Melakhim B 1: "All the King's Men" - Achazyahu's Messengers
SEFER MELAKHIM BET: THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS
By Rav
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This weeks
shiurim are dedicated by Joseph and Phyllis Eisenman
in honor of Judah L. Eisenman
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Shiur #01: CHAPTER 1
ALL THE KINGS MEN: ACHAZYAHUS MESSENGERS
INTRODUCTION
I am delighted to start 5773 with a new course on Melakhim Bet. Three
years ago, I wrote a series of shiurim for the VBM on Melakhim Aleph
(see the archive
http://www.vbm-torah.org/melakhim.html)
which will, please God, be published in book form later this year. Now our task is to advance to
Melakhim Bet and complete the sefer.
Let us open with a few words of introduction regarding Melakhims
division into two segments, and the seam line dividing Melakhim Aleph
and Bet. In its original form, Melakhim was a single unit,
undivided into Melakhim 1 and 2. The division into two is first found in
the Septuagint and the Vulgate and appears in Jewish sources only from the
Venetian printing of the Tanakh in 1525. However it has been adopted in
Jewish sources as a matter of convention. The reason for the split into two
smaller books was the need to divide the large and unwieldy scroll of
Melakhim into two more manageable segments. However, the break between the
books is arbitrary and crude: it awkwardly interrupts the description of the
reign of Achazyahu, King of Israel, and it mystifyingly perforates the smooth
flow of the Eliyahu stories. For this reason, one who picks up the thread of
Sefer Melakhim at this point is very much thrust into the proverbial deep
end, as one lacks significant background information. We shall attempt to bridge
some of this knowledge by providing introductions and explanations where
necessary. In order to begin at a logical point, we shall begin with just a few
verses from the end of Melakhim Aleph, as we open our study with
Melakhim Bet ch.1, the lone chapter that addresses the reign of
Achazyahu, king of
ACHAZYAHU, SON OF ACHAV
Achazyahu the son of Achav began to reign over
Achazyahu, son of Achav has a notably unsuccessful reign, assuming the throne
for a paltry two years; his early demise is due to an unfortunate domestic
accident.[1]
He dies without leaving an heir (1:17), and his brother assumes the throne after
him. Achazyahu had assumed the throne after the death of his father, Achav, who
was killed in
He
sent messengers, and said unto them: Go, inquire of Baal-Zevuv[2]
the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this sickness.
This enquiry of Baal-Zevuv arouses God's ire, as He sends His prophet to issue
a pronouncement sentencing him to an imminent and premature death:
An
angel of the
Lord
said to Eliyahu Ha-Tishbi: Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of
Samaria, and say unto them: Is there no God in Israel, that you go to inquire
of Baal-Zevuv the god of Ekron? Therefore
thus says the Lord: You shall not descend from the bed you
ascended, but you shall die.
Why does this appeal to Baal-Zevuv seal Achazyahus fate? In the past, God has not hurried to
condemn idolatrous kings such as Achav. And yet, here, it seems that God acts
with immediacy. This is because Achazyahu's appeal to Baal-Zevuv is not merely
a highly visible manifestation of his idolatry, but rather a new low-point that
is particularly reprehensible.
It is one thing
to promote idolatry on the domestic front, but it is another thing entirely when
the King of Israel approaches a neighboring country in need of its deity.
Instead of God's name being publicized, a foreign god is being sought to cure
the king; hence, Eliyahu's opening phrase: "Is there
no God in
MESSENGERS
This is where the drama begins. The entire clash between the prophet and the
king will take place by means of the king's emissaries.[5]
In the first instance (verses 3-8), Eliyahu will intercept the delegates to
Baal-Zevuv, sending them back to the king. In the second scene (verses 9-15),
Eliyahu will contend with a series of military units dispatched by Achazyahu.
But why does God send Eliyahu to interact with Achazyahu's delegates? Why not
approach the king directly? This question seems especially pertinent given the
fact that the chapter ends with Eliyahu delivering his condemnation in person to
Achazyahu.
One possibility is that Eliyahu cannot enter Shomron for fear of his life.
Izevel had issued a death warrant against him, and this could still be in force.
Rather than facing the king, Eliyahu is forced to engage with him remotely by
means of his delegates.
But our chapters focus upon the role of messengers leads us to a different
conclusion. Eliyahu needs to stop the delegation in its tracks. A religious
Israelite state visit to Ekron would be the ultimate chillul Hashem
(desecration of Gods name). If
Eliyahu had gone to meet Achazyahu, the messengers would have continued on their
way to Ekron. Instead, Eliyahu intercepts Achazyahu's officials and averts the
embarrassing appeal to the Philistine god.
WHOSE MESSENGERS?
But Eliyahu does more than that. Let us compare what Eliyahu is instructed to
say to the delegates (God's instruction to Eliyahu) with what the delegates
actually say in reporting Eliyahus words to Achazyahu:[6]
Eliyahu's instruction
(3)
Arise, to go up to meet the messengers of the King of Shomron, and speak to
them.
Is
there is no God in
(4)
Therefore
Thus says the Lord:
You
shall not descend
but you shall surely die.
The
messengers' report of Eliyahus words:
(6)
Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him:
Thus says the Lord:
Is
there is no God in
Therefore
You
shall not descend
you shall surely die.
Eliyahu's instruction consists of two separate statements. The first is a
challenge and rebuke to the messengers. It is phrased in the plural (attem)
and levels an accusation at the officials themselves for complying with the king
in appealing to Baal-Zevuv. The second statement is a divine pronouncement of
punishment "Thus says the Lord" worded in the singular and therefore
addressed particularly to Achazyahu, proclaiming that he will die.
However, see how the delegates adjust and reorient the message. One might have
anticipated that they would merely repeat verse 4, the second statement, and
ignore the first. Instead we observe two differences:
1. "Thus says the Lord" is moved to the
beginning of both statements.
2. The rebuke, "Is there no God in Israel
" is now addressed to the king (atta)
personally, as it now accuses the king of "sending" rather than the accusation
to the messengers of "going."
Fascinatingly, the messengers take the accusation leveled at them and turn it,
with full divine force, at Achazyahu ("atta"). In other words, they
understand that just as the punishment is addressed to Achazyahu personally, so
the guilt falls upon the king rather than the messengers. And so, they preface
the communication as a whole with the words, "Thus says the Lord."
In effect, these messengers experience a dramatic reversal. They swiftly turn
from representing Achazyahu to acting as God's mouthpiece. The loyal envoys who
were sent to seek the king's health return and condemn him to death. The
emissaries, who were sent out (lekhu) in search of Baal-Zevuv, return (lekhu
shuvu)[7] bearing the
message of God.
Earlier we contended that Eliyahu was instructed to intercept the delegation in
order to prevent the encounter with Baal-Zevuv and avert the chillul
Hashem of a royal Israelite appeal to an idolatrous deity. But the
interaction with the officials goes beyond that pragmatic objective. With this
act, Eliyahu and God, rather than Achazyahu and the Baal, exhibit their control
of the king's men. In the past, Eliyahu has posed the challenge that plagued his
generation:
"How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him;
but if Baal is God, follow him" (I Melakhim 18:21). In this scene, the
struggle between those two options is manifest, and God enforces His supremacy.
THREE MILITARY CAPTAINS
When the delegation returns with the dreadful prophecy and the king identifies
the source as none other than Eliyahu, he dispatches "a captain of fifty with
his fifty men" the first of three military units to seize the prophet. The
story becomes a threefold power contest, with Eliyahu "sitting on the top of the
hill" (v.9), expressive of his unassailable position.[8] He is confronted
by the military commander who speaks with all the force and authority of the
king, ordering Eliyahu, "By order of the king, come down!" (v.9). This is a
direct collision between the king and God. On the one side stands Achazyahu's
sovereign power invested in the hands of his army captain; on the other, God is
represented by His surrogate, Eliyahu hence Eliyahu's response, "If I am a
man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and with your
fifty men!" (v.10).
Three military units are dispatched to seize Eliyahu. Three army captains
address him. A textual comparison between the scenes illustrates the storyline.
-
"He climbed up to him
and said to him: 'Man of God, by
order of the king, come down!'" (v.9).
-
"He said to him: 'Man of God, by
order of the king, come down at once!'"
(v.11).
-
The third captain of fifty climbed and approached and knelt before Eliyahu and
implored him saying: Man of God, please have regard for my life and the lives
of these fifty men, your servants! See,
fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their
men. But now have respect for my life!
(v.13).
The first captain ascends the mountain and delivers the king's message with full
and uncompromising royal authority, as would be expected of a military officer.
But he and his men are consumed by fire. The second officer acts more boldly,
not even climbing up to Eliyahu. Instead he issues his command from the foot of
the hill, insisting that the prophet respond to the king's command "at once!"
This dauntless exhibition of power leaves Eliyahu absolutely unfazed, as his
response remains exactly the same as with the first officer: "If I am a man of
God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you with your fifty men!"
The second group is also annihilated
instantaneously.
With the approach of the third captain, we witness a capitulation, an absolute
surrender of royal power to God's power. The officer abandons his confident and
aggressive stride and cautiously, even timidly, approaches the prophet, kneeling
before him and pleading for his life and the lives of his subordinates. He even
"forgets" to mention his royal commission. It is at this point that God's angel
assures Eliyahu that he is safe and allows him to accompany the troops.
This three-stage process illustrates the crumbling of the king's authority. His
troops disregard his orders; as they cower before the prophet, the power balance
has dramatically shifted. Now Eliyahu is absolutely in control. Eliyahu, who
embodies Gods power, has demonstrated Gods supremacy. This has been
acknowledged by the mighty military of Achazyahu.
ACHAZYAHU'S MOTIVES
One wonders as to Achazyahu's motive in seizing Eliyahu. Ralbag assumes that he
intended to honor Eliyahu, as fifty soldiers comprise an honor-guard.[9] Alternatively,
Abarbanel indicates that the bedridden king wished to hear the prophecy from
Eliyahu in person; hence the order to arrest Eliyahu and bring him to Shomron.[10] But the lack of any
attempt to have Eliyahu accompany the troops peaceably, along with the combative
and disdainful tone of the captain, would seem to preclude these explanations.
An alternative motive would be that the king wished to harm or even to kill
Eliyahu.
By
causing the prophet bodily harm, they are also harming his prophecy and causing
it to be nullified. This explains
the attempts on the part of several kings in Tanakh to harm or even kill
prophets who had uttered prophecies of punishment against them. It is not merely an attempt to silence
the opposition, as the modern reader may interpret the move. Rather, it is a "metaphysical"
intention to nullify the prophet's undesirable message.
It
seems that for Achazyahu, lying in his sickbed and surely terrified that the
prophecy conveyed to him from Eliyahu will be realized, an assault on Eliyahu
represents an act nullifying the validity of his prophecy. He sends his soldiers
to harm Eliyahu in order to bring about his own recovery. The opposition to the
"man of God" is therefore, in essence, opposition to the "word of God." The
battle against the prophet is an attempt to thwart the realization of his
prophecy.[11]
This would certainly give some explanation for Eliyahu's extreme and bloody
reaction to the army captain and his fifty men. It also explains the angel's
message, after the third officer deferentially approaches Eliyahu: "Go down with
him; do not be afraid" (v.15).
POWER STRUGGLE
And yet, all this having been said, the essence of the story remains the power
struggle between God and the king as played out by Eliyahu and Achazyahus
delegates. The real question is who is stronger, and in that respect, Eliyahu
dominates Achazyahu's messengers twice. First, this is apparent in his approach
to the delegation to Baal-Zevuv, as he transforms them into God's mouthpiece.
Likewise here, Eliyahu paralyzes Achazyahu's intimidating guards, as he crushes
their imperious control by the overwhelming power invested in him by God. They
then shift their allegiance from Achazyahu to Eliyahu, thereby unequivocally
establishing God's supremacy over both the king and his gods.
After this high drama in which Eliyahu has proven his superiority, why is there
a need for Eliyahu to appear before the king? What can it add that the king does
not already know? Eliyahu's personal delivery of God's pronouncement to
Achazyahu in Shomron completes the structure of the chapter, as the truth of
God's word is transmitted in the chapters third utterance of the prophecy,
spoken directly to the king:
Introductory exposition (king's sickness) v.2
Prophecy (spoken by the angel of God) v.4
Prophecy (spoken by the messengers) v.6
Prophecy (spoken by Eliyahu) v.16
Conclusion (king's death) v.17
APPENDIX: A HAIRY MAN
Of course, this chapter compounds our formidable impression of Eliyahu, who
receives unlimited divine support and seems to be able to bring down fire from
heaven at will.
But one detail in particular deserves out attention. This is the only place in
which we receive an intriguing visual description of Eliyahu, namely:
a
hairy man wearing a
leather belt around his waist (v.8).
Clearly, these physical features were Eliyahu's standard style of dress, because
it is with these sparse details that Achazyahu responds, "That is Eliyahu
Ha-Tishbi!" (v.8).
Eliyahu is not the only prophet who had distinctive clothing. We are told that
Shmuels mother would make him clothing each year:
His mother would make a little robe (me'il) for him and bring it up every
year when she made the pilgrimage with her husband. (I Shmuel 2:19)
Shmuels mother dressed him in the robe (me'il) when
he was a young child. And yet, even posthumously, when the "medium" raises
Shmuel from the dead, we read the following account:
The king answered
What do you see?
And the woman said to Shaul, "I see a divine being coming up from the earth."
"What does he look like?" he asked her.
"It is an old man coming up," she said, "and he is wrapped in a robe (me'il)."
Then Shaul knew that it was Shmuel. (I Shmuel 28:13-14)
So we see that Shmuel has a trademark "me'il" that
was his distinctive mode of dress, which he wore from infancy to death, and by
which he could be clearly identified! It would seem that Eliyahu also dressed in
a unique manner, and his appearance was unusual and immediately identifiable.
LONG HAIR
Some commentaries suggest that Eliyahu did not have long hair; rather the phrase
"ba'al sei'ar" refers to a type of furry coat worn by prophets. The
source for this may be found in Zekharia 13:4, where the prophet is
described as wearing a hairy coat an "aderet sei'ar." Eliyahu is
depicted as having an "aderet" repeatedly in Sefer Melakhim
(I Melakhim 19:13 and in II Melakhim 2:8, 13, 14).
But others see this as an unkempt appearance: "A hairy man: with wild hair. And
a leather belt around his waist: And he cannot appear this way before the king"
(Malbim). Could it be that Eliyahu was also a nazir (nazirite)? The
classic nazir withdraws from society to live in a sacred zone. His hair
is a distinctive mark that sets him apart from the community, away from the
common people. This certainly matches Eliyahus reclusive persona.
Whatever the explanation, chapter two (2:23) will depict Elisha, Eliyahu's
successor, as bald. This stark difference between the "hairy man" and the "bald
one" will allow us to ponder the differences between the prophet and his
student.
[1] Abarbanel and
R. Yosef ibn Caspi both suggest that this was a divine punishment for his
idolatry.
[2]
Here Baal Zevuv is described as the god of Ekron, one of the Philistine cities.
In discussing the nature of this deity, Umberto Cassuto (in Encyclopedia
Mikrait) suggests that Baal Zevuv may be a pejorative term for a
Phoenician Baal god whose real name was Baal Zevul, possibly also the source
of the name Izevel (Jezebel).
[3] I Melakhim
ch.15.
[4] I Melakhim
20:13-14, 22, 28.
[5]
As we shall see, the question of the delegates and who controls them is the
critical feature of this story, expressed by the seven-fold usage of the verb
Sh.L.Ch. (see verse 2, 6 twice, 9, 11, 13, 16).
[6]
Note that a stage is missing here. First (v.3-4), the angel instructs Eliyahu to
talk to the messengers. This is followed by "And Eliyahu went" (v.4). But then,
immediately (v.5-6) we read of the messengers addressing Achazyahu. Where is the
middle segment Eliyahu talking to the messengers? This is a familiar literary
feature in Tanakh, as a middle linking stage is omitted. Other examples
from Melakhim include I Melakhim 21:17-20 and II Melakhim
4:26. A stage may be omitted merely to speed up the narrative, acknowledging
that Eliyahu would have transmitted the communication faithfully.
[7]
[8]
The drama of the chapter is illustrated beautifully by vertical axis and the motifs
of "up" and "down" as found in the Hebrew roots A.L.A. and Y.R.D.,
which feature 21 times in the chapter. This is especially evident in this scene,
as the army officers must "ascend" or climb up to Eliyahu and command him to
"descend. Of course, the key line in the chapter also displays this motif: "You
shall not DESCEND (Y.R.D.) the bed which you ASCENDED (A.L.A.),
but you shall surely die."
[9] This is the
case regarding Adonia (I Melakhim 1:5) and Avshalom (II Shmuel
15:1). The tone of the captain here makes the option of an honor-guard unlikely.
However, we should recall the usage of groups of fifty as regards the prophets
of God, both in I Melakhim 18:4 and in II Melakhim 2:16. The
inverse symmetry is striking.
[10]
Ralbag and Abarbanel are forced to explain that despite the king's intent to
respect or summons the prophet, Eliyahu objected to the domineering tone of the
army officers and insisted that he be granted a higher status than the king.
This insistence, obviously unthinkable for the kings courtiers, led to the
violent confrontation. Alternatively there was some misunderstanding, and
despite the king's innocent intent, Eliyahu feared for his life (Abarbanel).
[11]
Pirkei Eliyahu, p. 434.
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