1 Kings 19

Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

1And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

NoteAhab was king of Israel, the northern of the two Hebrew kingdoms; his queen Jezebel was a Phoenician princess who promoted the worship of her own god, Baal. The prophets Elijah had killed were the prophets of Baal, put to death after the contest on Mount Carmel described in the previous chapter.

2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: "May the gods do the same to me, and worse, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the life of one of those prophets you killed."

2Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

Note"May the gods do the same to me, and worse" was a fixed oath formula: the speaker calls down on herself the very harm she is threatening, as a way of guaranteeing she will carry it out. The plural "gods" fits Jezebel's Phoenician religion rather than Israel's.

3When Elijah saw how things stood, he got up and ran for his life. He came to Beersheba, a town belonging to Judah, and left his servant there.

3And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

NoteBeersheba lay at the far southern edge of Judah, the southern kingdom, roughly a hundred miles from Jezebel's court and outside the reach of Ahab's government.

4He himself went on another day's journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom bush and asked that he might die. He said, "It is enough. Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers before me."

4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

NoteThe KJV's "juniper tree" is a broom bush, a desert shrub that grows to head height in the dry south and offers the only shade in open country. "My fathers" means his ancestors, who are dead.

5As he lay sleeping under the broom bush, an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat."

5And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

6He looked, and there by his head was a loaf of bread baked on hot coals, and a jug of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.

6And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

7The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, because the journey is too long for you."

7And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.

8So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.

8And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

NoteHoreb is another name for Mount Sinai, the mountain where, in Israel's founding story, Moses received the law. "Forty days and forty nights" is the same span the older accounts give for Moses' stay there.

9There he came to a cave and spent the night in it. The word of the LORD came to him, and God said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

9And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

10He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of armies. But the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are trying to take my life."

10And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Note"Zealous" (KJV "jealous") translates a Hebrew word covering both fierce loyalty and the jealousy of someone who will not share what is his. "The God of armies" renders the title "LORD of hosts", hosts meaning armed forces, whether Israel's or heavenly ones. The "covenant" is the binding agreement made at Sinai between God and the people. In this period the LORD was worshiped at many local altars around the country, so "your altars" means those scattered sites, not one temple.

11God said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in front of the LORD." Then the LORD passed by. A great, strong wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

11And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

12After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a quiet, small voice.

12And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

Note"A quiet, small voice" (KJV "a still small voice") translates a Hebrew phrase that is literally "a sound of thin silence." Translators divide over whether it means a low whisper, a faint murmur, or silence itself; the phrase is genuinely obscure.

13When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak, went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

13And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

NoteThe cloak is the heavy outer garment that marked Elijah as a prophet. Covering the face was the customary response of someone who believed himself in the direct presence of God, which was thought too dangerous to look at.

14He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of armies. But the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are trying to take my life."

14And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

15The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, to the wilderness near Damascus. When you get there, pour oil on Hazael to make him king over Syria.

15And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:

Note"Pour oil on" is what older versions call anointing: olive oil poured over the head in a ceremony installing someone in an office. Syria here is Aram, the kingdom centered on Damascus to the northeast of Israel, and a frequent enemy in war.

16Also pour oil on Jehu son of Nimshi to make him king over Israel, and on Elisha son of Shaphat, from Abel-meholah, to be prophet in your place.

16And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.

Note"Prophet in your place" means successor, Elisha is to take over Elijah's role. Abel-meholah was a town in the Jordan Valley.

17This is what will happen: whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.

17And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.

NoteHazael's and Jehu's killings are recounted later, in 2 Kings; both men come to power by violence and each destroys much of the ruling house he replaces.

18Yet I have kept for myself seven thousand people in Israel: every knee that has not bowed down to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.

18Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

NoteBaal was the Canaanite storm and fertility god whose worship Jezebel had brought into Israel. Bowing the knee and kissing were standard acts of homage to an image: a worshiper would kiss the statue itself, or blow a kiss toward it from a distance.

19So Elijah left that place and found Elisha son of Shaphat. Elisha was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth pair. Elijah walked past him and threw his cloak over him.

19So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.

NoteTwelve pairs of oxen indicates a wealthy household; the teams plow in line, with Elisha working the last of them. Throwing the cloak over him is a formal gesture, a prophet's mantle stood for the man and his office, so laying it on Elisha lays a claim on him.

20Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah. He said, "Please let me kiss my father and my mother goodbye, and then I will follow you." Elijah said to him, "Go on back. What have I done to you?"

20And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?

NoteElijah's reply is compact in Hebrew and genuinely ambiguous. It can mean "go ahead: I have done nothing to you, you are free," or "go, but bear in mind what I have just done to you." Translators split between the two.

21So Elisha turned back from him. He took a pair of oxen and killed them, and he cooked their meat using the oxen's gear for fuel. He gave the food to the people, and they ate. Then he got up, went after Elijah, and served him.

21And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

NoteElisha slaughters his own plow team and burns the wooden yokes and plows as firewood: the tools and animals of his livelihood are destroyed in the meal, leaving him nothing to return to. "Served him" translates a word used of a personal attendant.