Discovery Box2 Kings 1:9 
Context1:9 The king 1 sent a captain and his fifty soldiers 2 to retrieve Elijah. 3 The captain 4 went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. 5 He told him, “Prophet, 6 the king says, ‘Come down!’”
2 Kings 1:11
Context1:11 The king 7 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, 8 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 9
2 Kings 1:13
Context1:13 The king 10 sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell 11 on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “officer of fifty and his fifty.”
3 tn Heb “to him.”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the captain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 sn The prophet Elijah’s position on the top of the hill symbolizes his superiority to the king and his messengers.
6 tn Heb “man of God” (also in vv. 10, 11, 12, 13).
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9.
9 sn In this second panel of the three-paneled narrative, the king and his captain are more arrogant than before. The captain uses a more official sounding introduction (“this is what the king says”) and the king adds “at once” to the command.
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.”
