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1 KINGS 18

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 18:1-6
  ¹Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth." ²So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. ³Ahab called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly; ⁴for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.) ⁵Then Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle." ⁶So they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.

18:1 YHWH wanted to encounter King Ahab to demonstrate His reality and supremacy. It was YHWH, not Ba'al, who controlled fertility (i.e., "I will send rain")!

18:2 It has always been a question among commentators whether the severe drought was in Judah as well as Samaria. During the plagues of Egypt, they were limited to Egypt, but not Goshen (i.e., Exod. 8:22; 9:4,6,25-26; 10:22-23; 11:7).

18:3 Obadiah was a chief steward in Ahab's household (Josephus, Antiq. 8.13.4, says he was "steward over his cattle"), but he was a faithful follower of YHWH (i.e., "he feared the Lord greatly," v. 12).

SPECIAL TOPIC: FEAR (OT)

18:4 "Jezebel" She was the daughter of the king of the Sidonians, Ethbaal, who worshiped Ba'al (cf. 1 Kgs. 16:31). This marriage was arranged by Omri, Ahab's father (see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 776-777).

Her militant worship of Ba'al caused her to attempt to destroy all the prophets of YHWH. Ahab may have wanted an amalgamation between YHWH and Ba'al, but she wanted exclusivity!

The MT has the Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT (BDB 503, KB 500) which basically means "to cut down." She was killing (cf. 1 Sam. 24:22; 1 Kgs. 11:16; 18:4; 2 Chr. 22:7) YHWH's speakers. One wonders if she was

1. blaming them for the drought
2. wanted only Ba'al and Asherah to be worshiped

▣ "Obadiah. . .provided" As YHWH used ravens (or Arabs) to provide bread for Elijah, now Obadiah provided bread and water for the prophets of YHWH (cf. v. 13).

Obadiah was not only a man of faith, but of action, dangerous action. He name means "servant of YHWH," and he surely was.

18:5 This search for water and grass was an attempt to support the military units of Israel's chariots.

18:6 This verse shows that Obadiah was part of Ahab's inner circle of leadership.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 18:7-16
  ⁷Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, "Is this you, Elijah my master?" ⁸He said to him, "It is I. Go, say to your master, 'Behold, Elijah is here.'" ⁹He said, "What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death? ¹⁰As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, 'He is not here,' he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you. ¹¹And now you are saying, 'Go, say to your master, "Behold, Elijah is here."' ¹²It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. ¹³Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred prophets of the Lord by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water? ¹⁴And now you are saying, 'Go, say to your master, "Behold, Elijah is here"'; he will then kill me." ¹⁵Elijah said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today." ¹⁶So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

18:7-15 Obadiah was afraid that Elijah would disappear again and Ahab would be furious at him. Ahab had looked everywhere for Elijah (cf. v. 10).

18:8 "It is I" The MT has only the emphatic PRONOUN (BDB 58).

▣ "your master" This is the Hebrew term Adon (BDB 10), which the Jews substituted for "YHWH" when they read Scripture.

This shows how Hebrew has many PLURALS, where we, as English speakers, would expect SINGULARS. This is an intensive use denoting the status of King Ahab.

18:10 "As the Lord your God lives" This is a play on the covenant name for Israel's God, YHWH, which is a form of the VERB "to be" (cf. Exod. 3:14-16).

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, D.

▣ "swear" Ahab made the surrounding nations swear an oath that they had looked for Elijah. I wonder in whose name they swore (i.e., YHWH, Ba'al, their national god).

18:12 "the Spirit of the Lord" In the OT the "Spirit" is a force that accomplishes YHWH's will more than an independent person. This personal aspect is clarified in the NT.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE PERSONHOOD OF THE SPIRIT

▣ "will carry you where I do not know" Apparently there was a tradition of YHWH moving His prophets in a supernatural way (cf. Ezek. 3:14; 8:3; 11:1,24; 7:1; 43:5; Acts 8:39; Rev. 17:3; 21:10).

18:15 "the Lord of hosts" Here, the title is used as an oath.

SPECIAL TOPIC: Lord OF HOSTS

▣ "before whom I stand" This is an idiom of being YHWH's servant (i.e., priests or prophets). It denotes intimacy and availability to YHWH's counsel (see NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 432, #3).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 18:17-19
  ¹⁷When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is this you, you troubler of Israel?" ¹⁸He said, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals. ¹⁹Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

18:17 "you troubler of Israel" One wonders if the term "troubler" (BDB 747, KB 824, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) has symbolic connotations (cf. Josh. 6:18; 7:25; 1 Sam. 14:29; 1 Chr. 2:7). It was Ahab, not Elijah, who would bring judgment on Israel, because of Israel's idolatry.

18:18-19 "Baals. . .Asherah" See NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 422-428 and SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE.

18:18 "commandments" See SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR GOD'S REVELATION.

18:19 Wow! What a large number of fertility prophets who Jezebel fed! The prophets of Asherah are mentioned only in this verse. Only the prophets of Ba'al are killed in v. 40. Possibly Jezebel did not let them come to the contest.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 18:20-24
  ²⁰So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word. ²²Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. ²³Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. ²⁴Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God." And all the people said, "That is a good idea."

18:20 "Mount Carmel" See NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 464-465.

18:21 This is the theological issue! Who is God? They must choose one but cannot choose both.

This VERB (BDB 820 II, KB 947, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) means "to limp" (2 Sam. 4:4). It can denote

1. hesitation between two options, as here
2. a type of ritual fertility dance, v. 26 (NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 45.,46)
3. NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 275-641, suggests crutches made from tree limbs

Israel was committed to monotheism.

SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM

18:22 "I alone am left" This was not accurate. Obadiah had hidden 100 prophets of YHWH.

18:23-24 Elijah proposes a test! Both sides will prepare a sacrifice and the deity that responds by fire will be the only true God.

18:24 "the name of the Lord" See SPECIAL TOPIC: "THE NAME" OF YHWH (OT).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 18:25-29
  ²⁵So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." ²⁶Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, "O Baal, answer us." But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. ²⁷It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened." ²⁸So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. ²⁹When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.

18:26 "the ox which was given them" This VERB seems to conflict with the "choose one" of vv. 23,25. The LXX leaves out the phrase.

18:27 "Elijah mocked them" It is hard in English to communicate the exact meaning of these Hebrew words. Apparently Ellijah was poking fun at the theology of Ba'al. He asked

1. perhaps Ba'al is involved in theological study
2. maybe Ba'al has gone to the rest room (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 1233)
3. maybe he has gone on a trip to the underworld
4. maybe he has not come back to life this spring

▣ "mocked" This VERB (BDB 251, KB 257, Piel IMPERFECT with waw) occurs only here. The NOUN occurs in Job 17:2. There is uncertainty between the roots החל and חלל. They could both have derived from חל, which could denote (see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 298-299)

1. deceive
2. mock

Here, option #2 fits best.

18:28 "cut themselves" This (BDB 151, KB 177, Hithpolel IMPERFECT with waw) was a sign of mourning for the dead, forbidden to the Jew (cf, Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1; Jer. 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; Hosea 7:14). Here, it refers to part of worship ritual for Ba'al, probably to get his attention!

18:29 "raved" This VERB'S (BDB 612, KB 659, Hithpael IMPERFECT with waw) etymology is uncertain.

1. Arabic ‒ to announce
2. Arabic ‒ to bubble
3. Akkadian ‒ to call on the name of the deity

Here, the prophets of Ba'al and Asherah were acting in a ritual frenzy, hoping to attract Ba'al's attention. Even YHWHistic prophets acted in this manner (cf. Num. 11:25-27; 1 Sam. 10:5-6,10-13; 18:10; 19:24; 1 Kgs. 22:10; 2 Chr. 18:9; Jer. 23:13; 29:26).

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT)

▣ "the time of the evening sacrifice" Notice in your translation that "evening" is in italics because it is not in the MT. It is an assumption that this verse refers to Exod. 29:38-43; Num. 28:4,8; 2 Kgs. 16:15. If it does, the time is 3 p.m. It also shows how influential, even in the north, the Jerusalem ritual (i.e., the continual) still was.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 18:30-35
  ³⁰Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. ³¹Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name." ³²So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed. ³³Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. ³⁴And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. ³⁵The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.

18:30 "he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down" This clearly shows the radical change in Israel's worship (cf. 1 Kgs. 19:10,14). YHWH's altar, unlike Ba'al's, must be made of uncut stones (cf. Exod. 20:25; Deut. 27:5-6).

18:31 "twelve stones" These represented the tribes of Israel.

▣ "Israel shall be your name" This refers to Gen. 3:10.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL (THE NAME)

See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANE WEIGHTS AND VOLUMES, I. A. 4.

18:34-35 "four pitchers. . .a third time" There have been several theories why.

1. another use of number 12
2. water symbolized repentance, 1 Sam. 7:6
3. used as a foreshadow of rain
4. would make it harder to burn

SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, #6

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 18:36-40
  ³⁶At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." ³⁸Then the fire of the Lord 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. ³⁹When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God." ⁴⁰Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape." So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

18:36 It was time to demonstrate

1. that YHWH was the true God of the Patriarchs
2. that Elijah was His true prophet
3. that Elijah had given YHWH's true word

▣ "Elijah the prophet" It is rare in Kings (BDB 611; cf. v. 22) that this designation is given. Usually he is called "the man of God" (cf. 1 Kgs. 17:18,24).

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT)

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHET (the different Hebrew terms), #3

18:37 "You have turned their heart" The VERB (BDB 685, KB 738, Hiphil PERFECT) basically denotes a turning around to a new direction. It denotes here a change of attitude and worship object.

There are two aspects of people "turning" back to God.

1. only God can do this ‒ Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25
2. humans must cooperate in this turning (see SPECIAL TOPIC: REPENTANCE (NT))

This is part of the covenant mystery of the relationshp between the sovereignty of God and the free will of mankind.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ELECTION

SPECIAL TOPIC: ELECTION/PREDESTINATION AND THE NEED FOR A THEOLOGICAL BALANCE

SPECIAL TOPIC: PREDESTINATION VS. HUMAN FREE WILL

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT

18:38 "the fire of the Lord" See SPECIAL TOPIC: FIRE.

18:40 This verse seems so cruel to us but we must remember that they did not have the fuller revelation that we have. This may have reflected the concept of

1. Holy war, cf. Joshua and 1 Sam. 15:32-33; 2 Kgs. 10:19ff
2. possibly, the execution or the penalty for false prophets, cf. Deut. 13:1f; 17:2-5

These fertility prophets may have been Phoenicians, not Israelites (at least most of them). Ba'al-Melqart was the name of the chief deity of Ethbaal.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 18:41-46
  ⁴¹Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower." ⁴²So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees. ⁴³He said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go back" seven times. ⁴⁴It came about at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.'" ⁴⁵In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. ⁴⁶Then the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel.

18:41 There must have been a ritual meal associated with the sacrifices.

18:43 "his servant" Jewish tradition says it was the widow of Zerephath's son, whom Elijah raised from the dead, cf. 1 Kgs. 17:23.

18:42-44 This is a unique physical position for prayer. Prayer is not mentioned but is assumed. It might have had symbolic meaning but if so, that has been lost to us. This is also true about the eight times directed to "look at the sea."

18:45 "Jezreel" This city functioned as a winter palace for Ahab (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:1; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 778-779). It was near Mt. Gilboa (cf. 1 Sam. 29:1; 31:1).

18:46 "the hand of the Lord" This is a Semitic idiom for the power of YHWH.

SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND

SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE DEITY

▣ "he girded up his loins" This is another Semitic idiom. It refers to a person wearing a robe preparing for physical activity. They would reach through their legs and pull the back of the robe to the front and tuck it into the belt, thus making tight fitting pants.

▣ "to Jezreel" This was about 17 miles. Why did he do this (Jewish Study Bible, p. 716)?

1. as an honor for Elijah
2. as an honor to Ahab (cf. 1 Sam. 8:11; 1 Kgs. 1:5), who Elijah thought had fully embraced YHWH (monotheism)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Does YHWH use weather for His purposes? Where, how?
2. What was Obadiah afraid of in v. 12?
3. Who is Ba'al?
4. How is v. 21 related to v. 26?
5. How did Elijah mock the prophets of Ba'al in v. 27?
6. Why did Elijah kill the prophets of Ba'al?
7. What did Elijah running before Ahab's chariot to Jezreel mean ?

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