2 Kings 1:9-14

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

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... 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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:9-18

Man in three aspects. "Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty," etc. In this paragraph we have man in three aspects. I. MAN RUINED THROUGH THE CONDUCT OF OTHERS . The messengers which the king sent to Elijah—fifty each time on three different occasions—were all, except the last fifty, destroyed by lightning. This awful judgment came upon them, not merely on their own account—although, like all sinners, they had forfeited their lives to eternal justice—but as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:10

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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:11

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 ." read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 1:13

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... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 1:9

Then the king sent unto him - i. e., in order to seize and punish him. Compare 1 Kings 18:10; 1 Kings 22:27. read more

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