1 Kings 18:21
18:21 Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? 1 If the Lord is the true God, 2 then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word.
1 Kings 18:27
18:27 At noon Elijah mocked them, “Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.” 3
1 Kings 18:36
18:36 When it was time for the evening offering, 4 Elijah the prophet approached the altar 5 and prayed: “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove 6 today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.
1 Kings 18:44
18:44 The seventh time the servant 7 said, “Look, a small cloud, the size of the palm of a man’s hand, is rising up from the sea.” Elijah 8 then said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up the chariots and go down, so that the rain won’t overtake you.’” 9
1 Kings 19:21
19:21 Elisha 10 went back and took his pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He cooked the meat over a fire that he made by burning the harness and yoke. 11 He gave the people meat and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and became his assistant.
1 tn Heb “How long are you going to limp around on two crutches?” (see HALOT 762 s.v. סְעִפִּים). In context this idiomatic expression refers to indecision rather than physical disability.
2 tn Heb “the God.”
3 sn Elijah’s sarcastic proposals would have been especially offensive and irritating to Baal’s prophets, for they believed Baal was imprisoned in the underworld as death’s captive during this time of drought. Elijah’s apparent ignorance of their theology is probably designed for dramatic effect; indeed the suggestion that Baal is away on a trip or deep in sleep comes precariously close to the truth as viewed by the prophets.
4 tn Heb “at the offering up of the offering.”
5 tn The words “the altar” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
6 tn Heb “let it be known.”
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “so that the rain won’t restrain you.”
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “and with the equipment of the oxen he cooked them, the flesh.”