Worthy.Bible » Parallel » 1 Kings » Chapter 18 » Verse 1-46

1 Kings 18:1-46 King James Version (KJV)

1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

2 And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:

4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?

8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.

13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.

15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him to day.

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.

20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:

24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:

32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,

43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.

45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.


1 Kings 18:1-46 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 And it came to pass after many H7227 days, H3117 that the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came to Elijah H452 in the third H7992 year, H8141 saying, H559 Go, H3212 shew H7200 thyself unto Ahab; H256 and I will send H5414 rain H4306 upon H6440 the earth. H127

2 And Elijah H452 went H3212 to shew H7200 himself unto Ahab. H256 And there was a sore H2389 famine H7458 in Samaria. H8111

3 And Ahab H256 called H7121 Obadiah, H5662 which was the governor of his house. H1004 (Now Obadiah H5662 feared H3373 the LORD H3068 greatly: H3966

4 For it was so, when Jezebel H348 cut off H3772 the prophets H5030 of the LORD, H3068 that Obadiah H5662 took H3947 an hundred H3967 prophets, H5030 and hid H2244 them by fifty H376 H2572 in a cave, H4631 and fed H3557 them with bread H3899 and water.) H4325

5 And Ahab H256 said H559 unto Obadiah, H5662 Go H3212 into the land, H776 unto all fountains H4599 of water, H4325 and unto all brooks: H5158 peradventure H194 we may find H4672 grass H2682 to save H2421 the horses H5483 and mules H6505 alive, H2421 that we lose H3772 not all the beasts. H929

6 So they divided H2505 the land H776 between them to pass throughout H5674 it: Ahab H256 went H1980 one H259 way H1870 by himself, and Obadiah H5662 went H1980 another H259 way H1870 by himself.

7 And as Obadiah H5662 was in the way, H1870 behold, Elijah H452 met H7125 him: and he knew H5234 him, and fell H5307 on his face, H6440 and said, H559 Art thou that my lord H113 Elijah? H452

8 And he answered H559 him, I am: go, H3212 tell H559 thy lord, H113 Behold, Elijah H452 is here.

9 And he said, H559 What have I sinned, H2398 that thou wouldest deliver H5414 thy servant H5650 into the hand H3027 of Ahab, H256 to slay H4191 me?

10 As the LORD H3068 thy God H430 liveth, H2416 there is no H3426 nation H1471 or kingdom, H4467 whither H834 my lord H113 hath not sent H7971 to seek H1245 thee: and when they said, H559 He is not there; he took an oath H7650 of the kingdom H4467 and nation, H1471 that they found H4672 thee not.

11 And now thou sayest, H559 Go, H3212 tell H559 thy lord, H113 Behold, Elijah H452 is here.

12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone H3212 from thee, that the Spirit H7307 of the LORD H3068 shall carry H5375 thee whither I know H3045 not; and so when I come H935 and tell H5046 Ahab, H256 and he cannot find H4672 thee, he shall slay H2026 me: but I thy servant H5650 fear H3372 the LORD H3068 from my youth. H5271

13 Was it not told H5046 my lord H113 what I did H6213 when Jezebel H348 slew H2026 the prophets H5030 of the LORD, H3068 how I hid H2244 an hundred H3967 men H376 of the LORD'S H3068 prophets H5030 by fifty H2572 in a cave, H4631 and fed H3557 them with bread H3899 and water? H4325

14 And now thou sayest, H559 Go, H3212 tell H559 thy lord, H113 Behold, Elijah H452 is here: and he shall slay H2026 me.

15 And Elijah H452 said, H559 As the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 liveth, H2416 before H6440 whom I stand, H5975 I will surely shew H7200 myself unto him to day. H3117

16 So Obadiah H5662 went H3212 to meet H7125 Ahab, H256 and told H5046 him: and Ahab H256 went H3212 to meet H7125 Elijah. H452

17 And it came to pass, when Ahab H256 saw H7200 Elijah, H452 that Ahab H256 said H559 unto him, Art thou he that troubleth H5916 Israel? H3478

18 And he answered, H559 I have not troubled H5916 Israel; H3478 but thou, and thy father's H1 house, H1004 in that ye have forsaken H5800 the commandments H4687 of the LORD, H3068 and thou hast followed H3212 H310 Baalim. H1168

19 Now therefore send, H7971 and gather H6908 to me all Israel H3478 unto mount H2022 Carmel, H3760 and the prophets H5030 of Baal H1168 four H702 hundred H3967 and fifty, H2572 and the prophets H5030 of the groves H842 four H702 hundred, H3967 which eat H398 at Jezebel's H348 table. H7979

20 So Ahab H256 sent H7971 unto all the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 and gathered H6908 the prophets H5030 together H6908 unto mount H2022 Carmel. H3760

21 And Elijah H452 came H5066 unto all the people, H5971 and said, H559 How long H5921 halt H6452 ye between two H8147 opinions? H5587 if the LORD H3068 be God, H430 follow him: but if Baal, H1168 then follow H3212 H310 him. And the people H5971 answered H6030 him not a word. H1697

22 Then said H559 Elijah H452 unto the people, H5971 I, even I only, remain H3498 a prophet H5030 of the LORD; H3068 but Baal's H1168 prophets H5030 are four H702 hundred H3967 and fifty H2572 men. H376

23 Let them therefore give H5414 us two H8147 bullocks; H6499 and let them choose H977 one H259 bullock H6499 for themselves, and cut it in pieces, H5408 and lay H7760 it on wood, H6086 and put H7760 no fire H784 under: and I will dress H6213 the other H259 bullock, H6499 and lay H5414 it on wood, H6086 and put H7760 no fire H784 under:

24 And call H7121 ye on the name H8034 of your gods, H430 and I will call H7121 on the name H8034 of the LORD: H3068 and the God H430 that answereth H6030 by fire, H784 let him be God. H430 And all the people H5971 answered H6030 and said, H559 It is well H2896 spoken. H1697

25 And Elijah H452 said H559 unto the prophets H5030 of Baal, H1168 Choose H977 you one H259 bullock H6499 for yourselves, and dress H6213 it first; H7223 for ye are many; H7227 and call H7121 on the name H8034 of your gods, H430 but put H7760 no fire H784 under.

26 And they took H3947 the bullock H6499 which was given H5414 them, and they dressed H6213 it, and called H7121 on the name H8034 of Baal H1168 from morning H1242 even until noon, H6672 saying, H559 O Baal, H1168 hear H6030 us. But there was no H369 voice, H6963 nor any that answered. H6030 And they leaped H6452 upon the altar H4196 which was made. H6213

27 And it came to pass at noon, H6672 that Elijah H452 mocked H2048 them, and said, H559 Cry H7121 aloud: H1419 H6963 for he is a god; H430 either he is talking, H7879 or he is pursuing, H7873 or he is in a journey, H1870 or peradventure H194 he sleepeth, H3463 and must be awaked. H3364

28 And they cried H7121 aloud, H6963 H1419 and cut H1413 themselves after their manner H4941 with knives H2719 and lancets, H7420 till the blood H1818 gushed out H8210 upon them.

29 And it came to pass, when midday H6672 was past, H5674 and they prophesied H5012 until the time of the offering H5927 of the evening sacrifice, H4503 that there was neither voice, H6963 nor any to answer, H6030 nor any that regarded. H7182

30 And Elijah H452 said H559 unto all the people, H5971 Come near H5066 unto me. And all the people H5971 came near H5066 unto him. And he repaired H7495 the altar H4196 of the LORD H3068 that was broken down. H2040

31 And Elijah H452 took H3947 twelve H8147 H6240 stones, H68 according to the number H4557 of the tribes H7626 of the sons H1121 of Jacob, H3290 unto whom the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came, saying, H559 Israel H3478 shall be thy name: H8034

32 And with the stones H68 he built H1129 an altar H4196 in the name H8034 of the LORD: H3068 and he made H6213 a trench H8585 about H5439 the altar, H4196 as great as would contain H1004 two measures H5429 of seed. H2233

33 And he put H6186 the wood H6086 in order, H6186 and cut H5408 the bullock H6499 in pieces, and laid H7760 him on the wood, H6086 and said, H559 Fill H4390 four H702 barrels H3537 with water, H4325 and pour H3332 it on the burnt sacrifice, H5930 and on the wood. H6086

34 And he said, H559 Do it the second time. H8138 And they did it the second time. H8138 And he said, H559 Do it the third time. H8027 And they did it the third time. H8027

35 And the water H4325 ran H3212 round about H5439 the altar; H4196 and he filled H4390 the trench H8585 also with water. H4325

36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering H5927 of the evening sacrifice, H4503 that Elijah H452 the prophet H5030 came near, H5066 and said, H559 LORD H3068 God H430 of Abraham, H85 Isaac, H3327 and of Israel, H3478 let it be known H3045 this day H3117 that thou art God H430 in Israel, H3478 and that I am thy servant, H5650 and that I have done H6213 all these things at thy word. H1697

37 Hear H6030 me, O LORD, H3068 hear H6030 me, that this people H5971 may know H3045 that thou art the LORD H3068 God, H430 and that thou hast turned H5437 their heart H3820 back H5437 again. H322

38 Then the fire H784 of the LORD H3068 fell, H5307 and consumed H398 the burnt sacrifice, H5930 and the wood, H6086 and the stones, H68 and the dust, H6083 and licked up H3897 the water H4325 that was in the trench. H8585

39 And when all the people H5971 saw H7200 it, they fell H5307 on their faces: H6440 and they said, H559 The LORD, H3068 he is the God; H430 the LORD, H3068 he is the God. H430

40 And Elijah H452 said H559 unto them, Take H8610 the prophets H5030 of Baal; H1168 let not one H376 of them escape. H4422 And they took H8610 them: and Elijah H452 brought them down H3381 to the brook H5158 Kishon, H7028 and slew H7819 them there.

41 And Elijah H452 said H559 unto Ahab, H256 Get thee up, H5927 eat H398 and drink; H8354 for there is a sound H6963 of abundance H1995 of rain. H1653

42 So Ahab H256 went up H5927 to eat H398 and to drink. H8354 And Elijah H452 went up H5927 to the top H7218 of Carmel; H3760 and he cast himself down H1457 upon the earth, H776 and put H7760 his face H6440 between his knees, H1290

43 And said H559 to his servant, H5288 Go up H5927 now, look H5027 toward H1870 the sea. H3220 And he went up, H5927 and looked, H5027 and said, H559 There is nothing. H3972 And he said, H559 Go again H7725 seven H7651 times. H6471

44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, H7637 that he said, H559 Behold, there ariseth H5927 a little H6996 cloud H5645 out of the sea, H3220 like a man's H376 hand. H3709 And he said, H559 Go up, H5927 say H559 unto Ahab, H256 Prepare H631 thy chariot, and get thee down, H3381 that the rain H1653 stop H6113 thee not.

45 And it came to pass in the mean while, H3541 that the heaven H8064 was black H6937 with clouds H5645 and wind, H7307 and there was a great H1419 rain. H1653 And Ahab H256 rode, H7392 and went H3212 to Jezreel. H3157

46 And the hand H3027 of the LORD H3068 was on Elijah; H452 and he girded up H8151 his loins, H4975 and ran H7323 before H6440 Ahab H256 to the entrance H935 of Jezreel. H3157


1 Kings 18:1-46 American Standard (ASV)

1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

2 And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And the famine was sore in Samaria.

3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly:

4 for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go through the land, unto all the fountains of water, and unto all the brooks: peradventure we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it thou, my lord Elijah?

8 And he answered him, It is I: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah `is here'.

9 And he said, Wherein have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

10 As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah `is here'.

12 And it will come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah will carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will slay me: but I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth.

13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah, how I hid a hundred men of Jehovah's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah `is here'; and he will slay me.

15 And Elijah said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him to-day.

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel?

18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah, and thou hast followed the Baalim.

19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, that eat at Jezebel's table.

20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

21 And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said, How long go ye limping between the two sides? if Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of Jehovah; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under.

24 And call ye on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under.

26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about the altar which was made.

27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked.

28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them.

29 And it was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the `evening' oblation; but there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me; and all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah that was thrown down.

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of Jehovah came, saying, Israel shall be thy name.

32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah; and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt-offering, and on the wood.

34 And he said, Do it the second time; and they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time; and they did it the third time.

35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the `evening' oblation, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

37 Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and `that' thou hast turned their heart back again.

38 Then the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God.

40 and Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees.

43 And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a cloud out of the sea, as small as a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Make ready `thy chariot', and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.

45 And it came to pass in a little while, that the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel:

46 and the hand of Jehovah was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.


1 Kings 18:1-46 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 And the days are many, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Elijah in the third year, saying, `Go, appear unto Ahab, and I give rain on the face of the ground;'

2 and Elijah goeth to appear unto Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria,

3 and Ahab calleth unto Obadiah, who `is' over the house -- and Obadiah hath been fearing Jehovah greatly,

4 and it cometh to pass, in Jezebel's cutting off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah taketh a hundred prophets, and hideth them, fifty men in a cave, and hath sustained them with bread and water --

5 and Ahab saith unto Obadiah, `Go through the land, unto all fountains of waters, and unto all the brooks, if so be we find hay, and keep alive horse and mule, and do not cut off any of the cattle.'

6 And they apportion to themselves the land, to pass over into it; Ahab hath gone in one way by himself, and Obadiah hath gone in another way by himself;

7 and Obadiah `is' in the way, and lo, Elijah -- to meet him; and he discerneth him, and falleth on his face, and saith, `Art thou he -- my lord Elijah?'

8 And he saith to him, `I `am'; go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah.'

9 And he saith, `What have I sinned, that thou art giving thy servant into the hand of Ahab -- to put me to death?

10 Jehovah thy God liveth, if there is a nation and kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; and they said, He is not, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear, that it doth not find thee;

11 and now, thou art saying, Go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah;

12 and it hath been, I go from thee, and the Spirit of Jehovah doth lift thee up, whither I know not, and I have come to declare to Ahab, and he doth not find thee, and he hath slain me; and thy servant is fearing Jehovah from my youth.

13 `Hath it not been declared to my lord that which I have done in Jezebel's slaying the prophets of Jehovah, that I hide of the prophets of Jehovah a hundred men, fifty by fifty in a cave, and sustained them with bread and water?

14 and now thou art saying, Go, say to my lord, Lo, Elijah -- and he hath slain me!'

15 And Elijah saith, `Jehovah of Hosts liveth, before whom I have stood, surely to-day I appear unto him.'

16 And Obadiah goeth to meet Ahab, and declareth `it' to him, and Ahab goeth to meet Elijah,

17 and it cometh to pass at Ahab's seeing Elijah, that Ahab saith unto him, `Art thou he -- the troubler of Israel?'

18 And he saith, `I have not troubled Israel, but thou and the house of thy father, in your forsaking the commands of Jehovah, and thou goest after the Baalim;

19 and now, send, gather unto me all Israel, unto the mount of Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the shrine, four hundred -- eating at the table of Jezebel.'

20 And Ahab sendeth among all the sons of Israel, and gathereth the prophets unto the mount of Carmel;

21 and Elijah cometh nigh unto all the people, and saith, `Till when are ye leaping on the two branches? -- if Jehovah `is' God, go after Him; and if Baal, go after him;' and the people have not answered him a word.

22 And Elijah saith unto the people, `I -- I have been left a prophet of Jehovah -- by myself; and the prophets of Baal `are' four hundred and fifty men;

23 and let them give to us two bullocks, and they choose for themselves the one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and place `it' on the wood, and place no fire; and I -- I prepare the other bullock, and have put `it' on the wood, and fire I do not place; --

24 and ye have called in the name of your god, and I -- I call in the name of Jehovah, and it hath been, the god who answereth by fire -- He `is' the God.' And all the people answer and say, `Good `is' the word.'

25 And Elijah saith to the prophets of Baal, `Choose for you the one bullock, and prepare first, for ye `are' the multitude, and call ye in the name of your god, and place no fire.'

26 And they take the bullock that `one' gave to them, and prepare, and call in the name of Baal from the morning even till the noon, saying, `O Baal, answer us!' and there is no voice, and there is none answering; and they leap on the altar that one had made.

27 And it cometh to pass, at noon, that Elijah playeth on them, and saith, `Call with a loud voice, for he `is' a god, for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep, an doth awake.'

28 And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, till a flowing of blood `is' on them;

29 and it cometh to pass, at the passing by of the noon, that they feign themselves prophets till the going up of the present, and there is no voice, and there is none answering, and there is none attending.

30 And Elijah saith to all the people, `Come nigh unto me;' and all the people come nigh unto him, and he repaireth the altar of Jehovah that is broken down;

31 and Elijah taketh twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of Jehovah was, saying, `Israel is thy name;'

32 and he buildeth with the stones an altar, in the name of Jehovah, and maketh a trench, as about the space of two measures of seed, round about the altar.

33 And he arrangeth the wood, and cutteth in pieces the bullock, and placeth `it' on the wood, and saith, `Fill ye four pitchers of water, and pour on the burnt-offering, and on the wood;

34 and he saith, `Do `it' a second time;' and they do `it' a second time; and he saith, `Do `it' a third time;' and they do `it' a third time;

35 and the water goeth round about the altar, and also, the trench he hath filled with water.

36 And it cometh to pass, at the going up of the `evening-'present, that Elijah the prophet cometh nigh and saith, `Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to-day let it be known that Thou `art' God in Israel, and I Thy servant, that by Thy word I have done the whole of these things;

37 answer me, O Jehovah, answer me, and this people doth know that Thou `art' Jehovah God; and Thou hast turned their heart backward.'

38 And there falleth a fire of Jehovah, and consumeth the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and the water that `is' in the trench it hath licked up.

39 And all the people see, and fall on their faces, and say, `Jehovah, He `is' the God, Jehovah, He `is' the God.'

40 And Elijah saith to them, `Catch ye the prophets of Baal; let not a man escape of them;' and they catch them, and Elijah bringeth them down unto the stream Kishon, and doth slaughter them there.

41 And Elijah saith to Ahab, `Go up, eat and drink, because of the sound of the noise of the shower.'

42 And Ahab goeth up to eat, and to drink, and Elijah hath gone up unto the top of Carmel, and he stretcheth himself out on the earth, and he placeth his face between his knees,

43 and saith unto his young man, `Go up, I pray thee, look attentively the way of the sea;' and he goeth up and looketh attentively, and saith, `There is nothing;' and he saith, `Turn back,' seven times.

44 And it cometh to pass, at the seventh, that he saith, `Lo, a little thickness as the palm of a man is coming up out of the sea.' And he saith, `Go up, say unto Ahab, `Bind -- and go down, and the shower doth not restrain thee.'

45 And it cometh to pass, in the meantime, that the heavens have become black -- thick clouds and wind -- and the shower is great; and Ahab rideth, and goeth to Jezreel,

46 and the hand of Jehovah hath been on Elijah, and he girdeth up his loins, and runneth before Ahab, till thine entering Jezreel.


1 Kings 18:1-46 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.

2 And Elijah went to shew himself to Ahab. And the famine was severe in Samaria.

3 And Ahab called Obadiah, who was the steward of his house (now Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly;

4 and it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water);

5 and Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the fountains of water and to all the torrents, perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and the mules alive, so that we may not have to destroy some of [our] beasts.

6 And they divided the land between them to pass through it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7 And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him; and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it indeed thou, my lord Elijah?

8 And he said to him, I [am he]: go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah!

9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death?

10 As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord has not sent to seek thee; and when they said, He is not [here], he took an oath of the kingdom or nation that they found thee not.

11 And now thou sayest, Go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah!

12 And it shall come to pass when I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah shall carry thee whither I know not; and when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will kill me; and I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth.

13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah, how I hid a hundred men of Jehovah's prophets by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water?

14 And now thou sayest, Go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! and he will kill me.

15 And Elijah said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will certainly shew myself to him to-day.

16 Then Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is it thou, the troubler of Israel?

18 And he said, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah, and thou hast followed the Baals.

19 And now send, gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table.

20 So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

21 Then Elijah drew near to all the people, and said, How long do ye halt between two opinions? if Jehovah be God, follow him; and if Baal, follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

22 And Elijah said to the people, I, only I, remain a prophet of Jehovah; and Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks: and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood, and put no fire; and I will sacrifice the other bullock, and put it on the wood, and put no fire.

24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the god that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, The word is good.

25 And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bullock for yourselves, and sacrifice it first; for ye are the many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire.

26 And they took the bullock which had been given them, and sacrificed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and none answered. And they leaped about the altar that had been made.

27 And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god; for he is meditating, or gone aside, or he is on a journey; perhaps he sleeps, and will awake.

28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with swords and spears, till the blood gushed out upon them.

29 And it came to pass when midday was past, that they prophesied until the [time] of the offering up of the oblation; but there was neither voice, nor any that answered, nor any attention.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, Draw near to me. And all the people drew near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down.

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Jehovah came saying, Israel shall be thy name;

32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah, and made a trench round about the altar, of the capacity of two measures of seed;

33 and he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four pitchers with water, and pour it on the burnt-offering, and on the wood.

34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

36 And it came to pass at [the time of] the offering up of the oblation, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things by thy word.

37 Answer me, Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that thou Jehovah art God, and [that] *thou* hast turned their heart back again.

38 And the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 And all the people saw [it], and they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, he is God! Jehovah, he is God!

40 And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape! And they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the torrent of Kishon, and slaughtered them there.

41 And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

42 And Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed down on the earth, and put his face between his knees.

43 And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

44 And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Harness and go down, that the pour of rain stop thee not.

45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heavens became black [with] clouds and wind, and there was a great pour of rain. And Ahab got on the chariot, and went to Jizreel.

46 And the hand of Jehovah was upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jizreel.


1 Kings 18:1-46 World English Bible (WEB)

1 It happened after many days, that the word of Yahweh came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain on the earth.

2 Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was sore in Samaria.

3 Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared Yahweh greatly:

4 for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

5 Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the springs of water, and to all the brooks: peradventure we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose all the animals.

6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7 As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it you, my lord Elijah?

8 He answered him, It is I: go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah [is here].

9 He said, Wherein have I sinned, that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?

10 As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where my lord has not sent to seek you: and when they said, He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they didn't find you.

11 Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah [is here].

12 It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of Yahweh will carry you I don't know where; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he can't find you, he will kill me: but I your servant fear Yahweh from my youth.

13 Wasn't it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, how I hid one hundred men of Yahweh's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

14 Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah [is here]; and he will kill me.

15 Elijah said, As Yahweh of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel?

18 He answered, I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of Yahweh, and you have followed the Baals.

19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table.

20 So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together to Mount Carmel.

21 Elijah came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The people answered him not a word.

22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal's prophets are four hundred fifty men.

23 Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under.

24 You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh; and the God who answers by fire, let him be God." All the people answered, "It is well said."

25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."

26 They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any who answered. They leaped about the altar which was made.

27 It happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleeps and must be awakened.

28 They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

29 It was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the [evening] offering; but there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any who regarded.

30 Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that was thrown down.

31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh came, saying, Israel shall be your name.

32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh; and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

33 He put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood.

34 He said, Do it the second time; and they did it the second time. He said, Do it the third time; and they did it the third time.

35 The water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

36 It happened at the time of the offering of the [evening] offering, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.

37 Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God, and [that] you have turned their heart back again.

38 Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, Yahweh, he is God; Yahweh, he is God.

40 and Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal; don't let one of them escape. They took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.

41 Elijah said to Ahab, Get you up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put his face between his knees.

43 He said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. He went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. He said, Go again seven times.

44 It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea." He said, Go up, tell Ahab, Make ready [your chariot], and get you down, that the rain not stop you.

45 It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel:

46 and the hand of Yahweh was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.


1 Kings 18:1-46 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 Now after a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go and let Ahab see you, so that I may send rain on the earth.

2 So Elijah went to let Ahab see him. Now there was no food to be had in Samaria.

3 And Ahab sent for Obadiah, the controller of the king's house. (Now Obadiah had the fear of the Lord before him greatly;

4 For when Jezebel was cutting off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred of them, and kept them secretly in a hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water.)

5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, Come, let us go through all the country, to all the fountains of water and all the rivers, and see if there is any grass to be had for the horses and the transport beasts, so that we may be able to keep some of the beasts from destruction.

6 So they went through all the country, covering it between them; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another by himself.

7 And while Obadiah was on his way, he came face to face with Elijah; and seeing who it was, he went down on his face and said, Is it you, my lord Elijah?

8 And Elijah in answer said, It is I; now go and say to your lord, Elijah is here.

9 And he said, What sin have I done, that you would give up your servant into the hand of Ahab, and be the cause of my death?

10 By the life of the Lord your God, there is not a nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you; and when they said, He is not here; he made them take an oath that they had not seen you.

11 And now you say, Go, say to your lord, Elijah is here.

12 And straight away, when I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will take you away, I have no idea where, so that when I come and give word to Ahab, and he sees you not, he will put me to death: though I, your servant, have been a worshipper of the Lord from my earliest years.

13 Has my lord not had word of what I did when Jezebel was putting the Lord's prophets to death? how I kept a hundred of them in a secret hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water?

14 And now you say, Go and say to your Lord, Elijah is here; and he will put me to death.

15 And Elijah said, By the life of the Lord of armies, whose servant I am, I will certainly let him see me today.

16 So Obadiah went to Ahab and gave him the news; and Ahab went to see Elijah.

17 And when he saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel?

18 Then he said in answer, I have not been troubling Israel, but you and your family; because, turning away from the orders of the Lord, you have gone after the Baals.

19 Now send, and get Israel together before me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal who get their food at Jezebel's table.

20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and got the prophets together at Mount Carmel.

21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go on balancing between two opinions? if the Lord is God, then give worship to him; but if Baal, give worship to him. And the people said not a word in answer.

22 Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I, am the only living prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

23 Now, let them give us two oxen; and let them take one for themselves, and have it cut up, and put it on the wood, but put no fire under it; I will get the other ox ready, and put it on the wood, and put no fire under it.

24 And do you make prayers to your god, and I will make a prayer to the Lord: and it will be clear that the one who gives an answer by fire is God. And all the people in answer said, It is well said.

25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Take one ox for yourselves and get it ready first, for there are more of you; and make your prayers to your god, but put no fire under.

26 So they took the ox which was given them, and made it ready, crying out to Baal from morning till the middle of the day, and saying, O Baal, give ear to us. But there was no voice and no answer. And they were jumping up and down before the altar they had made.

27 And in the middle of the day, Elijah made sport of them, saying, Give louder cries, for he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or he may have gone away for some purpose, or he may be on a journey, or by chance he is sleeping and has to be made awake.

28 So they gave loud cries, cutting themselves with knives and swords, as was their way, till the blood came streaming out all over them.

29 And from the middle of the day they went on with their prayers till the time of the offering; but there was no voice, or any answer, or any who gave attention to them.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near. And he put up again the altar of the Lord which had been broken down.

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord had said, Israel will be your name:

32 And with the stones he made an altar to the name of the Lord; and he made a deep drain all round the altar, great enough to take two measures of seed.

33 And he put the wood in order, and, cutting up the ox, put it on the wood. Then he said, Get four vessels full of water and put it on the burned offering and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time, and they did it a second time;

34 And he said, Do it a third time, and they did it a third time.

35 And the water went all round the altar, till the drain was full.

36 Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order.

37 Give me an answer, O Lord, give me an answer, so that this people may see that you are God, and that you have made their hearts come back again.

38 Then the fire of the Lord came down, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain.

39 And when the people saw it, they all went down on their faces, and said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.

40 And Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them get away. So they took them, and Elijah made them go down to the stream Kishon, and put them to death there.

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, Up! take food and drink, for there is a sound of much rain.

42 So Ahab went up to have food and drink, while Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he went down on the earth, putting his face between his knees.

43 And he said to his servant, Go now, and take a look in the direction of the sea. And he went up, and after looking said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times; and he went seven times.

44 And the seventh time he said, I see a cloud coming up out of the sea, as small as a man's hand. Then he said, Go up and say to Ahab, Get your carriage ready and go down or the rain will keep you back.

45 And after a very little time, the heaven became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab went in his carriage to Jezreel.

46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he made himself strong, and went running before Ahab till they came to Jezreel.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 18

Commentary on 1 Kings 18 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-19

As the judgment of drought and famine did not bring king Ahab to his senses and lead him to turn from his ungodly ways, but only filled him with exasperation towards the prophet who had announced to him the coming judgment; there was no other course left than to lay before the people with mighty and convincing force the proof that Jehovah was the only true God, and to execute judgment upon the priests of Baal as the seducers of the nation.

1 Kings 18:1-6

Elijah's meeting with Ahab . - 1 Kings 18:1, 1 Kings 18:2 . In the third year of his sojourn at Zarephath the word of the Lord came to Elijah to show himself to Ahab; since God was about to send rain upon the land again. The time given, “the third year,” is not to be reckoned, as the Rabbins, Clericus, Thenius, and others assume, from the commencement of the drought, but from the event last mentioned, namely, the sojourn of Elijah at Zarephath. This view merits the preference as the simplest and most natural one, and is shown to be the oldest by Luke 4:25 and James 5:17, where Christ and James both say, that in the time of Ahab it did not rain for three years and six months. And this length of time can only be obtained by allowing more than two years for Elijah's stay at Zarephath. - From 1 Kings 18:2 to 1 Kings 18:6 we have parenthetical remarks introduced, to explain the circumstances which led to Elijah's meeting with Ahab. The verbs ויּקרא , ויהי , ויּאמר ,ויהי , and ויחלּקוּ (1 Kings 18:3, 1 Kings 18:4, 1 Kings 18:5, 1 Kings 18:6) carry on the circumstantial clauses: “and the famine was...” ( 1 Kings 18:2 ), and “Obadiah feared...” ( 1 Kings 18:3 ), and are therefore to be expressed by the pluperfect. When the famine had become very severe in Samaria (the capital), Ahab, with Obadiah the governor of his castle ( הבּית על אשׁר , see at 1 Kings 4:6), who was a God-fearing man, and on the persecution of the prophets of Jehovah by Jezebel had hidden a hundred prophets in caves and supplied them with food, had arranged for an expedition through the whole land to seek for hay for his horses and mules. And for this purpose they had divided the land between them, so that the one explored one district and the other another. We see from Obadiah 1:4 that Jezebel had resolved upon exterminating the worship of Jehovah, and sought to carry out this intention by destroying the prophets of the true God. The hundred prophets whom Obadiah concealed were probably for the most part pupils (“sons”) of the prophets. אישׁ חמשּׁים must signify, according to the context and also according to Obadiah 1:13, “fifty each,” so that חמשּׁים must have fallen out through a copyist's error. מן נכרית ולוא , that we may not be obliged to kill (a portion) of the cattle ( מן partitive). The Keri מהבּהמה is no doubt actually correct, but it is not absolutely necessary, as the Chethîb בּהמה מן may be taken as an indefinite phrase: “any head of cattle.”

1 Kings 18:7-8

Elijah met Obadiah on this expedition, and told him to announce his coming to the king.

1 Kings 18:9-11

Obadiah was afraid that the execution of this command might cost him his life, inasmuch as Ahab had sent in search of Elijah “to every kingdom and every nation,” - a hyperbole suggested by inward excitement and fear. אין ואמרוּ is to be connected with what follows in spite of the accents: “and if they said he is not here, he took an oath,” etc.

1 Kings 18:12-14

“And if it comes to pass (that) I go away from thee, and the Spirit of Jehovah carries thee away whither I know not, and I come to tell Ahab (sc., that thou art here) and he findeth thee not, he will slay me, and thy servant feareth the Lord from his youth,” etc.; i.e., since I as a God-fearing man and a protector of the prophets cannot boast of any special favour from Ahab. מנּערי , from my youth up: “thy servant” being equivalent to “I myself.” From the fear expressed by Obadiah that the Spirit of Jehovah might suddenly carry the prophet to some unknown place, Seb. Schmidt and others have inferred that in the earlier history of Elijah there had occurred some cases of this kind of sudden transportation, though they have not been handed down; but the anxiety expressed by Obadiah might very well have sprung from the fact, that after Elijah had announced the coming drought to Ahab, he disappeared, and, notwithstanding all the inquiries instituted by the king, was nowhere to be found. And since he was not carried off miraculously then (compare the לך and ויּלך , “get thee hence” and “he went,” in 1 Kings 17:3, 1 Kings 17:5), there is all the less ground for imagining cases of this kind in the intermediate time, when he was hidden from his enemies. The subsequent translation of Elijah to heaven (2 Kings 2:11-12), and the miraculous carrying away of Philip from the chamberlain of Mauritania (Acts 8:39), do not warrant any such assumption; and still less the passage which Clericus quotes from Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:12, Ezekiel 3:14), because the carrying of Ezekiel through the air, which is mentioned here, only happened in vision and not in external reality. If Obadiah had known of any actual occurrence of this kind, he would certainly have stated it more clearly as a more striking vindication of his fear.

1 Kings 18:15-19

But when Elijah assured him with an oath ( צבאות יהוה , see at 1 Samuel 1:3) that he would show himself to Ahab that day, Obadiah went to announce it to the king; whereupon Ahab went to meet the prophet, and sought to overawe him with the imperious words, “Art thou here, thou troubler of Israel.” ( עכר , see at Genesis 34:30). But Elijah threw back this charge: “It is not I who have brought Israel into trouble, but thou and thy family, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah, and thou goest after Baalim.” He then called upon the king to gather together all Israel to him upon Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who ate of Jezebel's table, i.e., who were maintained by the queen.

Carmel, a mountain ridge “with many peaks, intersected by hundreds of larger and smaller ravines,” which stands out as a promontory running in a north-westerly direction into the Mediterranean (see at Joshua 19:26), and some of the loftiest peaks of which rise to the height of 1800 feet above the level of the sea, when seen from the northern or outer side shows only “bald, monotonous rocky ridges, scantily covered with short and thorny bushes;” but in the interior it still preserves its ancient glory, which has procured for it the name of “fruit-field,” the valleys being covered with the most beautiful flowers of every description, and the heights adorned with myrtles, laurels, oaks, and firs (cf. V. de Velde, R . i. p. 292ff.). At the north-western extremity of the mountain there is a celebrated Carmelite monastery, dedicated to Elijah, whom tradition represents as having lived in a grotto under the monastery; but we are certainly not to look there for the scene of the contest with the priests of Baal described in the verses which follow. The scene of Elijah's sacrifice is rather to be sought for on one of the south-eastern heights of Carmel; and Van de Velde (i. p. 320ff.) has pointed it out with great probability in the ruins of el Mohraka , i.e., “the burned place,” “a rocky level space of no great circumference, and covered with old gnarled trees with a dense entangled undergrowth of bushes.” For “one can scarcely imagine a spot better adapted for the thousands of Israel to have stood drawn up on than the gentle slopes. The rock shoots up in an almost perpendicular wall of more than 200 feet in height on the side of the vale of Esdraelon. On this side, therefore, there was no room for the gazing multitude; but, on the other hand, this wall made it visible over the whole plain, and from all the surrounding heights, so that even those left behind, who had not ascended Carmel, would still have been able to witness at no great distance the fire from heaven that descended upon the altar.” - “There is not a more conspicuous spot on all Carmel than the abrupt rocky height of el Mohraka, shooting up so suddenly on the east.” Moreover, the soil was thoroughly adapted for the erection of the altar described in 1 Kings 18:31, 1 Kings 18:32 : “it shows a rocky surface, with a sufficiency of large fragments of rock lying all around, and, besides, well fitted for the rapid digging of a trench.” There is also water in the neighbourhood, as is assumed in 1 Kings 18:34. “Nowhere does the Kishon run so close to Mount Carmel as just beneath el Mohraka,” which is “1635 feet above the sea, and perhaps 1000 feet above the Kishon. This height can be gone up and down in the short time allowed by the Scripture (1 Kings 18:40-44).” But it was possible to find water even nearer than this, to pour upon the burnt-offering in the manner described in 1 Kings 18:34, 1 Kings 18:35. Close by the steep rocky wall of the height, just where you can descend to the Kishon through a steep ravine, you find, “250 feet it might be beneath the altar plateau, a vaulted and very abundant fountain built in the form of a tank, with a few steps leading down into it, just as one finds elsewhere in the old wells or springs of the Jewish times.” - “From such a fountain alone could Elijah have procured so much water at that time. And as for the distance between this spring and the supposed site of the altar, it was every way possible for men to go thrice thither and back again to obtain the necessary supply.” Lastly, el Mohraka is so situated, that the circumstances mentioned in 1 Kings 18:42-44 also perfectly coincide (Van de Velde, pp. 322-325).


Verses 20-46

Elijah's contest with the prophets of Baal . - Ahab sent through all Israel and gathered the prophets (of Baal) together upon Mount Carmel. According to 1 Kings 18:21, 1 Kings 18:22, and 1 Kings 18:39, a number of the people (“all the people”) had also come with them. On the other hand, not only is there no further reference in what follows to the 400 prophets of Asherah (cf. 1 Kings 18:25 and 1 Kings 18:40), but in 1 Kings 18:22 it is very obvious that the presence of the 450 prophets of Baal alone is supposed. We must therefore assume that the Asherah prophets, foreboding nothing good, had found a way of evading the command of Ahab and securing the protection of Jezebel.

(Note: It is true that in 1 Kings 18:22 the lxx have this clause, καὶ οἱ προφῆται τοῦ ἄλσους (i.e., האשׁרה ) τετρακόσιοι , which Thenius regards as an original portion of the text, though without observing the character of the lxx. If the Asherah prophets had also been present, Elijah would not only have commanded the prophets of Baal to be seized and slain (1 Kings 18:40), but the Asherah prophets also. From the principle a potiori fit , etc., it may be possible to explain the omission of the Asherah prophets in 1 Kings 18:25, but not in 1 Kings 18:40.)

King Ahab also appeared upon Carmel (cf. 1 Kings 18:41), as he had no idea of Elijah's intention, which was by no means “to prove to the king that he (Ahab) and not Elijah had brought Israel into trouble” (Vat., Seb. Schm.), but to put before the eyes of the whole nation a convincing practical proof of the sole deity of Jehovah and of the nothingness of the Baals, that were regarded as gods, and by slaying the priests of Baal to give a death-blow to idolatry in Israel.

1 Kings 18:21

Elijah addressed the assembled people as follows: “How long do ye limp upon both sides? Is Jehovah God, then go after Him; but if Baal be God, then go after him” - and the people answered him not a word. They wanted to combine the worship of Jehovah and Baal, and not to assume a hostile attitude towards Jehovah by the worship of Baal; and were therefore obliged to keep silence under this charge of infatuated halving, since they knew very well from the law itself that Jehovah demanded worship with a whole and undivided heart (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). This dividing of the heart between Jehovah and Baal Elijah called limping הסּעפּים שׁתּי על , “upon the two parties (of Jehovah and Baal).” For סעפּים the meaning “divided opinions, parties,” is well established by the use of סעפים in Psalms 119:113; and the rendering of the lxx ιγνύαι , the hollow of the knee, is only a paraphrase of the sense and not an interpretation of the word.

1 Kings 18:22-25

As the people adhered to their undecided double-mindedness, Elijah proposed to let the Deity Himself decide who was the true God, Jehovah or Baal. The prophets of Baal were to offer a sacrifice to Baal, and he (Elijah) would offer one to Jehovah. And the true God should make Himself known by kindling the burnt-offering presented to Him with fire from heaven, and in this way answering the invocation of His name. This proposal was based upon the account in Lev 9. As Jehovah had there manifested Himself as the God of Israel by causing fire to fall from heaven upon the first sacrifice presented in front of the tabernacle and to consume it, Elijah hoped that in like manner Jehovah would even now reveal Himself as the living God. And the form of decision thus proposed would necessarily appear all the fairer, because Elijah, the prophet of Jehovah, stood alone in opposition to a whole crowd of Baal's prophets, numbering no less than 450 men. And for that very reason the latter could not draw back, without publicly renouncing their pretensions, whether they believed that Baal would really do what was desired, or hoped that they might be able to escape, through some accident or stratagem, from the difficult situation that had been prepared for them, or fancied that the God of Elijah would no more furnish the proof of His deity that was desired of Him than Baal would. In order, however, to cut off every subterfuge in the event of their attempt proving a failure, Elijah not only yielded the precedence to them on the occasion of this sacrifice, but gave them the choice of the two oxen brought to be offered; which made the fairness of his proposal so much the more conspicuous to every one, that the people willingly gave their consent.

1 Kings 18:26-29

The prophets of Baal then proceeded to the performance of the duty required. They prepared ( יעשׂוּ ) the sacrifice, and called solemnly upon Baal from morning to noon: “O Baal, hear us,” limping round the altar; “but there was no voice, and no one to hear (to answer), and no attention.” פּסּח is a contemptuous epithet applied to the pantomimic sacrificial dance performed by these priests round about the altar,

(Note: The following is the description which Herodian ( hist . v. 3), among others, gives of Heliogabalus when dancing as chief priest of the Emesinian sun-god: Ἱερουγοῦντα δὴ τοῦτον, περί τε τοῖς βωμοῖς χορεύοντα νόμῳ Βαρβάρων, ὑπό τε αὐλοῖς καὶ σύριγξι παντοδαπῶν τε ὀργάνων ἤχῳ .)

עשׂה אשׁר (“which one had made”).

1 Kings 18:27-29

As no answer had been received before noon, Elijah cried out to them in derision: “Call to him with a loud voice, for he is God (sc., according to your opinion), for he is meditating, or has gone aside ( שׂי , secessio ), or is on the journey ( בּדּרך , on the way); perhaps he is sleeping, that he may wake up.” The ridicule lies more especially in the הוּא אלהים כּי (for he is a god), when contrasted with the enumeration of the different possibilities which may have occasioned their obtaining no answer, and is heightened by the earnest and threefold repetition of the כּי . With regard to these possibilities we may quote the words of Clericus: “Although these things when spoken of God are the most absurd things possible, yet idolaters could believe such things, as we may see from Homer.” The priests of Baal did actually begin therefore to cry louder than before, and scratched themselves with swords and lances, till the blood poured out, “according to their custom” ( כּמשׁפּטם ). Movers describes this as follows ( Phönizier , i. pp. 682,683), from statements made by ancient authors concerning the processions of the strolling bands of the Syrian goddess: “A discordant howling opens the scene. They then rush wildly about in perfect confusion, with their heads bowed down to the ground, but always revolving in circles, so that the loosened hair drags through the mire; they then begin to bite their arms, and end with cutting themselves with the two-edged swords which they are in the habit of carrying. A new scene then opens. One of them, who surpasses all the rest in frenzy, begins to prophesy with signs and groans; he openly accuses himself of the sins which he has committed, and which he is now about to punish by chastising the flesh, takes the knotted scourge, which the Galli generally carry, lashes his back, and then cuts himself with swords till the blood trickles down from his mangled body.” The climax of the Bacchantic dance in the case of the priests of Baal also was the prophesying ( התנבּא ), and it was for this reason, probably, that they were called prophets ( נביאים ). This did not begin till noon, and lasted till about the time of the evening sacrifice ( לעלות עד , not עלות עד , 1 Kings 18:29). המּנחה עלות , “the laying on (offering) of the meat-offering,” refers to the daily evening sacrifice, which consisted of a burnt-offering and a meat-offering (Exodus 29:38.; Numbers 28:3-8), and was then offered, according to the Rabbinical observance (see at Exodus 12:6), in the closing hours of the afternoon, as is evident from the circumstances which are described in 1 Kings 18:40. as having taken place on the same day and subsequently to Elijah's offering, which was presented at the time of the evening sacrifice (1 Kings 18:36).

1 Kings 18:30-39

Elijah's sacrifice . - As no answer came from Baal, Elijah began to prepare for his own sacrifice. 1 Kings 18:30. He made the people come nearer, that he might have both eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses present at his sacrifice, and restored the altar of Jehovah which was broken down. Consequently, there was already an altar of Jehovah upon Carmel, which either dated from the times anterior to the building of the temple, when altars of Jehovah were erected in different places throughout the land (see at 1 Kings 3:2), or, what is more probable, had been built by pious worshippers belonging to the ten tribes since the division of the kingdom (Hengstenberg, Dissertations on the Pentateuch , vol. i. p. 183, trans.), and judging from 1 Kings 19:10, had been destroyed during the reign of Ahab, when the worship of Baal gained the upper hand.

1 Kings 18:31-35

Elijah took twelve stones, “according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come (Genesis 32:29; Genesis 35:10), Israel shall be thy name,” and built these stones into an altar. The twelve stones were a practical declaration on the part of the prophet that the division of the nation into two kingdoms was at variance with the divine calling of Israel, inasmuch as according to the will of God the twelve tribes were to form one people of Jehovah, and to have a common sacrificial altar; whilst the allusion to the fact that Jehovah had given to the forefather of the nation the name of Israel, directs attention to the wrong which the seceding ten tribes had done in claiming the name of Israel for themselves, whereas it really belonged to the whole nation. יהוה בּשׁם (in the name of Jehovah) belongs to יבנה (built), and signifies by the authority and for the glory of Jehovah. “And made a trench as the space of two seahs of seed (i.e., so large that you could sow two seahs

(Note: i.e., about two Dresden pecks ( Metzen ). - Thenius.)

of seed upon the ground which it covered) round about the altar.” The trench must therefore have been of considerable breadth and depth, although it is impossible to determine the exact dimensions, as the kind of seed-corn is not defined. He then arranged the sacrifice upon the altar, and had four Kad (pails) of water poured three times in succession upon the burnt-offering which was laid upon the pieces of wood, so that the water flowed round about the altar, and then had the trench filled with water.

(Note: Thenius throws suspicion upon the historical character of this account, on the ground that “ the author evidently forgot the terrible drought, by which the numerous sources of the Carmel and the Nachal Kishon must have been dried up; ” but Van de Velde has already answered this objection, which has been raised by others also, and has completely overthrown it by pointing out the covered well of el Mohraka , in relation to which he makes the following remark: “ In such springs the water remains always cool, under the shade of a vaulted roof, and with no hot atmosphere to evaporate it. While all other fountains were dried up, I can well understand that there might have been found here that superabundance of water which Elijah poured so profusely over the altar ” (vol. i. p. 325, trans.). But the drying up of the Kishon is a mere conjecture, which cannot be historically proved.)

Elijah adopted this course for the purpose of precluding all suspicion of even the possibility of fraud in connection with the miraculous burning of the sacrifice. For idolaters had carried their deceptions to such a length, that they would set fire to the wood of the sacrifices from hollow spaces concealed beneath the altars, in order to make the credulous people believe that the sacrifice had been miraculously set on fire by the deity. Ephraem Syrus and Joh. Chrysostom both affirm this; the latter in his Oratio in Petrum Apost. et Eliam proph . t. ii. p. 737, ed. Montf., the genuineness of which, however, is sometimes called in question.

1 Kings 18:36-37

After these preparations at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah drew near and prayed: “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (this name is used with deliberate purpose instead of Jacob: see at 1 Kings 18:31), let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel, and I am Thy servant, and do all these things through Thy word. Hear me, Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that Thou Jehovah art God, and turnest back their hearts!” (i.e., back from idols to Thyself.) This clearly expresses not only the object of the miracle which follows, but that of miracles universally. The perfects עשׂיתי and הסבּת are used to denote not only what has already occurred, but what will still take place and is as certain as if it had taken place already. עשׂיתי refers not merely to the predicted drought and to what Elijah has just been doing (Thenius), but to the miracle which was immediately about to be performed; and הסבּת to the conversion of the people to the Lord their God, for which Elijah's coming had already prepared the way, and which was still further advanced by the following miracle.

1 Kings 18:38-39

Then fire of Jehovah fell and consumed the burnt-offering and the pieces of wood, etc. יהוה אשׁ , the fire proceeding from Jehovah, was not a natural flash of lightning, which could not produce any such effect, but miraculous fire falling from heaven, as in 1 Chronicles 21:26; 2 Chronicles 7:1) see at Leviticus 9:24), the supernatural origin of which was manifested in the fact, that it not only consumed the sacrifice with the pile of wood upon the altar, but also burned up ( in calcem redegit - Cler.) the stones of the altar and the earth that was thrown up to form the trench, and licked up the water in the trench. Through this miracle Jehovah not only accredited Elijah as His servant and prophet, but proved Himself to be the living God, whom Israel was to serve; so that all the people who were present fell down upon their faces in worship, as they had done once before, viz., at the consecration of the altar in Leviticus 9:24, and confessed “Jehovah is God:” האלהים , the true or real God.

1 Kings 18:40-46

Elijah availed himself of this enthusiasm of the people for the Lord, to deal a fatal blow at the prophets of Baal, who turned away the people from the living God. He commanded the people to seize them, and had them slain at the brook Kishon, and that not so much from revenge, i.e., because it was at their instigation that queen Jezebel had murdered the prophets of the true God (1 Kings 18:13), as to carry out the fundamental law of the Old Testament kingdom of God, which prohibited idolatry on pain of death, and commanded that false prophets should be destroyed (Deuteronomy 17:2-3; Deuteronomy 13:13.).

(Note: It was necessary that idolatry and temptation to the worship of idols should be punished with death, as a practical denial of Jehovah the true God and Lord of His chosen people, if the object of the divine institutions was to be secured. By putting the priests of Baal to death, therefore, Elijah only did what the law required; and inasmuch as the ordinary administrators of justice did not fulfil their obligations, he did this as an extraordinary messenger of God, whom the Lord had accredited as His prophet before all the people by the miraculous answer given to his prayer. - To infer from this act of Elijah the right to institute a bloody persecution of heretics, would not only indicate a complete oversight of the difference between heathen idolaters and Christian heretics, but the same reprehensible confounding of the evangelical standpoint of the New Testament with the legal standpoint of the Old, which Christ condemned in His own disciples in Luke 9:55-56.)

1 Kings 18:41

Elijah then called upon the king, who had eaten nothing from morning till evening in his eagerness to see the result of the contest between the prophet and the priests of Baal, to come up from the brook Kishon to the place of sacrifice upon Carmel, where his wants were provided for, and to partake of meat and drink, for he (Elijah) could already hear the noise of a fall of rain. קול is without a verb, as is often the case (e.g., Isaiah 13:4; Isaiah 52:8, etc.); literally, it is the sound, the noise. After the occasion of the curse of drought, which had fallen upon the land, had been removed by the destruction of the idolatrous priest, the curse itself could also be removed. “But this was not to take place without the prophet's saying it, and by means of this gift proving himself afresh to be the representative of God” (O. v. Gerlach).

1 Kings 18:42-43

While the king was refreshing himself with food and drink, Elijah went up to the top of Carmel to pray that the Lord would complete His work by fulfilling His promise (1 Kings 18:1) in sending rain; and continued in prayer till the visible commencement of the fulfilment of his prayer was announced by his servant, who, after looking out upon the sea seven times, saw at last a small cloud ascend from the sea about the size of a man's hand.

(Note: V. de Velde has shown how admirably these circumstances (1 Kings 18:43, 1 Kings 18:44) also apply to the situation of el Mohraka : “ on its west and north-west side the view of the sea is quite intercepted by an adjacent height. That height may be ascended, however, in a few minutes, and a full view of the sea obtained from the top ” (i. p. 326).

The peculiar attitude assumed by Elijah when praying (James 5:18), viz., bowing down even to the earth ( יגהר ) and putting his face between his knees, probably the attitude of deep absorption in God, was witnessed by Shaw and Chardin in the case of certain dervishes (vid., Harmar, Beobachtungen , iii. pp. 373-4).

1 Kings 18:44

As soon as the small cloud ascended from the sea, Elijah sent his servant to tell the king to set off home, that he might not be stopped by the rain. רד , go down, sc. from Carmel to his chariot, which was standing at the foot of the mountain.

(Note: “ After three years ' drought all herbage must have disappeared from the plain of Jezreel, and the loose clay composing its soil must have been changed into a deep layer of dust. Had time been allowed for the rain to convert that dust into a bed of mud, the chariot-wheels might have stuck fast in it. ” V. de Velde, i. pp. 326-7.)

1 Kings 18:45

Before any provision had been made for it ( עד־כּה ועד־כּה : hither and thither, i.e., while the hand is being moved to and fro, “very speedily;” cf. Ewald, § 105, b .) the heaven turned black with clouds and wind, i.e., with storm-clouds (Thenius), and there came a great fall of rain, while Ahab drove along the road to Jezreel. It was quite possible for the king to reach Jezreel the same evening from that point, namely, from the foot of Carmel below el Mohraka : but only thence, for every half-hour farther west would have taken him too far from his capital for it to be possible to accomplish the distance before the rain overtook him (V. de Velde, i. p. 326). Jezreel , the present Zerin (see at Joshua 19:18), was probably the summer residence of Ahab (see at Joshua 21:1). The distance from el Mohraka thither is hardly 2 3/4 German geographical miles (? 14 Engl. Miles - Tr.) in a straight line.

1 Kings 18:46

When Ahab drove off, the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah, so that he ran before Ahab as far as Jezreel, - not so much for the purpose of bringing the king to his residence unhurt (Seb. Schm.), as to give him a proof of his humility, and thus deepen the impression already made upon his heart, and fortify him all the more against the strong temptations of his wife, who abused his weakness to support the cause of ungodliness. This act of Elijah, whom Ahab had hitherto only known as a stern, imperious, and powerful prophet, by which he now showed himself to be his faithful subject and servant, was admirably adapted to touch the heart of the king, and produce the conviction that it was not from any personal dislike to him, but only in the service of the Lord, that the prophet was angry at his idolatry, and that he was not trying to effect his ruin, but rather his conversion and the salvation of his soul. יהוה יד , the hand (i.e., the power) of the Lord, denotes the supernatural strength with which the Lord endowed him, to accomplish superhuman feats. This formula is generally applied to the divine inspiration by which the prophets were prepared for their prophesying (cf. 2 Kings 3:15; Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 3:15, etc.).