the Greeks, from his supposed power over flies, in driving them
away from the flesh of their sacrifices, which otherwise would have been
very troublesome to them.

[5] It is commonly esteemed a very cruel action of Elijah, when he
called for fire from heaven, and consumed no fewer than two captains and
a hundred soldiers, and this for no other crime than obeying the orders
of their king, in attempting to seize him; and it is owned by our
Savior, that it was an instance of greater severity than the spirit of
the New Testament allows, Luke 9:54. But then we must consider that it
is not unlikely that these captains and soldiers believed that they were
sent to fetch the prophet, that he might be put to death for foretelling
the death of the king, and this while they knew him to be the prophet of
the true God, the supreme King of Israel, [for they were still under the
theocracy,] which was no less than impiety, rebellion, and treason, in
the highest degree: nor would the command of a subaltern, or inferior
captain, contradicting the commands of the general, when the captain and
the soldiers both knew it to be so, as I suppose, justify or excuse such
gross rebellion and disobedience in soldiers at this day. Accordingly,
when Saul commanded his guards to slay Ahimelech and the priests at Nob,
they knew it to be an unlawful command, and would not obey it, 1 Samuel
22:17. From which cases both officers and soldiers may learn, that the
commands of their leaders or kings cannot justify or excuse them in
doing what is wicked in the sight of God, or in fighting in an unjust
cause, when they know it so to be.

[6] This practice of cutting down, or plucking up by the roots, the
fruit trees was forbidden, even in ordinary wars, by the law of Moses,
Deuteronomy 20:19, 20, and only allowed by God in this particular case,
when the Moabites were to be punished and cut off in an extraordinary
manner for their wickedness See Jeremiah 48:11-13, and many the like
prophecies against them. Nothing could therefore justify this practice
but a particular commission from God by his prophet, as in the present
case, which was ever a sufficient warrant for breaking any such ritual
or ceremonial law whatsoever.

[7] That this woman who cried to Elisha, and who in our Bible is styled
"the wife of one of the sons of the prophets," 2 Kings 4:1, was no other
than the widow of Obadiah, the good steward of Ahab, is confirmed by the
Chaldee paraphrast, and b