if he surrendered, he lay at Ahaziah's mercy, who was his inveterate and implacable enemy. In this distress, God mercifully rescued him by destroying these wicked agents, and thus reserved him for future usefulness. This end was accomplished; for the third captain came with another view, and spake in a different manner, as appears from 2Ki 1:13 which plainly implies their danger in going before, and that the king himself was so impressed and so softened by the destruction of the first and second company, that there was no ground for the prophet to fear. This punishment was intended to confirm Elijah's mission, and vindicate the honour of the only God. The fire coming from heaven upon Elijah's denouncing it, manifestly proved that Elijah was inspired by the Creator of all the earth; and as it recalled to their minds the contest that he lately had with the priests of Baal, wherein the descent of fire had been used as a test of the supreme power of the God of gods, this occurrence could not but operate upon their minds with double weight, and convince them of the wickedness of their enterprize; and since they were convinced by the former manifestation of the divine power, the destruction of these men by a second and a third descent of fire from heaven, was sufficient to arouse them out of this lethargy. As these men were the king's servants, their punishment might more sensibly convince him of his wickedness in seducing the people, and the people of their sin in following his example. Had as great a number of idolaters been destroyed in another place, it could not have had so good an effect; but their being struck dead in their attempt upon the prophet's life, was proper to convince both the king and his subjects that he was really commissioned by God, and that the punishments he had denounced against their idolatries would certainly be inflicted. These few, therefore, were not only taken away to preserve the prophet, but also to reclaim the people, and to prevent the ruin of the whole nation. When the general depravity of the kingdom is duly weighed, the number of those who perished will appear very small. If it should be asked, why this severity was twice inflicted, the reply is easy; because the prince was so wicked, and his servants so daring, as to make a second attempt. Hardened as they were, when the same punishment was inflicted a second time, they began to relent, as appears from the address of the third captain, 2Ki 1:13 who speaks not in the imperious language of the two first, but in the style of a suppliant, who was convinced that Elijah was really a prophet of the true God. If we consider this judgment as an act of God, there is nothing in it unworthy of his perfections. That it was an instance of his power will not be contested, because it was what no man nor any superior being could inflict without his permission. His holiness and justice are conspicuously seen, because this catastrophe was intended as a punishment against enormous crimes, and the persons who suffered were engaged in a wicked attempt upon the life of his prophet. It could not be inconsistent with his goodness and clemency, because the death of these few was designed for the reformation of all the nation. His wisdom appears herein, inasmuch as by these means the prophet's life was preserved; and it was well adapted to the state of the kingdom, which called for some striking and alarming dispensation.

2Ki 1:15. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king- This is a great instance of Elijah's faith and obedience to God, in whom he trusted, that he would deliver him from the wrath of the king, and the malice of Jezebel. He had ordered, not long before, all the prophets of Baal to be slain; had sent a very unwelcome message to the king, and made a very terrible execution upon two of his captains and their companies: so that he had all the reason in the world to apprehend the utmost expressions of the king's displeasure; and yet, when God commands him, he makes no manner of hesitation, but goes boldly to Ahaziah, and confirms with his own mouth the unpleasant truth which he had declared to his messengers.

2Ki 1:17. And Jehoram reigned in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat- His brother Jehoram reigned in his stead, because he had no son. To avoid confusion, the reader should take notice, that in the course of this history there is mention made of two Jehorams; one, the second son of Ahab, who succeeded Ahaziah, and wasking of Israel; the other, son and heir to Jehoshaphat, who reigned in Judah. By comparing chap. 2Ki 3:1 and chap. 2Ki 8:16 a great difference in the reading of the dates will appear. We should just remark, however, that it is commonly supposed, that Jehoshaphat declared his son Jehoram king while himself was alive, and reigned in conjunction with him for the space of seven years; a supposition which, if allowed, will in some degree clear up the difficulty. See Archbishop Usher's Annals, sub A.M. 3106.