2 Kings 1:5
in 2 Kings 1When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them, Why is it that ye are returned?
KJV
And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
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This verse in 2 Kings 1
Commentary
3 notes on this verseAnd when the messengers turned back unto him,.... To Ahaziah king of Israel, as they did as soon as Elijah was gone from them; concluding from his habit, his gravity, and the authority with which he spoke, that he was a prophet of the Lord, and especially from his knowledge of them, and of what they were sent about: he said unto them, why are ye now turned back? for, by the time they had been gone, he knew they could never have been at Ekron and returned.
This site's exposition
Why have you returned
on 2 Kings 1:5-6
The messengers come back so soon that Ahaziah asks at once, “Why have you returned?” They repeat the prophet's question and sentence. They can describe the man but not name him, so the king hears his fate from his own servants before he learns who spoke it.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
8 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּשׁ֥וּבוּ | vaiyashuvu | and they returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| הַמַּלְאָכִ֖ים | hamalakhim | the messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֵלָ֑יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| זֶּ֥ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| שַׁבְתֶּֽם׃ | shavtem | have you returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
וַיָּשׁ֥וּבוּand they returned
vaiyashuvuH7725 →1056 times
הַמַּלְאָכִ֖יםthe messengers
hamalakhimH4397 →213 times
אֵלָ֑יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֖םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
מַה־why?
mah-H4100 →752 times
זֶּ֥הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
שַׁבְתֶּֽם׃have you returned
shavtemH7725 →1056 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About 2 Kings
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.