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About this book

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 2 Kings 1:8 and Matthew 3:4

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew, John the Baptist’s clothing and wilderness life echoes Elijah in 2 Kings, where the prophet is known for his hair and leather belt. Matthew portrays John as a new Elijah, connecting him to the prophetic tradition of confronting the powerful.

Passages

2 Kings 1:8

Hebrew Bible
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!’”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Kings

Matthew 3:4

New Testament
1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness of Judea proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 For he is the one about whom the prophet Isaiah had spoken: “The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’” 4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. 5 Then people from Jerusalem, as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 6 and he was baptizing them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... Historical scholars ask why John would have dressed and eaten in such a manner, and the explanation is usually that by so doing he could live an austere life dependent on no one but God. He dressed himself in what could be found in the desert (loose camel hair woven together and fastened with a strip of animal skin) and he ate what he could find there (either literal locusts or, possibly, a type of bean pod that was popularly called a “locust”). Redaction critics ask why Matthew and Mark wanted to tell their readers these details; the answer is usually that they wanted to liken John to Elijah, who is described in a similar manner in 2 Kings 1:8 (compare Matt. 17:9–13; Mark 9:9–13) ..."
Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018), Supplement 7.20.

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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2 Kings 1:8 and Matthew 3:4

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