2 Kings 1:2

1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria 1  and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, 2  “Go, ask 3  Baal Zebub, 4  the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

2 Kings 1:6

1:6 They replied, 5  “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 says: “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. 6  Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’”

1 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

2 tn Heb “and he sent messengers and said to them.”

3 tn That is, “seek an oracle from.”

4 sn Apparently Baal Zebub refers to a local manifestation of the god Baal at the Philistine city of Ekron. The name appears to mean “Lord of the Flies,” but it may be a deliberate scribal corruption of Baal Zebul, “Baal, the Prince,” a title known from the Ugaritic texts. For further discussion and bibliography, see HALOT 261 s.v. זְבוּב בַּעַל and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 25.

5 tn Heb “said to him.”

6 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question. In v. 3 the messengers are addressed (in the phrase “you are on your way” the second person plural pronoun is used in Hebrew), but here the king is addressed (in the phrase “you are sending” the second person singular pronoun is used).