Now therefore thus saith the Lord,.... Jehovah, the only true God:thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die; this sickness should be unto death, and the bed he had betaken himself to should be his deathbed.
The phrases of going up to bed, and coming down, are used with great propriety; for in the eastern countries, in their bedchambers, they had a gallery raised four or five feet above the floor, with a balustrade on the front , and steps leading up to it; or ladders, which had more or fewer rounds, according as the beds were higher or lower :and Elijah departed; having met the messengers, and delivered his message from the Lord unto them.
See Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 209. Ed. 2. Vid. Isidor. Origin. l. 20. c. 11. & Alstorph. de Lect. Vet. c.