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 3:2

3:2 He did evil in the sight of ⁵  the Lord, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.

2 Kings 17:16

17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, ⁶  and worshiped ⁷  Baal.

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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 “in the eyes of.”

⁶ tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.

⁷ tn Or “served.”