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In 2 Kings 1, Ahaziah's appeal to Baal may parallel Ugaritic requests for a god's advice about illness, making the choice of whom to consult a test of loyalty to Israel's God.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.124:10
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
When the lord of the great gods comes to Ditanu and asks for a judgment about the child, Ditanu answers him: Answer: […] of myrrh, take it and put it in the house of Horon […] of new [myrrh], take it and put it in the house of Baal. Take […] and put it in the house, and […] […] his illness. And there came your messenger to Ditanu. He received the judgment, and he answered him, Ditanu: Wipe the house clean, with no fish and no dog, and afterward there will be no bitterness.
2 Kings 1:2
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?”
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Notes and References
“... KTU 1.124 may reflect the consultation of some
sort of divine oracle for the purposes of a heal-
ing; del Olmo Lete (312) sees an analogy with
the incident described in 2 Kings 1:2-3. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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