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Selected Verse: 1 Kings 18:20 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
1Ki 18:20	Strong Concordance	So Ahab [0256] sent [07971] unto all the children [01121] of Israel [03478], and gathered [06908] the prophets [05030] together [06908] unto mount [02022] Carmel [03760].
	King James	So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
mount Carmel--is a bold, bluff promontory, which extends from the western coast of Palestine, at the bay of Acre, for many miles eastward, to the central hills of Samaria. It is a long range, presenting many summits, and intersected by a number of small ravines. The spot where the contest took place is situated at the eastern extremity, which is also the highest point of the whole ridge. It is called El-Mohhraka, "the Burning," or "the Burnt Place." No spot could have been better adapted for the thousands of Israel to have stood drawn up on those gentle slopes. The rock shoots up in an almost perpendicular wall of more than two hundred feet in height, on the side of the vale of Esdraelon. This wall made it visible over the whole plain, and from all the surrounding heights, where gazing multitudes would be stationed.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

mount Carmel--is a bold, bluff promontory, which extends from the western coast of Palestine, at the bay of Acre, for many miles eastward, to the central hills of Samaria. It is a long range, presenting many summits, and intersected by a number of small ravines. The spot where the contest took place is situated at the eastern extremity, which is also the highest point of the whole ridge. It is called El-Mohhraka, "the Burning," or "the Burnt Place." No spot could have been better adapted for the thousands of Israel to have stood drawn up on those gentle slopes. The rock shoots up in an almost perpendicular wall of more than two hundred feet in height, on the side of the vale of Esdraelon. This wall made it visible over the whole plain, and from all the surrounding heights, where gazing multitudes would be stationed.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Local tradition places the site of Elijah's sacrifice, not on the highest point of the mountain (1,728 ft.), but at the southeastern extremity (1,600 ft.) of the ridge, where a shapeless ruin, composed of great hewn stones, and standing amid thick bushes of dwarf-oak, in the near vicinity of a perennial spring, is known to the Arabs as "El-Maharrakah," "the burning," or "the sacrifice." All the circumstances of the locality adapt it for the scene of the contest.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
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 Kg1 18:21, Kg1 18:22, and Kg1 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. Kg1 18:25 and Kg1 18:40), but in Kg1 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 Kg1 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 (Kg1 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 Kg1 18:25, but not in Kg1 18:40.) King Ahab also appeared upon Carmel (cf. Kg1 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. Kg1 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 (Deu 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 Psa 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. Kg1 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. Kg1 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"). Kg1 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 (Phnizier, 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, Kg1 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 (Exo 29:38.; Num 28:3-8), and was then offered, according to the Rabbinical observance (see at Exo 12:6), in the closing hours of the afternoon, as is evident from the circumstances which are described in Kg1 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 (Kg1 18:36). Kg1 18:30-39 Elijah's sacrifice. - As no answer came from Baal, Elijah began to prepare for his own sacrifice. Kg1 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 Kg1 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 Kg1 19:10, had been destroyed during the reign of Ahab, when the worship of Baal gained the upper hand. Kg1 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 (Gen 32:29; Gen 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. Kg1 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 Kg1 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. Kg1 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 Ch1 21:26; Ch2 7:1) see at Lev 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 Lev 9:24, and confessed "Jehovah is God:" האלהים, the true or real God. Kg1 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 (Kg1 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 (Deu 17:2-3; Deu 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 Luk 9:55-56.) Kg1 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., Isa 13:4; Isa 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). Kg1 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 (Kg1 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 (Kg1 18:43, Kg1 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 (Jam 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). Kg1 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.) Kg1 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 Jos 19:18), was probably the summer residence of Ahab (see at Jos 21:1). The distance from el Mohraka thither is hardly 2 3/4 German geographical miles (? 14 Engl. Miles - Tr.) in a straight line. Kg1 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. Kg2 3:15; Eze 1:3; Eze 3:15, etc.).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

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 Kg1 18:21, Kg1 18:22, and Kg1 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. Kg1 18:25 and Kg1 18:40), but in Kg1 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 Kg1 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 (Kg1 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 Kg1 18:25, but not in Kg1 18:40.)

King Ahab also appeared upon Carmel (cf. Kg1 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.

Kg1 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 (Deu 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 Psa 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.

Kg1 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.

Kg1 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").

Kg1 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 (Phnizier, 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, Kg1 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 (Exo 29:38.; Num 28:3-8), and was then offered, according to the Rabbinical observance (see at Exo 12:6), in the closing hours of the afternoon, as is evident from the circumstances which are described in Kg1 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 (Kg1 18:36).

Kg1 18:30-39

Elijah's sacrifice. - As no answer came from Baal, Elijah began to prepare for his own sacrifice. Kg1 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 Kg1 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 Kg1 19:10, had been destroyed during the reign of Ahab, when the worship of Baal gained the upper hand.

Kg1 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 (Gen 32:29; Gen 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.

Kg1 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 Kg1 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.

Kg1 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 Ch1 21:26; Ch2 7:1) see at Lev 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 Lev 9:24, and confessed "Jehovah is God:" האלהים, the true or real God.

Kg1 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 (Kg1 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 (Deu 17:2-3; Deu 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 Luk 9:55-56.)

Kg1 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., Isa 13:4; Isa 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).

Kg1 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 (Kg1 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 (Kg1 18:43, Kg1 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 (Jam 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).

Kg1 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.)

Kg1 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 Jos 19:18), was probably the summer residence of Ahab (see at Jos 21:1). The distance from el Mohraka thither is hardly 2 3/4 German geographical miles (? 14 Engl. Miles - Tr.) in a straight line.

Kg1 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. Kg2 3:15; Eze 1:3; Eze 3:15, etc.).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Ahab sent - He complied with Elijah's motion; because the urgency of the present distress made him willing to try all means to remove it; from a curiosity of seeing some extraordinary events; and principally, because God inclined his heart.

Top

¹⁵ Then I came [0935] to them of the captivity [01473] at Telabib [08512], that dwelt [03427] by the river [05104] of Chebar [03529], and I sat [03427] where they sat [03427], and remained [03427] there astonished [08074] among [08432] them seven [07651] days [03117].

³ The word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came expressly unto Ezekiel [03168] the priest [03548], the son [01121] of Buzi [0941], in the land [0776] of the Chaldeans [03778] by the river [05104] Chebar [03529]; and the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] was there upon him.

¹⁵ But now bring [03947] me a minstrel [05059]. And it came to pass, when the minstrel [05059] played [05059], that the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] came upon him.

⁴⁶ And the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] was on Elijah [0452]; and he girded up [08151] his loins [04975], and ran [07323] before [06440] Ahab [0256] to the entrance [0935] of Jezreel [03157].

¹ Then came near [05066] the heads [07218] of the fathers [01] of the Levites [03881] unto Eleazar [0499] the priest [03548], and unto Joshua [03091] the son [01121] of Nun [05126], and unto the heads [07218] of the fathers [01] of the tribes [04294] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478];

¹⁸ And their border [01366] was toward Jezreel [03157], and Chesulloth [03694], and Shunem [07766],

⁴⁵ And it came to pass in the mean while [03541], that the heaven [08064] was black [06937] with clouds [05645] and wind [07307], and there was a great [01419] rain [01653]. And Ahab [0256] rode [07392], and went [03212] to Jezreel [03157].

⁴⁴ And it came to pass at the seventh time [07637], that he said [0559], Behold, there ariseth [05927] a little [06996] cloud [05645] out of the sea [03220], like a man's [0376] hand [03709]. And he said [0559], Go up [05927], say [0559] unto Ahab [0256], Prepare [0631] thy chariot, and get thee down [03381], that the rain [01653] stop [06113] thee not.

¹⁸ And [2532] he prayed [4336] again [3825], and [2532] the heaven [3772] gave [1325] rain [5205], and [2532] the earth [1093] brought forth [985] her [846] fruit [2590].

⁴³ And said [0559] to his servant [05288], Go up [05927] now, look [05027] toward [01870] the sea [03220]. And he went up [05927], and looked [05027], and said [0559], There is nothing [03972]. And he said [0559], Go again [07725] seven [07651] times [06471].

¹ And it came to pass after many [07227] days [03117], that the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came to Elijah [0452] in the third [07992] year [08141], saying [0559], Go [03212], shew [07200] thyself unto Ahab [0256]; and I will send [05414] rain [04306] upon [06440] the earth [0127].

⁴² So Ahab [0256] went up [05927] to eat [0398] and to drink [08354]. And Elijah [0452] went up [05927] to the top [07218] of Carmel [03760]; and he cast himself down [01457] upon the earth [0776], and put [07760] his face [06440] between his knees [01290],
⁴³ And said [0559] to his servant [05288], Go up [05927] now, look [05027] toward [01870] the sea [03220]. And he went up [05927], and looked [05027], and said [0559], There is nothing [03972]. And he said [0559], Go again [07725] seven [07651] times [06471].

⁸ Thy watchmen [06822] shall lift up [05375] the voice [06963]; with the voice [06963] together [03162] shall they sing [07442]: for they shall see [07200] eye [05869] to eye [05869], when the LORD [03068] shall bring again [07725] Zion [06726].

⁴ The noise [06963] of a multitude [01995] in the mountains [02022], like as [01823] of a great [07227] people [05971]; a tumultuous [07588] noise [06963] of the kingdoms [04467] of nations [01471] gathered together [0622]: the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] mustereth [06485] the host [06635] of the battle [04421].

⁴¹ And Elijah [0452] said [0559] unto Ahab [0256], Get thee up [05927], eat [0398] and drink [08354]; for there is a sound [06963] of abundance [01995] of rain [01653].

⁵⁵ But [1161] he turned [4762], and rebuked [2008] them [846], and [2532] said [2036], Ye know [1492] not [3756] what manner [3634] of spirit [4151] ye [5210] are of [2075].
⁵⁶ For [1063] the Son [5207] of man [444] is [2064] not [3756] come [2064] to destroy [622] men's [444] lives [5590], but [235] to save [4982] them. And [2532] they went [4198] to [1519] another [2087] village [2968].

¹³ Certain men [0582], the children [01121] of Belial [01100], are gone out [03318] from among [07130] you, and have withdrawn [05080] the inhabitants [03427] of their city [05892], saying [0559], Let us go [03212] and serve [05647] other [0312] gods [0430], which ye have not known [03045];

² If there be found [04672] among [07130] you, within any [0259] of thy gates [08179] which the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] giveth [05414] thee, man [0376] or woman [0802], that hath wrought [06213] wickedness [07451] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068] thy God [0430], in transgressing [05674] his covenant [01285],
³ And hath gone [03212] and served [05647] other [0312] gods [0430], and worshipped [07812] them, either the sun [08121], or moon [03394], or any of the host [06635] of heaven [08064], which I have not commanded [06680];

¹³ Was it not told [05046] my lord [0113] what I did [06213] when Jezebel [0348] slew [02026] the prophets [05030] of the LORD [03068], how I hid [02244] an hundred [03967] men [0376] of the LORD'S [03068] prophets [05030] by fifty [02572] in a cave [04631], and fed [03557] them with bread [03899] and water [04325]?

⁴⁰ And Elijah [0452] said [0559] unto them, Take [08610] the prophets [05030] of Baal [01168]; let not one [0376] of them escape [04422]. And they took [08610] them: and Elijah [0452] brought them down [03381] to the brook [05158] Kishon [07028], and slew [07819] them there.
⁴¹ And Elijah [0452] said [0559] unto Ahab [0256], Get thee up [05927], eat [0398] and drink [08354]; for there is a sound [06963] of abundance [01995] of rain [01653].
⁴² So Ahab [0256] went up [05927] to eat [0398] and to drink [08354]. And Elijah [0452] went up [05927] to the top [07218] of Carmel [03760]; and he cast himself down [01457] upon the earth [0776], and put [07760] his face [06440] between his knees [01290],
⁴³ And said [0559] to his servant [05288], Go up [05927] now, look [05027] toward [01870] the sea [03220]. And he went up [05927], and looked [05027], and said [0559], There is nothing [03972]. And he said [0559], Go again [07725] seven [07651] times [06471].
⁴⁴ And it came to pass at the seventh time [07637], that he said [0559], Behold, there ariseth [05927] a little [06996] cloud [05645] out of the sea [03220], like a man's [0376] hand [03709]. And he said [0559], Go up [05927], say [0559] unto Ahab [0256], Prepare [0631] thy chariot, and get thee down [03381], that the rain [01653] stop [06113] thee not.
⁴⁵ And it came to pass in the mean while [03541], that the heaven [08064] was black [06937] with clouds [05645] and wind [07307], and there was a great [01419] rain [01653]. And Ahab [0256] rode [07392], and went [03212] to Jezreel [03157].
⁴⁶ And the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] was on Elijah [0452]; and he girded up [08151] his loins [04975], and ran [07323] before [06440] Ahab [0256] to the entrance [0935] of Jezreel [03157].

²⁴ And there came [03318] a fire [0784] out from before [06440] the LORD [03068], and consumed [0398] upon the altar [04196] the burnt offering [05930] and the fat [02459]: which when all the people [05971] saw [07200], they shouted [07442], and fell [05307] on their faces [06440].

¹ Now when Solomon [08010] had made an end [03615] of praying [06419], the fire [0784] came down [03381] from heaven [08064], and consumed [0398] the burnt offering [05930] and the sacrifices [02077]; and the glory [03519] of the LORD [03068] filled [04390] the house [01004].

²⁶ And David [01732] built [01129] there an altar [04196] unto the LORD [03068], and offered [05927] burnt offerings [05930] and peace offerings [08002], and called [07121] upon the LORD [03068]; and he answered [06030] him from heaven [08064] by fire [0784] upon the altar [04196] of burnt offering [05930].

³⁸ Then the fire [0784] of the LORD [03068] fell [05307], and consumed [0398] the burnt sacrifice [05930], and the wood [06086], and the stones [068], and the dust [06083], and licked up [03897] the water [04325] that was in the trench [08585].
³⁹ And when all the people [05971] saw [07200] it, they fell [05307] on their faces [06440]: and they said [0559], The LORD [03068], he is the God [0430]; the LORD [03068], he is the God [0430].

³⁶ And it came to pass at the time of the offering [05927] of the evening sacrifice [04503], that Elijah [0452] the prophet [05030] came near [05066], and said [0559], LORD [03068] God [0430] of Abraham [085], Isaac [03327], and of Israel [03478], let it be known [03045] this day [03117] that thou art God [0430] in Israel [03478], and that I am thy servant [05650], and that I have done [06213] all these things at thy word [01697].
³⁷ Hear [06030] me, O LORD [03068], hear [06030] me, that this people [05971] may know [03045] that thou art the LORD [03068] God [0430], and that thou hast turned [05437] their heart [03820] back [05437] again [0322].

¹⁰ And God [0430] said [0559] unto him, Thy name [08034] is Jacob [03290]: thy name [08034] shall not be called [07121] any more Jacob [03290], but Israel [03478] shall be thy name [08034]: and he called [07121] his name [08034] Israel [03478].

²⁹ And Jacob [03290] asked [07592] him, and said [0559], Tell [05046] me, I pray thee, thy name [08034]. And he said [0559], Wherefore is it [02088] that thou dost ask [07592] after my name [08034]? And he blessed [01288] him there.

³¹ And Elijah [0452] took [03947] twelve [08147] [06240] stones [068], according to the number [04557] of the tribes [07626] of the sons [01121] of Jacob [03290], unto whom the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came, saying [0559], Israel [03478] shall be thy name [08034]:
³² And with the stones [068] he built [01129] an altar [04196] in the name [08034] of the LORD [03068]: and he made [06213] a trench [08585] about [05439] the altar [04196], as great as would contain [01004] two measures [05429] of seed [02233].
³³ And he put [06186] the wood [06086] in order [06186], and cut [05408] the bullock [06499] in pieces, and laid [07760] him on the wood [06086], and said [0559], Fill [04390] four [0702] barrels [03537] with water [04325], and pour [03332] it on the burnt sacrifice [05930], and on the wood [06086].
³⁴ And he said [0559], Do it the second time [08138]. And they did it the second time [08138]. And he said [0559], Do it the third time [08027]. And they did it the third time [08027].
³⁵ And the water [04325] ran [03212] round about [05439] the altar [04196]; and he filled [04390] the trench [08585] also with water [04325].

¹⁰ And he said [0559], I have been very [07065] jealous [07065] for the LORD [03068] God [0430] of hosts [06635]: for the children [01121] of Israel [03478] have forsaken [05800] thy covenant [01285], thrown down [02040] thine altars [04196], and slain [02026] thy prophets [05030] with the sword [02719]; and I, even I only, am left [03498]; and they seek [01245] my life [05315], to take it away [03947].

² Only the people [05971] sacrificed [02076] in high places [01116], because there was no house [01004] built [01129] unto the name [08034] of the LORD [03068], until those days [03117].

³⁰ And Elijah [0452] said [0559] unto all the people [05971], Come near [05066] unto me. And all the people [05971] came near [05066] unto him. And he repaired [07495] the altar [04196] of the LORD [03068] that was broken down [02040].
³¹ And Elijah [0452] took [03947] twelve [08147] [06240] stones [068], according to the number [04557] of the tribes [07626] of the sons [01121] of Jacob [03290], unto whom the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came, saying [0559], Israel [03478] shall be thy name [08034]:
³² And with the stones [068] he built [01129] an altar [04196] in the name [08034] of the LORD [03068]: and he made [06213] a trench [08585] about [05439] the altar [04196], as great as would contain [01004] two measures [05429] of seed [02233].
³³ And he put [06186] the wood [06086] in order [06186], and cut [05408] the bullock [06499] in pieces, and laid [07760] him on the wood [06086], and said [0559], Fill [04390] four [0702] barrels [03537] with water [04325], and pour [03332] it on the burnt sacrifice [05930], and on the wood [06086].
³⁴ And he said [0559], Do it the second time [08138]. And they did it the second time [08138]. And he said [0559], Do it the third time [08027]. And they did it the third time [08027].
³⁵ And the water [04325] ran [03212] round about [05439] the altar [04196]; and he filled [04390] the trench [08585] also with water [04325].
³⁶ And it came to pass at the time of the offering [05927] of the evening sacrifice [04503], that Elijah [0452] the prophet [05030] came near [05066], and said [0559], LORD [03068] God [0430] of Abraham [085], Isaac [03327], and of Israel [03478], let it be known [03045] this day [03117] that thou art God [0430] in Israel [03478], and that I am thy servant [05650], and that I have done [06213] all these things at thy word [01697].
³⁷ Hear [06030] me, O LORD [03068], hear [06030] me, that this people [05971] may know [03045] that thou art the LORD [03068] God [0430], and that thou hast turned [05437] their heart [03820] back [05437] again [0322].
³⁸ Then the fire [0784] of the LORD [03068] fell [05307], and consumed [0398] the burnt sacrifice [05930], and the wood [06086], and the stones [068], and the dust [06083], and licked up [03897] the water [04325] that was in the trench [08585].
³⁹ And when all the people [05971] saw [07200] it, they fell [05307] on their faces [06440]: and they said [0559], The LORD [03068], he is the God [0430]; the LORD [03068], he is the God [0430].

⁶ And ye shall keep [04931] it up until the fourteenth [0702] [06240] day [03117] of the same month [02320]: and the whole [03605] assembly [06951] of the congregation [05712] of Israel [03478] shall kill [07819] it in [0996] the evening [06153].

³ And thou shalt say [0559] unto them, This is the offering made by fire [0801] which ye shall offer [07126] unto the LORD [03068]; two [08147] lambs [03532] of the first [01121] year [08141] without spot [08549] day by day [03117], for a continual [08548] burnt offering [05930].
⁴ The one [0259] lamb [03532] shalt thou offer [06213] in the morning [01242], and the other [08145] lamb [03532] shalt thou offer [06213] at even [06153];
⁵ And a tenth [06224] part of an ephah [0374] of flour [05560] for a meat offering [04503], mingled [01101] with the fourth [07243] part of an hin [01969] of beaten [03795] oil [08081].
⁶ It is a continual [08548] burnt offering [05930], which was ordained [06213] in mount [02022] Sinai [05514] for a sweet [05207] savour [07381], a sacrifice made by fire [0801] unto the LORD [03068].
⁷ And the drink offering [05262] thereof shall be the fourth [07243] part of an hin [01969] for the one [0259] lamb [03532]: in the holy [06944] place shalt thou cause the strong wine [07941] to be poured [05258] unto the LORD [03068] for a drink offering [05262].
⁸ And the other [08145] lamb [03532] shalt thou offer [06213] at even [06153]: as the meat offering [04503] of the morning [01242], and as the drink offering [05262] thereof, thou shalt offer [06213] it, a sacrifice made by fire [0801], of a sweet [05207] savour [07381] unto the LORD [03068].

³⁸ Now this is that which thou shalt offer [06213] upon the altar [04196]; two [08147] lambs [03532] of the first [01121] year [08141] day [03117] by day [03117] continually [08548].

²⁹ And it came to pass, when midday [06672] was past [05674], and they prophesied [05012] until the time of the offering [05927] of the evening sacrifice [04503], that there was neither voice [06963], nor any to answer [06030], nor any that regarded [07182].

²⁷ And it came to pass at noon [06672], that Elijah [0452] mocked [02048] them, and said [0559], Cry [07121] aloud [01419] [06963]: for he is a god [0430]; either he is talking [07879], or he is pursuing [07873], or he is in a journey [01870], or peradventure [0194] he sleepeth [03463], and must be awaked [03364].
²⁸ And they cried [07121] aloud [06963] [01419], and cut [01413] themselves after their manner [04941] with knives [02719] and lancets [07420], till the blood [01818] gushed out [08210] upon them.
²⁹ And it came to pass, when midday [06672] was past [05674], and they prophesied [05012] until the time of the offering [05927] of the evening sacrifice [04503], that there was neither voice [06963], nor any to answer [06030], nor any that regarded [07182].

²⁶ And they took [03947] the bullock [06499] which was given [05414] them, and they dressed [06213] it, and called [07121] on the name [08034] of Baal [01168] from morning [01242] even until noon [06672], saying [0559], O Baal [01168], hear [06030] us. But there was no [0369] voice [06963], nor any that answered [06030]. And they leaped [06452] upon the altar [04196] which was made [06213].
²⁷ And it came to pass at noon [06672], that Elijah [0452] mocked [02048] them, and said [0559], Cry [07121] aloud [01419] [06963]: for he is a god [0430]; either he is talking [07879], or he is pursuing [07873], or he is in a journey [01870], or peradventure [0194] he sleepeth [03463], and must be awaked [03364].
²⁸ And they cried [07121] aloud [06963] [01419], and cut [01413] themselves after their manner [04941] with knives [02719] and lancets [07420], till the blood [01818] gushed out [08210] upon them.
²⁹ And it came to pass, when midday [06672] was past [05674], and they prophesied [05012] until the time of the offering [05927] of the evening sacrifice [04503], that there was neither voice [06963], nor any to answer [06030], nor any that regarded [07182].

²² Then said [0559] Elijah [0452] unto the people [05971], I, even I only, remain [03498] a prophet [05030] of the LORD [03068]; but Baal's [01168] prophets [05030] are four [0702] hundred [03967] and fifty [02572] men [0376].
²³ Let them therefore give [05414] us two [08147] bullocks [06499]; and let them choose [0977] one [0259] bullock [06499] for themselves, and cut it in pieces [05408], and lay [07760] it on wood [06086], and put [07760] no fire [0784] under: and I will dress [06213] the other [0259] bullock [06499], and lay [05414] it on wood [06086], and put [07760] no fire [0784] under:
²⁴ And call [07121] ye on the name [08034] of your gods [0430], and I will call [07121] on the name [08034] of the LORD [03068]: and the God [0430] that answereth [06030] by fire [0784], let him be God [0430]. And all the people [05971] answered [06030] and said [0559], It is well [02896] spoken [01697].
²⁵ And Elijah [0452] said [0559] unto the prophets [05030] of Baal [01168], Choose [0977] you one [0259] bullock [06499] for yourselves, and dress [06213] it first [07223]; for ye are many [07227]; and call [07121] on the name [08034] of your gods [0430], but put [07760] no fire [0784] under.

¹¹³ SAMECH. I hate [08130] vain thoughts [05588]: but thy law [08451] do I love [0157].

⁴ Hear [08085], O Israel [03478]: The LORD [03068] our God [0430] is one [0259] LORD [03068]:
⁵ And thou shalt love [0157] the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] with all thine heart [03824], and with all thy soul [05315], and with all thy might [03966].

²¹ And Elijah [0452] came [05066] unto all the people [05971], and said [0559], How long [05921] halt [06452] ye between two [08147] opinions [05587]? if the LORD [03068] be God [0430], follow him: but if Baal [01168], then follow [03212] [0310] him. And the people [05971] answered [06030] him not a word [01697].

⁴¹ And Elijah [0452] said [0559] unto Ahab [0256], Get thee up [05927], eat [0398] and drink [08354]; for there is a sound [06963] of abundance [01995] of rain [01653].

²⁵ And Elijah [0452] said [0559] unto the prophets [05030] of Baal [01168], Choose [0977] you one [0259] bullock [06499] for yourselves, and dress [06213] it first [07223]; for ye are many [07227]; and call [07121] on the name [08034] of your gods [0430], but put [07760] no fire [0784] under.

³⁹ And when all the people [05971] saw [07200] it, they fell [05307] on their faces [06440]: and they said [0559], The LORD [03068], he is the God [0430]; the LORD [03068], he is the God [0430].