2 Kings 1:6 - Exposition

There came a man. It is not likely that the messengers did not know Elijah by sight. He was too prominent a person in the history of the time, and too remarkable in his appearance, not to have been recognized, at any rate by some of them. But they thought it best to keep back the prophet's name, and to call him simply "a man" ( ish )—perhaps actuated by good will towards Elijah, perhaps by a fear for their own safety, such as had been felt by Obadiah ( 1 Kings 18:8-14 ).