2 Kings 1:10-12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 1:9-18

Here, I. The king issues out a warrant for the apprehending of Elijah. If the God of Ekron had told him he should die, it is probable he would have taken it quietly; but now that a prophet of the Lord tells him so, reproving him for his sin and reminding him of the God of Israel, he cannot bear it. So far is he from making any good improvement of the warning given him that he is enraged against the prophet; neither his sickness, nor the thoughts of death, made any good impressions upon him,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 1:10

And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, if I be a man of God ,.... As I am, and thou shalt know it by the following token, though thou callest me so jeeringly: then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty ; this he said not in a passion, and from a private spirit of revenge, but for the vindication of the honour and glory of God, and under the impulse of his spirit, who was abused through the insult on him as his prophet: and there came down fire... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 1:11

Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty ,.... The king, not being at all terrified with the awful judgment upon the former, sends another: and he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, come down quickly ; he flouts the prophet in the same manner as the former, and in the king's name commands him to come down, and that immediately; which the king added to his orders, or he himself, signifying he would not be trifled with, if he did... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 1:12

And Elijah answered and said unto them ,.... The same as he had to the first captain, and made the same request of fire from heaven; which accordingly came down, and destroyed this captain and his fifty also. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Kings 1:10

And there came down fire - Some have blamed the prophet for destroying these men, by bringing down fire from heaven upon them. But they do not consider that it was no more possible for Elijah to bring down fire from heaven, than for them to do it. God alone could send the fire; and as he is just and good, he would not have destroyed these men had there not been a sufficient cause to justify the act. It was not to please Elijah, or to gratify any vindictive humor in him, that God thus... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:1-18

THE REVOLT OF MOAB . THE ILLNESS , IMPIETY , AND DEATH OF AHAZIAH The narrative of the Second Book of Kings follows on that of the First Book in the closest possible sequence. The history of Ahaziah's reign begins in 1 Kings 22:51 , and is carried on, without any real break or pause in the sense, to 2 Kings 1:18 . How the two books came to be divided at this point is quite inexplicable. The division is most unhappy. Not only does it, without apparent reason, draw... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:1-18

The short reign of Ahaziah: his sins, and their punishment. For homiletic purposes we must attach to this chapter the last three verses of the First Book of the Kings. We find in that passage a short but very complete account of the general character of Ahaziah's sins; we find in this chapter a tolerably full account of one great act of sin, and a clear declaration of the manner in which that act and his other sins were punished. It will be well to consider separately I. THE SINS .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:5-16

Fire from heaven. Ahaziah's messengers were intercepted by Elijah. They brought back to Ahaziah the fearless prophet's announcement of his doom. Elijah's message was God's message. He began it by "Thus saith the Lord." The statement that Ahaziah would surely die was in reality the sentence of him who knows the future of every life, and in whose band is the breath of every human being, be he peasant or be he king. But such a terrible sentence had not brought Ahaziah to his senses. He does not... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:9-16

The spirit we are of-the old dispensation and the new. I. THE SPIRIT OF THE OLD DISPENSATION . The spirit of the Law was strict, stern, inexorable justice. "Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image …. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother …. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark," etc. ( Deuteronomy 27:15-26 ); "He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death" ( Exodus 21:17 ); " Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:9-16

The prophet of fire. The act of Elijah, in calling down fire from heaven on his enemies, is thus remarked upon by Dean Stanley, with reference to Christ's allusion to it in the gospel ( Luke 9:51-56 ). "When the two apostles appealed to the example of Elijah 'to call down fire from heaven,' he to whom they spoke turned away with indignation from the remembrance of this act, even of the greatest of his prophetic predecessors". We cannot endorse this remark. Jesus, indeed, gently rebuked his... read more

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