The second book of Kings begins with a chapter featuring the prophet Elijah, whose stories occupy the last part of the first book of Kings. In this final story of confrontation with a monarch, Elijah takes on King Ahaziah of Israel whose reign was introduced in the ending verses of 1 Kings. The artificial separation of this episode of Elijah from those in the previous book resulted from the Septuagint's division of the Hebrew book of Kings into two parts, whereas the Jewish Hebrew text tradition continued to consider Kings as one book until the Bamberg Rabbinic Bible of 1516. This makes 2 Kings begin with a sick king in his deathbed, just as 1 Kings, where both Ahaziah and David received prophets with quite different results. Although Elijah is fully capable of raising the dead, Ahaziah seeks help elsewhere, so instead of being healed, he was prophesied by Elijah to die in his current bed. The abruptness of the beginning of 2 Kings can also be seen its very first verse about Moab's rebellion against Israel after the death of Ahab, which seems unrelated to the story of Ahaziah and Elijah that follows it; the rebellion will be dealt in chapter 3, where it starts with the verbatim "repetitive resumption" of 2 Kings 1:1 in. However, this opening episode of 2 Kings serves several important functions: looking backwards to summarize the personality and behavioral traits of Elijah, while at the same time anticipating the future anti-Baal crusade by Jehu who would destroy the Omride dynasty. This narrative is one of four in 1–2 Kings in which a prophet delivers an oracle to a dying king, placing Elijah in a "type-scene" associated with each major prophet in the book, thus linking him into a prophetic chain. The differences from the common pattern are the threefold repetition of the oracle and the confrontations between Elijah and the three captains of the king.
Structure
The main narrative of this chapter contains parallel elements that create structural symmetry:
Opening verse (1:1)
Cross reference:
This statement about Moab's rebellion in the opening verse of 2 Kings is elaborated in ff, and supported by the information in the Mesha Stele. Moab in the Trans-Jordan region was incorporated into Israel by King David, who has family connections with the people of that land, mentioned only briefly in 1 Kings 11:7 as a client state of Israel during the days of David and Solomon, then ruled by the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reigning period of the Omrides.
Ahaziah's illness and inquiry (1:2)
"Go, enquire": Ahaziah calls for an oracle, though from Baal rather than YHWH.
"Baalzebub": two qualities of this Syro-Palestinian god, Baal, are mentioned here: as the patron-god of the Philistine city Ekron and the accompaniment of a second name, Zebub, meaning 'fly', revealing that the oracles of this god 'were carried out to the sound of humming'. The name "Baalzebub" is found only here in the Hebrew Bible, but referred to several times in the New Testament. It may be a pejorative rendering of ba'al zebal, a 'common epithet for Baal in Ugaritic literature'.
Elijah interferes (1:3–16)
The oracular consultation that Ahaziah requested did not take place due to Elijah's interference in the name of YHWH, following the explicit order of an 'angel of the LORD' and three army divisions are unable to stop him. Thematically similar to 1 Kings 18, Elijah's mission to promote the exclusive worship of YHWH in Israel suits his name. Ahaziah only came to know who the prophet was by the description of Elijah's appearance, and aside from his mantle, Elijah's recognizable feature seems to be his sudden showing up 'precisely when he is not expected or wanted, fearlessly saying what was to be said in the name of his God'.
Death of Ahaziah (1:17–18)
In Ahaziah's life and death, the history of the house of Ahab is parallel to that of the house of Jeroboam I. A man of God from Judah prophesied the end of Jeroboam's family, then Jeroboam's son Abijah was sick and died before the dynasty ended. Likewise, after the destruction of Ahab's family was prophesied, Ahab's son, Ahaziah, died when the dynasty was still intact. However both dynasties fell during the reign of a subsequent son.
Verse 17
"Jehoram reigned in his place": This is Jehoram the brother of Ahaziah and another son of Ahab. His name is written as "Joram" in 1 Chronicles 3:11; 26:24. records that he "reigned twelve years", which, based on Thiele-McFall's calculation, span from between April and September 852 BCE until his death between April and September 841 BCE.
"The second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah": According to Thiele's chronology, this is the period of "co-regency" on the throne of Judah with his father Jehoshaphat, who was then in his 18th year of sole reign as noted in. In Thiele-McFall's calculation, this time point falls between April and September 852 BCE.
