2 Kings 1 Study Notes

1:1 This brief statement about the Moabite rebellion and the later complete record of that war (3:4-27) brackets data that deals with Ahaziah, Elijah, and Joram. This bracketing indicates that all these materials should be related to the rebellion.

1:2 The first incident thus bracketed is Ahaziah’s injury and subsequent query of Baal-zebub, “Lord of the Flies.” Baal-zebub was the god of Ekron, one of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis. Several scholars suggest that Baal-zebub is a mocking corruption of Baal-zebul (“Lord of Glory”). Turning to pagan deities was disloyalty to God and, by a slight extension of Ex 22:20, worthy of death. The bracketing hinted that one reason for losing the Moabite war was the idolatry of Israel described here.

1:3-8 The author tells us that the angel told Elijah what to say, then Elijah left, apparently after delivering the message. With an obedient prophet, compliance is implicitly simultaneous with command. Elijah condemned King Ahaziah for seeking counsel from a pagan deity. Ahaziah showed the same unbelieving pragmatism his father Ahab had when Ahab looked for a prophet who would give him the answer he wanted (1Kg 22:8). Elijah challenged King Ahaziah on this false worship. The question, Is it because there is no God in Israel, rhetorically highlighted Ahaziah’s lack of faith (v. 16). Then Elijah announced that Ahaziah would die.

1:9-10 Here is an encounter reminiscent of Elijah’s conflict with the priests of Baal (1Kg 18) and of Moses’s conflict with Pharaoh (Ex 7-11).

1:11-12 The king foolishly trusted in his own power again and sent another company of fifty men to be destroyed. Again we see the severity of God against the representatives of God’s enemies.

1:13-15 The third captain had learned the lesson of God’s power and appealed for mercy. At this point God, in contrast to the pattern of speaking directly through Elijah (vv. 10,12), sent an angel (cp. vv. 3-4) to instruct Elijah to go with the company.

1:16 Because of Ahaziah’s rejection of God, Elijah again declared that he would not rise from his sickbed. Perhaps at this point Ahaziah recognized the power of God, but there is no evidence that it affected his attitudes and behavior.

1:17-18 Ahaziah’s record ends with the statements of his death and the succession of his brother, Joram.