¹ tn Heb “out, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke.”

² tn Heb “you are a man of God and the word of the Lord is truly in your mouth.”

sn This episode is especially significant in light of Ahab’s decision to promote Baal worship in Israel. In Canaanite mythology the drought that swept over the region (v. 1) would signal that Baal, a fertility god responsible for providing food for his subjects, had been defeated by the god of death and was imprisoned in the underworld. While Baal was overcome by death and unable to function like a king, Israel’s God demonstrated his sovereignty and superiority to death by providing food for a widow and restoring life to her son. And he did it all in Sidonian territory, Baal’s back yard, as it were. The episode demonstrates that Israel’s God, not Baal, is the true king who provides food and controls life and death. This polemic against Baalism reaches its climax in the next chapter, when the Lord proves that he, not Baal, controls the elements of the storm and determines when the rains will fall.

³ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of Hosts.”

⁴ tn Heb “(before whom I stand).”

⁵ tn Heb “to the people.”

⁶ sn Torn down. The condition of the altar symbolizes the spiritual state of the people.

⁷ tn The word “new” is implied but not actually present in the Hebrew text.

⁸ sn Israel will be your new name. See Gen 32:28; 35:10.

⁹ tn Heb “for [there is] the sound of the roar of the rain.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and girded up his loins.” The idea is that of gathering up the robes and tucking them into the sash or belt so that they do not get in the way of the legs when running (or working or fighting).

¹² tc The MT has “and he saw,” but some medieval Hebrew mss as well as several ancient versions support the reading “he was afraid.” The consonantal text (וַיַּרְא, vayyar’) is ambiguous and can be vocalized וַיַּרְא (from רָאָה, ra’ah, “to see”) or וַיִּרָא (vayyira’, from יָרֵא, yare’, “to fear”).