2 Kings 1:9

⁷ The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”

⁸ “He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.

Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰ Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.

¹¹ So the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. And the captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down at once!’”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”
KJV: Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
WEB: Then the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down!’”
ASV: Then [the king] sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he spake unto him, O man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
DARBY: And he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he sat on the top of the mount. And he spoke to him: Man of God, the king says, Come down!
BLB: And the king sent to him a captain of fifty, and his fifty. And he went up to him, and there he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “Man of God, the king has said: ‘Come down.’”

ÅB: Og han sendte til ham en høvedsmann over femti med sine menn; og han gikk opp til ham, der han satt på toppen av fjellet, og han sa til ham: Du Guds mann! Kongen sier: Kom ned!
OTB: Da sendte kongen en kaptein med femti mann til Elia. Han gikk opp til Elia, som satt på toppen av en høyde, og sa til ham, “Guds mann, kongen sier, ‘Kom ned!’”
B1930: Og han sendte til ham en høvedsmann over femti med sine menn; og han gikk op til ham, der han satt på toppen av fjellet, og han sa til ham: Du Guds mann! Kongen sier: Kom ned!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Hebrews 11:36
Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
Read in context
2 Kings 6:13–14
So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.” On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,”
Read in context
Luke 6:11–12
But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Read in context
Amos 7:12
And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.
Read in context
Matthew 26:68
and said, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who hit You?”
Read in context
Matthew 14:3
Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
Read in context
1 Kings 22:26–27
And the king of Israel declared, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son,
Read in context
1 Kings 18:4
for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
Read in context