My Notes, Commentary ← 1 Kings 18 | 1 Kings | 1 Kings 20 →
v1
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
v2
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don’t make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!“
v3
When he saw that, he arose, and ran for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
v4
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he might die1, and said, “It is enough. Now, O Yahweh, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
v5
He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!“
v6
He looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on the coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.
v7
Yahweh’s angel came again the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”
Elijah on Mount Sinai
v8
He arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, God’s Mountain.
v9
He came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?“
v10
He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
v11
He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake.
v12
After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a “still small voice”.
v13
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?“
v14
He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
v15
Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
v16
Anoint Jehu2 the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel; and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah to be prophet in your place.
v17
He who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.
v18
Yet I reserved seven thousand in Israel, all the knees of which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.”
The anointing of Elisha
v19
So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Elijah went over to him, and put his mantle on him.
v20
Elisha left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” He said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?“3
v21
He returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their meat with the instruments of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and served him.
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My Notes
“still small voice”
The KJV translates 1 Kings 19.12 as still, small, voice. Many translations have traditionally followed this translation.
Tim Mackie argues (see Why Elijah Could No Longer Hear God at 44:46) that it is not quite right. Rather this Hebrew phrase is describing that feeling when it is so silent that you can “hear” the silence. In English we have the phrase the silence is deafening which is similar. We also have a phrase the sound of silence.
Why Does Elijah Become Afraid?
Elijah’s Parallel To Moses on Sinai
The account of Elijah on Mount Sinai is a pretty clear parallel to Exod-34.
Commentary
Footnotes
Footnotes
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Just like Jonah, Elijah is a prophet who sits under a tree and wishes that he might die. See Jonah 4 ↩
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It’s very interesting and surprising that God commands Elijah to anoint Jehu as king. Jehu doesn’t actually become king until several years later, and another son of Ahab becomes king first. That said, I am curious of the timeline. It would have taken Elijah quite a long time to journey to Mount Sinai. Perhaps this chapter is concurrent to the following chapters. ↩
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Luke’s Gospel seems to clearly parallel this in Luke 9.16 but with a jarring inversion. ↩