What Does 2 Kings 1:6 Mean in the King James?
And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word translated “enquire” also means “seek”: the king’s question reveals its allegiance by the one he seeks.
THE MEANING
The source of an answer matters: the king seeks Baal-zebub (בַּעַל זְבוּב, baʿal zəḇûḇ, “Baal of the fly or flies”) while Israel has a God. The messenger names that contradiction and declares that the king will not rise from his bed, but will die.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this verse undoes is that asking for guidance is neutral regardless of its source.
THE ROOT
לִדְרֹשׁ
lidrosh
GROWS FROM
ד־ר־שׁ
d-r-sh
To seek, inquire, or investigate.
English “enquire” can sound like simply asking for information, but this Hebrew word also means to seek. The king’s inquiry is a directed search, and the verse makes its object, the one he seeks, central to the charge against him.
ALSO GROWS
doresh: One who seeks or inquires.
דּוֹרֵשׁ
This branch makes the seeker visible in the word itself: the king’s messengers are sent as seekers toward a particular source.
midrash: Inquiry, study, or exposition.
מִדְרָשׁ
A word for interpretive study grows from the same root of seeking, showing how inquiry can extend into sustained searching.
שְׁלַח
shalach
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ח
sh-l-ch
To send forth, send away, or release.
“sent” in this verse is shalach. The king sends messengers toward Ekron, and the messenger tells them to return to the king with the LORD’s word. The repeated sending gives the scene a circuit: what the king sends out comes back carrying an answer he sought elsewhere.
ALSO GROWS
shilluach: Sending away or dispatch.
שִׁלּוּחַ
It echoes the messengers being sent on their errand and then sent back with the message.
Shiloach: A name connected with what is sent forth.
שִׁלֹחַ
The name carries the same send-forth language; here the message itself travels through the chain of sendings.
THE PATTERN
The source a person seeks reveals the direction of their trust.
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;THE THREAD
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.The Hebrew root ד־ר־שׁ (darash, seek or inquire) appears in both verses: here the king sends messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub; there, the seeker seeks the LORD with all their heart and soul. The shared verb sharpens the contrast: the act is seeking in both, but the one sought changes.
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