1 Kings 18

— with bread and water.] Used generally for meat and drink. Bp. Pococke.

— Ahab — went to Jezreel.] It appears from chap. xxi. 1, that he had a palace there; and he probably went there, rather than to Samaria, on account of its being nearer.

1 Kings 18:2

2. And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab.] Behold the courage of a true servant of God! No one was so odious to Ahab and his people as Elijah. To him they ascribed all their misery. Still the Prophet was not slack, though at the peril of his life, to carry a message of mercy to his bitterest enemies. Wogan. — a sore famine in Samaria.] In the city of Samaria, and in the whole kingdom of Israel. Samaria is often put, generally, for all the country which was subject to the kings of Israel. It seems that this drought and dearth prevailed in the territories of Ahab only, or, at the most, in the country immediately adjoining. Calmet.

1 Kings 18:3

3. — Obadiah, which was the governor of his house.] That is, chief steward of his household. Pyle. Some writers, both Jews and Christians, have thought that this was Obadiah the Prophet; but there are no sufficient grounds for this opinion. Bp. Patrick. — (Now Obadiah feared the Lord] From the instance of Obadiah, we perceive how possible it is to preserve our virtue in the worst of times, and amid the most corrupt company; yea, to maintain the truth of religion in the midst of a profane and idolatrous court. It is a great happiness to a nation when God is pleased to raise the virtuous, yea, one virtuous, man, to honour and dignity in the state. Wogan.

1 Kings 18:4

4. — when Jezebel cut off the prophets] It is probable that there were schools of the Prophets still remaining in Israel till the time of Jezebel; which schools are meant not of persons endued with an extraordinary spirit of prophecy, but of persons bred up to instruct the people in true religion, or of disciples of the Prophets and candidates for that office. Jezebel certainly looked upon these “Prophets” as enemies to her idolatry, and possibly persuaded her husband that they were disaffected to his government, and favourers of the kings of Judah, because they worshipped the same God, and deemed Jerusalem to be the proper place of His worship. On this account, so much the greater was the piety and courage of Obadiah, in rescuing so many victims from the hands of this furious and enraged woman. Bp. Patrick, Stackhouse Obadiah bringeth Ahab to Elijah. Elijah’s sign Before CHRIST about 906. we cut not of ourselves from the beasts. and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

1 Kings 18:5

5. — unto all fountains of water.] This direction of Ahab to Obadiah to search for grass by the brooks and fountains of water perfectly agrees with Dr. Russell’s account of a common Syrian summer; at which time the country is all entirely parched up, except in the vicinity of springs of water. So Sir J. Chardin says, “In every place where there is water, there is always grass and verdure in the East, for water makes there every thing to grow.” Harmer.

1 Kings 18:10

10. — took an oath, — that they found thee not.] Made them declare by oath that they knew not where to find thee. It is probable that by the terms “kingdom” and “nation,” are merely meant the tribes and governments of his own dominions, since his power of binding by oath extended only to his own subjects. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

1 Kings 18:18

18. — I have not troubled Israel;] We see not here the Prophet throwing himself at the king’s feet, suing for mercy or making mean submissions, but boldly and undoubtedly delivering his message as the ambassadour of a superiour power, a greater King, the Lord of hosts. He preserves the dignity of his office and character; and, with as much freedom as truth, charges the king himself, and his idolatrous family, as the true authors of all the troubles the nation groaned under. He is not afraid to tax their crimes, as the real cause of all their sufferings: so far was the holy Prophet from judging vice to be a publick benefit, as some moderns have maintained, that he roundly pronounces the publick calamity to be owing to the violation of God’s commandments. With him therefore we may assuredly conclude, that the only disturber of men, of families, cities, kingdoms, worlds, is sin: that there is no such troubler, no such traitor to any state, as the wilfully wicked man; no such enemy to the publick, as the enemy of God. Wogan.

1 Kings 18:19

19. — which eat at Jezebel’s table.] This circumstance seems mentioned to shew how high esteem she had for these prophets, that she kept a table on purpose for them, in order to do them honour before the people. Bp. Patrick. It perhaps is not meant that they ate at the table where Jezebel herself dined, but that they were fed from her kitchen. Fragments to Calmet.

1 Kings 18:21

21. — How long halt ye between two opinions?] This was saying in effect, How long will ye act the base disingenuous part of attempting to serve two masters, to worship at once the Lord and Baal? The Lord is a jealous God. He demands your whole affection; He will not be served by halves; He will not accept of a divided empire with Baal. Choose ye then whom ye Elijah praying is answered by fire from heaven. Before CHRIST about 900. according. attention.

1 Kings 18:29

29. — they prophesied until the time &c.] They ran up and down in a furious, raving, and distracted manner, until the time that the evening sacrifice was, by God’s appointment, wont to be offered. Bp. Hall.

1 Kings 18:30

30. — he repaired the altar of the Lord] That, which is here called “the altar of the Lord,” was undoubtedly one of those which were built in the time of the judges, and the first kings of Israel, when, for want of a fixed place of worship, such structures were permitted. In subsequent times, we read of an altar on mount Carmel. Historians relate, that when Vespasian was in Judea, he went to consult “the God of Carmel,” at which time there was neither temple nor statue on the mountain, but one altar only, plain, and very venerable for its antiquity. Calmet.

1 Kings 18:31

31. — twelve stones according to the number of the tribes] There were present in this assembly only the subjects of Ahab, and consequently not more than ten tribes: still Elijah takes twelve stones to build the altar, to shew that he was about to sacrifice in the name of

all the race of Israel, and to mark out the conformity of religious worship which ought to prevail amongst them. The general laws forbidding the erection of altars did not apply on the present occasion, since Elijah was acting under special direction, for the purpose of bringing back all Israel to the true worship of God. Calmet.

1 Kings 18:33

33. — Fill four barrels with water, &c.] He commanded the water to be poured three several times, in order to prevent all suspicion that the sacrifice could possibly be burnt by any common fire, and to make the miracle, now to be wrought, the more remarkable and convincing. Pyle.

1 Kings 18:38

38. Then the fire of the Lord fell,] The series of miracles here detailed was designed to recover the ten tribes from their idolatrous worship, and to preserve the knowledge of the true God in that kingdom, which would otherwise have been almost entirely extinguished under the reign of Ahab. The Apostle St. James, chap. v. 16, makes a particular reflection on the heavens being shut and opened by Elijah’s prayers. Osterwald.

1 Kings 18:40

40. — Take the prophets of Baal;] Elijah, as an extraordinary minister of God’s vengeance upon sinners, executed the sentence of death passed upon the false prophets by the Lord of life and death, as perverters of the law, and teachers of idolatry; as authors of cruelty, and inciters of Jezebel to murder the Prophets of the Lord, and as cheats and impostors, to whose execution the people concurred, their princes gave their consent, and their king (as astonished at the late stupendous miracle) could make no opposition. Stackhouse. It was the ancient and peremptory charge of God, that the authors of idolatry and seduction should die the death; no eye, no hand might spare them. It is a merciful

Before CHRIST about 900. He giveth Ahab notice of rain. Jezebel threateneth Elijah. Or, a sound of a noise of rain. Heb. Tie, or, Bind.

them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

1 Kings 18:41

41. — Get thee up, eat and drink;] They had, it appears, been fasting and praying all the day, till the evening sacrifice was over, either for the purpose of procuring rain, or with the hope of obtaining success in their controversy. Bp. Patrick.

1 Kings 18:42

42. — and put his face between his knees,] He fell on his knees and bowed his head to the very ground, so that it touched his knees; in token of great humility, and of his earnest desire that God would remember His people, and send them rain. Bp. Patrick. God had said before, “I will send rain upon the earth;” yet Elijah must pray for what God did promise. The promises of the Almighty do not discharge our prayers, but suppose them. Bp. Hall.

1 Kings 18:43

43. — look toward the sea.] The Mediterranean sea, from which mount Carmel was not far distant. Stackhouse.

1 Kings 18:44

44. — like a man’s hand.] Great storms in the East are wont to begin with a small cloud of this description, and it is particularly a sign of them at sea. Sir J. Chardin. In Abyssinia the morning is often clear, and the sun shines; about nine, a small cloud appears in the east, whirling violently round, as if upon an axis; when arrived near the zenith, it first abates its motion, then loses its form, and extends itself greatly, and seems to collect vapours from all opposite quarters. These clouds, having attained nearly the same height, rush against each other with great violence, and put me always in mind of Elijah’s foretelling rain on mount Carmel; violent rain, attended with thunder, soon follows. Bruce.

1 Kings 18:45

45. — the heaven was black with clouds and wind,] This expression is illustrated by the circumstance, common in the East, of the wind taking up such quantities of sand as to darken the sky; and a squall of wind of this description usually precedes rain. Dr. Russell speaks of both as common at Aleppo, though this place is not in the immediate vicinity of any desert. Harmer.

clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

1 Kings 18:46

46. — the hand of the Lord was on Elijah;] Perhaps we ought to understand by this, that God stirred him up to compose and sing some hymns proper for the occasion; and, if this be the true sense, we must suppose that he ran before Ahab for the purpose of chanting such hymns, or of joining himself to other chanters. That Ahab may have had chanters of this description preceding him, is thus far rendered probable, that it is now sometimes the custom in the East for great chiefs to be preceded by a train of persons chanting moral sentences, and intermixing occasional encomiums. Harmer.

— he girded up his loins, &c.] In this country it was the custom to wear loose and long garments; so that when they had occasion to run, they girded them up, that they might not be impeded by them. It would appear from the expression, “the hand of the Lord was on Elijah,” that more than his natural strength was granted to him on this occasion. His reason for thus running before Ahab probably was, to shew that he was ready to do the king all possible honour, that he was far from being his enemy, and only desirous to make him become a worshipper of the true God. Bp. Patrick.

Chap. XIX. ver. 2. Then Jezebel sent] In this conduct of Jezebel, we see the sad condition of the wicked, who are sometimes the more hardened by those very means which should convince them of their sins. Bp. Wilson. This resolution of Jezebel’s shews the extreme wickedness and hardness of her heart. Thus, when persons are once arrived at a certain degree of wickedness, they grow more and more obstinate; and that which ought to soften their hearts, and humble them, only serves to make them more insolent. Ostervald.