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2 Kings 1:3

in 2 Kings 1

But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?

KJV

But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baal–zebub the god of Ekron?

This verse in 2 Kings 1

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

This consultation of an idol, being a breach of the fundamental law of the kingdom (Ex 20:3; De 5:7), was a daring and deliberate rejection of the national religion. The Lord, in making this announcement of his death, designed that he should see in that event a judgment for his idolatry.

This site's exposition

Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria

on 2 Kings 1:3-4

The angel of the LORD sends Elijah to meet the messengers. He gives him a question for them, whether it is “because there is no God in Israel” that the king sends abroad. The chapter puts that question three times, from the angel here, from the messengers and from Elijah.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 1:1 · Written before 373.

proposed

"Ahaziah falls from the gallery of his upper chamber in Samaria." … Ahaziah is the son of Ahab, and after Ahab's death he takes his place and reigns over his people. Now, he falls from the upper chambers of his palace, and his body is …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

7 ), long since vanquished by Israel? Here, (1.) The sin was bad enough, giving that honour to the devil which is due to God alone, which was done as much by their enquiries as by their sacrifices.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens

But the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

This latter supposition is most probably the true one, as Ahaziah did not fall either into the street or the court, but "in his upper chamber." inquire of Baalzebub--Anxious to learn whether he should recover from the effects of this severe fall, he sent to consult Baalzebub, that is, the god of flies, who was considered the patron deity of medicine.

The words behind it

25 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וּמַלְאַ֣ךְand [the] angel of

    umalakhH4397 →213 times

  • יְהוָ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • דִּבֶּר֙he spoke

    diberH1696 →1141 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אֵלִיָּ֣הElijah

    ʾeliyahH452 →71 times

  • הַתִּשְׁבִּ֔יthe Tishbite

    hatishbiH8664 →6 times

  • ק֣וּםarise

    kumH6965 →628 times

  • עֲלֵ֔הgo up

    ʾalehH5927 →890 times

  • לִקְרַ֖אתto meet

    likratH7122 →139 times

  • מַלְאֲכֵ֣י[the] messengers of

    malakheiH4397 →213 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • שֹׁמְר֑וֹןSamaria

    shomeronH8111 →109 times

  • וְדַבֵּ֣רand speak

    vedaberH1696 →1141 times

  • אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them

    ʾalehemH413 →5510 times

  • הַֽמִבְּלִ֤י¿ becasue not

    hamibeliH1097 →58 times

  • אֵין־there not

    ʾein-H369 →789 times

  • אֱלֹהִים֙[is] a God

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לin Israel

    beyisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אַתֶּם֙[are] you

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • הֹֽלְכִ֔יםgoing

    holekhimH1980 →1546 times

  • לִדְרֹ֕שׁto consult

    lidroshH1875 →164 times

  • בְּבַ֥עַל<in> Baal

    bevaalH1176 →8 times

  • זְב֖וּבZebub

    zevuvH1176 →8 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] god of

    ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times

  • עֶקְרֽוֹן׃Ekron

    ekronH6138 →22 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Kings 17:1

    Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…

    it leads to

    • Luke 4:25–26

      But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…

    • James 5:17

      Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

    • Luke 1:17

      And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to…

    • 1 Kings 22:14

      But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”

  • Through

    Jonah 2:8

    Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 31:6

      I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.

    • Jeremiah 2:13

      “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

    • 2 Kings 17:15

      They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding…

    • 1 Samuel 12:21

      Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About 2 Kings

This page draws on Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 1:1; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.