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 13:7
Context13:7 Jehoahaz had no army left 10 except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops 11 and trampled on them like dust. 12
2 Kings 24:16
Context24:16 The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers (there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors. 13
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 “Indeed he did not leave to Jehoahaz people.” The identity of the subject is uncertain, but the king of Syria, mentioned later in the verse, is a likely candidate.
11 tn Heb “them,” i.e., the remainder of this troops.
12 tn Heb “and made them like dust for trampling.”
13 tn Heb “the entire [group], mighty men, doers of war.”
