2 Kings 1:10

Bishop's Bible

Elias aunswered and saide to the captaine ouer the fiftie: If I be a man of God, let fyre come downe from heauen & consume thee & thy fiftie. And there came fyre from heauen, and consumed him and his fiftie.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Elijah responded to the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

Hebrew Names Version
Eliyah answered to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty. Fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

King James Version
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

English Standard Version
But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

New Century Version
Elijah answered the captain, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men." Then fire came down from heaven and burned up the captain and his fifty men.

New English Translation
Elijah replied to the captain, "If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!" Fire then came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

Amplified Bible
Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, "So if I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty [fighting men]." Then fire fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

New American Standard Bible
But Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But Eliiah answered, and saide to the captaine ouer the fiftie, If that I be a man of God, let fire come downe from the heauen, and deuoure thee and thy fiftie. So fire came downe from the heauen and deuoured him and his fiftie.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Elijah answered and spoke to the commander of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

Contemporary English Version
"If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "God will send down fire on you and your fifty soldiers." Fire immediately came down from heaven and burned up the officer and his men.

Complete Jewish Bible
Eliyahu answered the commander of fifty, "If I am in fact a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn you up, along with your fifty men." Fire came down from heaven, and it burned up him and his fifty men.

Darby Translation
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, And if I be a man of God, let fire come down from the heavens and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from the heavens, and consumed him and his fifty.

Easy-to-Read Version
Elijah answered the captain of 50, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men!" So fire came down from heaven and destroyed the captain and his 50 men.

George Lamsa Translation
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I am a prophet of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

Good News Translation
"If I am a man of God," Elijah answered, "may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!" At once fire came down and killed the officer and his men.

Lexham English Bible
Then Elijah answered and said to the commander of the fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty!" Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

Literal Translation
And Elijah answered and said to the commander of fifty, And if I am a man of God, fire will come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Elias answered the captayne ouer fyftye, and sayde vnto him: Yf I be a man of God, the fyre fall downe then from heauen, and cosume the and thy fyftie. Then fell there fire from heauen, and consumed him and his fyftye.

American Standard Version
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

Bible in Basic English
And Elijah in answer said to the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven on you and on your fifty men, and put an end to you. Then fire came down from heaven and put an end to him and his fifty men.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty: 'If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.' And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

King James Version (1611)
And Eliiah answered, and said to the captaine of fiftie, If I be a man of God, then let fire come downe from heauen, and consume thee and thy fiftie. And there came downe fire from heauen, and consumed him and his fiftie.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Eliu answered and said to the captain of fifty, And if I am a man of God, fire shall come down out of heaven, and devour thee and thy fifty. And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured him and his fifty.

English Revised Version
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

Berean Standard Bible
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 men.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Elie answeride, and seide to the prince of fifti men, If Y am the man of God, fier come doun fro heuene, and deuoure thee and thi fifti men. Therfor fier cam doun fro heuene, and deuouride hym, and the fifti men that weren with hym.

Young's Literal Translation
And Elijah answereth and speaketh unto the head of the fifty, `And if I [am] a man of God, fire doth come down from the heavens, and consume thee and thy fifty;' and fire cometh down from the heavens, and consumeth him and his fifty.

Update Bible Version
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume you and your fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I [am] a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

World English Bible
Elijah answered to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty. Fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.

New King James Version
So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men." And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

New Living Translation
But Elijah replied to the captain, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!" Then fire fell from heaven and killed them all.

New Life Bible
Elijah said to the captain of fifty men, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men." Then fire came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty men.

New Revised Standard
But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Elijah responded and said unto the captain of fifty, If, then, a man of God, I am, let fire come down out of the heavens, and devour thee and thy fifty. So there came down fire out of the heavens, and devoured him and his fifty.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee, and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him, and the fifty that were with him.

Revised Standard Version
But Eli'jah answered the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

THE MESSAGE
Elijah answered the captain of the fifty, "If it's true that I'm a ‘holy man,' lightning strike you and your fifty men!" Out of the blue lightning struck and incinerated the captain and his fifty.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

Contextual Overview

⁹ Then the king sent vnto him a captayne ouer fiftie, with his fiftie men: which came to him (and beholde he sat on the top of an hill) And he spake vnto him, Thou man of God, the king hath saide: come downe. ¹⁰ Elias aunswered and saide to the captaine ouer the fiftie: If I be a man of God, let fyre come downe from heauen & consume thee & thy fiftie. And there came fyre from heauen, and consumed him and his fiftie. ¹¹ Againe also he sent vnto him an other captaine ouer fiftie, with his fiftie: And he spake and saide vnto him, O man of God, thus hath the king saide: Make haste, and come downe. ¹² Elias aunswered & saide vnto them: If I be a man of God, let fyre come downe from heauen, and consume thee and thy fiftie. And there came fyre of God from heauen, and consumed him and his fiftie. ¹³ And the king yet againe sent the third captaine ouer fiftie, with his fiftie men: And the third captaine ouer fiftie went vp, and came and fell on his knees before Elias, and besought him, & sayde vnto him: Oh man of God, I pray thee let my lyfe and the lyfe of the fiftie thy seruauntes be precious in thy sight. ¹⁴ Beholde, there came fyre downe from heauen, and burnt vp the two fore captaines ouer fiftie with their fifties: therfore let my lyfe now be precious in thy sight. ¹⁵ And the angell of the Lorde saide vnto Elias: Go downe with him, and be not afrayde of him. And he arose, and went downe with him vnto the king. ¹⁶ And he saide vnto him, thus saith the Lorde: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to aske counsell at Beelzebub the god of Ekrom, as though there had ben no God in Israel, whose word thou mightest seeke after: therfore thou shalt not come downe of the bed on which thou art gone vp, but shalt dye the death. ¹⁷ And so he dyed according to the worde of the Lorde which Elias had spoken: And Iehoram [his brother] began to raigne in his steade, in the second yere of Iehoram the sonne of Iehosaphat king of Iuda, because he had no sonne. ¹⁸ The rest of the wordes that concerne Ahazia, what thinges he dyd, are they not written in the booke of the cronicles of the kinges of Israel?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

If I be a man: 2 Kings 2:23, 2 Kings 2:24, Numbers 16:28-30, 1 Kings 18:36-38, 1 Kings 22:28, 2 Chronicles 36:16, Psalms 105:15, Matthew 21:41, Matthew 23:34-37, Acts 5:3-10

let fire: Or, rather, as the original literally imports, and the LXX render, ךבפבגחףופבי נץס, fire shall come down; Elijah's words being simply declarative, and not imprecatory. Numbers 11:1, Numbers 16:35, Job 1:16, Psalms 106:18, Luke 9:54, Hebrews 12:29, Revelation 11:5

consumed: Daniel 3:22, Daniel 3:25, Daniel 6:24, Acts 12:19

Reciprocal: Leviticus 10:2 - fire 1 Kings 19:12 - a fire 2 Kings 1:12 - General 2 Kings 1:14 - Behold 2 Kings 8:7 - The man of God Job 38:35 - Canst Psalms 29:7 - flames Jeremiah 5:14 - I will make Acts 5:5 - hearing Revelation 13:13 - he maketh Revelation 20:9 - and fire

Cross-References

Genesis 1:4
And God sawe the lyght that it was good: and God deuided the lyght from the darknes.

Deuteronomy 32:4
Perfect is the worke of the most mightie God, for all his wayes are iudgement: He is a God of trueth, without wickednesse, righteous and iust is he.

Psalms 104:31
The glorious maiestie of God shal endure for euer: God wyll reioyce in his workes.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, if I be a man of God,.... As I am, and thou shalt know it by the following token, though thou callest me so jeeringly:

then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty; this he said not in a passion, and from a private spirit of revenge, but for the vindication of the honour and glory of God, and under the impulse of his spirit, who was abused through the insult on him as his prophet:

and there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty; a flash of lightning, which destroyed them at once; the Lord hearkening to the voice of his prophet, in vindication of him in his office, and of his own glory.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The charge of cruelty made against Elijah makes it needful to consider the question: What was Elijah’s motive? And the answer is: Sharply to make a signal example, to vindicate God’s honor in a striking way. Ahaziah had, as it were, challenged Yahweh to a trial of strength by sending a band of fifty to arrest one man. Elijah was not Jesus Christ, able to reconcile mercy with truth, the vindication of God’s honor with the utmost tenderness for erring men, and awe them merely by His presence (compare John 18:6). In Elijah the spirit of the Law was embodied in its full severity. His zeal was fierce; he was not shocked by blood; he had no softness and no relenting. He did not permanently profit by the warning at Horeb (1 Kings 19:12 note). He continued the uncompromising avenger of sin, the wielder of the terrors of the Lord, such exactly as he had shown himself at Carmel. He is, consequently, no pattern for Christian men Luke 9:55; but his character is the perfection of the purely legal type. No true Christian after Pentecost would have done what Elijah did. But what he did, when he did it, was not sinful. It was but executing strict, stern justice. Elijah asked that fire should fall - God made it fall; and, by so doing, both vindicated His own honor, and justified the prayer of His prophet.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 1:10. And there came down fire — Some have blamed the prophet for destroying these men, by bringing down fire from heaven upon them. But they do not consider that it was no more possible for Elijah to bring down fire from heaven, than for them to do it. God alone could send the fire; and as he is just and good, he would not have destroyed these men had there not been a sufficient cause to justify the act. It was not to please Elijah, or to gratify any vindictive humour in him, that God thus acted; but to show his own power and justice. No entreaty of Elijah could have induced God to have performed an act that was wrong in itself. Elijah, personally, had no concern in the business. God led him simply to announce on these occasions what he himself had determined to do. If I be a man of God, i.e., as surely as I am a man of God, fire SHALL come down from heaven, and SHALL consume thee and thy fifty. This is the literal meaning of the original; and by it we see that Elijah's words were only declarative, and not imprecatory.