1 Kings19
New American Standard
1Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more so, if by about this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the life of one of them.”
3And he was afraid, and got up and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah; and he left his servant there.
4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked for himself to die, and said, “Enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
5Then he lay down and fell asleep under a broom tree; but behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat!”
6And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a round loaf of bread baked on hot coals, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.
7But the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him, and said, “Arise, eat; because the journey is too long for you.”
8So he arose and ate and drank, and he journeyed in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
9Then he came there to a cave and spent the night there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”
11So He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
12And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of a gentle blowing.
13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life.”
15The Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram.
16You shall also anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.
17And it shall come about that the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.
18Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
19So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat while he was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah came over to him and threw his cloak on him.
20Then he left the oxen behind and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back, for what have I done to you?”
21So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them, and cooked their meat with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and served him.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Kings 19.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Elijah flees to the wilderness. (1–8). God manifests himself to Elijah. (9–13). God's answer to Elijah. (14–18). The call of Elisha. (19–21).
vv1-8
Jezebel sent Elijah a threatening message. Carnal hearts are hardened and enraged against God, by that which should convince and conquer them. Great faith is not always alike strong. He might be serviceable to Israel at this time, and had all reason to depend upon God's protection, while doing God's work; yet he flees. His was not the deliberate desire of grace, as Paul's, to depart and be with Christ. God thus left Elijah to himself, to show that when he was bold and strong, it was in the Lord, and the power of his might; but of himself he was no better than his fathers. God knows what he designs us for, though we do not, what services, what trials, and he will take care that we are furnished with grace sufficient.
vv9-13
The question God put, What doest thou here, Elijah? is a reproof. It concerns us often to ask whether we are in our place, and in the way of our duty. Am I where I should be? whither God calls me, where my business lies, and where I may be useful? He complained of the people, and their obstinacy in sin; I only am left. Despair of success hinders many a good enterprise. Did Elijah come hither to meet with God? he shall find that God will meet him. The wind, and earthquake, and fire, did not make him cover his face, but the still voice did. Gracious souls are more affected by the tender mercies of the Lord, than by his terrors. The mild voice of Him who speaks from the cross, or the mercy-seat, is accompanied with peculiar power in taking possession of the heart.
vv14-18
God repeated the question, What doest thou here? Then he complained of his discouragement; and whither should God's prophets go with their complaints of that kind, but to their Master? The Lord gave him an answer. He declares that the wicked house of Ahab shall be rooted out, that the people of Israel shall be punished for their sins; and he shows that Elijah was not left alone as he had supposed, and also that a helper should at once be raised up for him. Thus all his complaints are answered and provided for. God's faithful ones are often his hidden ones, Ps 83:3, and the visible church is scarcely to be seen: the wheat is lost in chaff, and the gold in dross, till the sifting, refining, separating day comes. The Lord knows them that are his, though we do not; he sees in secret. When we come to heaven we shall miss many whom we thought to have met there; we shall meet many whom we little thought to have met there. God's love often proves larger than man's charity, and far more extended.
Key Words
אַחְאָב: Achab, the name of a king of Israel and of a prophet at Babylon
נָגַד: properly, to front, i.e. stand boldly out opposite; by implication (causatively), to manifest; figuratively, to announce (always by word of mouth to one present); specifically, to expose, predict, explain, praise
אִיזֶבֶל: Izebel, the wife of king Ahab
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
אֵלִיָּה: Elijah, the name of the famous prophet and of two other Israelites
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
הָרַג: to smite with deadly intent
נָבִיא: a prophet or (generally) inspired man
חֶרֶב: drought; also a cutting instrument (from its destructive effect), as a knife, sword, or other sharp implement
Cross References
1 Kings 19Paul directly quotes Elijah's complaint regarding his solitude and God's answer concerning the seven thousand.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
New Testament quotation confirming God's preservation of a faithful remnant who have not bowed to Baal.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Identifies Elijah as a man of 'like passions,' directly contextualizing his sudden fear and flight.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Illustrates how God leaves eminent instruments to their own weakness to prevent them from being exalted.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels Moses' forty-day fast on the same mountain (Horeb/Sinai), drawing a direct typological link.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The 'cave' is traditionally identified with the cleft of the rock where Moses stood before God.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels Jonah's petulant request to die under a shadow in the wilderness.
Supported by JFB
Records the direct historical execution and impact of Elijah's commission to anoint Hazael.
Supported by JFB
Fulfills the command to anoint Jehu king over Israel, completed through Elijah's successor.
Supported by JFB
Explains the physical practice of kissing idols as a gesture of worship to Baal.
Supported by JFB
Jesus contrasts Elisha's permitted farewell with the absolute immediacy required of His disciples.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Recalls the terrifying wind, earthquake, and fire that accompanied God's lawgiving on Horeb.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels using wooden agricultural instruments as immediate fuel for a sacred sacrificial offering.
Supported by JFB
Provides the poetic background for 'a still small voice' (literally a still whisper/silence).
Supported by Matthew Poole