2 Kings 1:3-4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 1:1-8

We have here Ahaziah, the wicked king of Israel, under God's rebukes both by his providence and by his prophet, by his rod and by his word. I. He is crossed in his affairs. How can those expect to prosper that do evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoke him to anger? When he rebelled against God, and revolted from his allegiance to him, Moab rebelled against Israel, and revolted from the subjection that had long paid to the kings of Israel, 2 Kgs. 1:1. The Edomites that bordered on Judah,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 1:3

But the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah ,.... One of the ministering spirits sent by the Lord to him: arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria : that is, the king of Israel, whose capital city was Samaria: is it not because there is not a God in Israel ; known, acknowledged, and worshipped there, of whom there had been sufficient proof of his deity and divine perfections, as omniscience, omnipotence, &c.; that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 1:4

Now therefore thus saith the Lord ,.... Jehovah, the only true God: thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die ; this sickness should be unto death, and the bed he had betaken himself to should be his deathbed. The phrases of going up to bed, and coming down, are used with great propriety; for in the eastern countries, in their bedchambers, they had a gallery raised four or five feet above the floor, with a balustrade on the front F4 See... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Kings 1:4

But shalt surely die - The true God tells you this; he in whose hands are both life and death, who can kill and make alive. Baal-zebub can do nothing; God has determined that your master shall die. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:1-4

Seeking after strange gods: its cause and consequence. We are here introduced to a kingly home. All the pomp of royalty is there. But it is not a happy home. To beta with, there is sickness in that home. Royalty, or rank, or riches cannot keep sickness out. Ahaziah had been looking through the window of his chamber, or, as some think, leaning over the frail baluster of wicker-work which ran round the roof on the inner or courtyard side, when the lattice-work gave way, and he was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:1-8

Worldly royalty and personal godliness. "Then Moab rebelled against Israel," etc. The two Books of Kings, which form but one in the most correct and ancient edition of the Hebrews, whilst they constitute a very strange and significant history, are fraught with much moral and practical suggestion. These verses bring under our notice two subjects of thought—worldly royalty in a humiliating condition, and personal godliness truly majestic. I. WORLDLY ROYALTY IN A HUMILIATING ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:1-8

Ahaziah's sickness. Son of a doomed house ( 1 Kings 21:29 ), Ahab's successor on the throne reigned for two inglorious years. His evil character is described in the words, "He walked m the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin" ( 1 Kings 22:52 ). A weak ruler, he was probably the mere tool of his mother Jezebel, whose worst qualities he inherited. In determined idolatry, open defiance of Jehovah, and... 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 1:3

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 , 1 Kings 19:7 ). Elijah the Tishbite . 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... read more

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