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 8:8

8:8 So the king told Hazael, “Take a gift ⁵  and go visit the prophet. Request from him an oracle from the Lord. Ask him, ⁶  ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

2 Kings 9:17

9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching. ⁷  He said, “I see troops!” ⁸  Jehoram ordered, ⁹  “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’” ¹⁰ 

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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 The Hebrew text also has “in your hand.”

⁶ tn Heb “Inquire of the Lord through him, saying.”

⁷ tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shif’ah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).

⁸ tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.

⁹ tn Heb “said.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”