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2 Kings

About this book
Chapter 1

1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, “Go, ask Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”⁠ 3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up; go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron.⁠ 4 Therefore this is what the Lord has said, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way. 5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 6 They replied, “A man came up to meet us. He told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’”’” 7 The king asked them, “Describe the appearance of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 8 They replied, “He was a hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist.” The king said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”⁠ 9 The king sent a captain and his 50 soldiers to retrieve Elijah. The captain went up to him while he was sitting on the top of a hill. He told him, “Prophet, the king says, ‘Come down!’” 10 Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your 50 soldiers!”⁠ Fire then came down from the sky and consumed him and his 50 soldiers. 11 The king sent another captain and his 50 soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 12 Elijah replied to them, “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your 50 soldiers!” Fire from God came down from the sky and consumed him and his 50 soldiers.⁠ 13 The king sent a third captain and his 50 soldiers. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these 50 servants of yours. 14 Indeed, fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. So now, please have respect for my life.” 15 The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king. 16 Elijah said to the king, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek a message? Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” 17 And he did die in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through Elijah. In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son.⁠ 18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.2 IV:8 and 2 Kings 1:3

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

2 Kings presents a foreign patron god consulted for help, assuming the deity’s effectiveness for his own people. This resembles Ugaritic references to Baal, reflecting an early Israelite henotheistic view that acknowledged other gods exist.

Passages

KTU 1.2 IV:8

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
If I see and with Yamm is the sieve of destruction. By Yamm I shall be worm-eaten and thanks to Nahar, devoured by maggots. There, with a sword I shall destroy. I shall knock down his houses. Into the underworld will fall my strength, and into the dust my power. From his mouth his speech barely went forth, from his lips his word, and he gave forth his voice in groaning beneath the throne of Prince Yamm. And Kothar-wa-Hasis spoke: Indeed I say to you, O Prince Baal, I repeat, O Charioteer of the Clouds, now your foe, Baal, now your foe you must smite; now you must destroy your adversary.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

2 Kings 1:3

Hebrew Bible
1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, “Go, ask Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.” 3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up; go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 4 Therefore this is what the Lord has said, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way. 5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Kings

References

"... One other biblical text may contain a reference to an artisan god. In 2 Kings 1:1–8 the god Baal-Zebub (בעל זבוב) does not actually appear, but the references to him in the pericope imply not only that the deity existed, but also that he was an effective deity. Since King Ahaziah was sending his messengers to seek an oracle from the god, it is not at all clear whether Baal-Zebub was worshiped as a deity of healing or as a god of oracles. Since he was considered a foreign deity, the passage implies that some local god would have sufficed for Ahaziah’s needs (2 Kings 1:3). Nothing is mentioned of Baal-Zebub that would explain his status in his own pantheon, so it is quite impossible to determine his relationship with other deities. It does seem, however, that Baal-Zebub dealt in a specialty, a skill so renowned in fact that rulers from beyond the god’s regional borders consulted him. This suggests that he may have been an artisan god ..."
Lowell K. Handy, Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon as Bureaucracy (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994), 140–141.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.2 IV:8 and 2 Kings 1:3

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