Discovery Box1 Kings 17:1--18:46 
Context17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve), 1 there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.” 2 17:2 The Lord told him: 3 17:3 “Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 17:4 Drink from the stream; I have already told 4 the ravens to bring you food 5 there.” 17:5 So he did 6 as the Lord told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 17:6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.
17:7 After a while, 7 the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 17:8 The Lord told him, 8 17:9 “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told 9 a widow who lives there to provide for you.” 17:10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, “Please give me a cup 10 of water, so I can take a drink.” 17:11 As she went to get it, he called out to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.” 11 17:12 She said, “As certainly as the Lord your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.” 12 17:13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned. 13 But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. 17:14 For this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” 17:15 She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family. 14 17:16 The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, just as the Lord had promised 15 through Elijah.
17:17 After this 16 the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe. 17:18 She asked Elijah, “Why, prophet, have you come 17 to me to confront me with 18 my sin and kill my son?” 17:19 He said to her, “Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed. 17:20 Then he called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?” 17:21 He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.” 17:22 The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy’s breath returned to him and he lived. 17:23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, “See, your son is alive!” 17:24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a prophet and that the Lord really does speak through you.” 19
18:1 Some time later, in the third year of the famine, the Lord told Elijah, 20 “Go, make an appearance before Ahab, so I may send rain on the surface of the ground.” 18:2 So Elijah went to make an appearance before Ahab.
Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 21 18:3 So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who supervised the palace. (Now Obadiah was a very loyal follower of the Lord. 22 18:4 When Jezebel was killing 23 the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets and hid them in two caves in two groups of fifty. He also brought them food and water.) 18:5 Ahab told Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grazing areas 24 so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to kill 25 some of the animals.” 18:6 They divided up the land between them; Ahab went 26 one way and Obadiah went the other.
18:7 As Obadiah was traveling along, Elijah met him. 27 When he recognized him, he fell facedown to the ground and said, “Is it really you, my master, Elijah?” 18:8 He replied, “Yes, 28 go and say to your master, ‘Elijah is back.’” 29 18:9 Obadiah 30 said, “What sin have I committed that you are ready to hand your servant over to Ahab for execution? 31 18:10 As certainly as the Lord your God lives, my master has sent to every nation and kingdom in an effort to find you. When they say, ‘He’s not here,’ he makes them 32 swear an oath that they could not find you. 18:11 Now you say, ‘Go and say to your master, “Elijah is back.”’ 33 18:12 But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. 34 If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. 35 That would not be fair, 36 because your servant has been a loyal follower of 37 the Lord from my youth. 18:13 Certainly my master is aware of what I did 38 when Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets. I hid one hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves in two groups of fifty and I brought them food and water. 18:14 Now you say, ‘Go and say to your master, “Elijah is back,”’ 39 but he will kill me.” 18:15 But Elijah said, “As certainly as the Lord who rules over all 40 lives (whom I serve), 41 I will make an appearance before him today.”
18:16 When Obadiah went and informed Ahab, the king went to meet Elijah. 42 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, he 43 said to him, “Is it really you, the one who brings disaster 44 on Israel?” 18:18 Elijah 45 replied, “I have not brought disaster 46 on Israel. But you and your father’s dynasty have, by abandoning the Lord’s commandments and following the Baals. 18:19 Now send out messengers 47 and assemble all Israel before me at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah whom Jezebel supports. 48
18:20 Ahab sent messengers to all the Israelites and had the prophets assemble at Mount Carmel. 18:21 Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? 49 If the Lord is the true God, 50 then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word. 18:22 Elijah said to them: 51 “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. 18:23 Let them bring us two bulls. Let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, cut it up into pieces, and place it on the wood. But they must not set it on fire. I will do the same to the other bull and place it on the wood. But I will not set it on fire. 18:24 Then you 52 will invoke the name of your god, and I will invoke the name of the Lord. The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God.” 53 All the people responded, “This will be a fair test.” 54
18:25 Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls for yourselves and go first, for you are the majority. Invoke the name of your god, but do not light a fire.” 55 18:26 So they took a bull, as he had suggested, 56 and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped 57 around on the altar they had made. 58 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.” 59 18:28 So they yelled louder and, in accordance with their prescribed ritual, 60 mutilated themselves with swords and spears until their bodies were covered with blood. 61 18:29 Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, 62 but there was no sound, no answer, and no response. 63
18:30 Elijah then told all the people, “Approach me.” So all the people approached him. He repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. 64 18:31 Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of tribes that descended from Jacob, to whom the Lord had said, “Israel will be your new 65 name.” 66 18:32 With the stones he constructed an altar for the Lord. 67 Around the altar he made a trench large enough to contain two seahs 68 of seed. 18:33 He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. 18:34 Then he said, “Fill four water jars and pour the water on the offering and the wood.” When they had done so, 69 he said, “Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. 18:35 The water flowed down all sides of the altar and filled the trench. 18:36 When it was time for the evening offering, 70 Elijah the prophet approached the altar 71 and prayed: “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove 72 today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 18:37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are the true God 73 and that you are winning back their allegiance.” 74 18:38 Then fire from the Lord fell from the sky. 75 It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench. 18:39 When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, “The Lord is the true God! 76 The Lord is the true God!” 18:40 Elijah told them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let even one of them escape!” So they seized them, and Elijah led them down to the Kishon Valley and executed 77 them there.
18:41 Then Elijah told Ahab, “Go on up and eat and drink, for the sound of a heavy rainstorm can be heard.” 78 18:42 So Ahab went on up to eat and drink, while Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel. He bent down toward the ground and put his face between his knees. 18:43 He told his servant, “Go on up and look in the direction of the sea.” So he went on up, looked, and reported, “There is nothing.” 79 Seven times Elijah sent him to look. 80 18:44 The seventh time the servant 81 said, “Look, a small cloud, the size of the palm of a man’s hand, is rising up from the sea.” Elijah 82 then said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up the chariots and go down, so that the rain won’t overtake you.’” 83 18:45 Meanwhile the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind blew, and there was a heavy rainstorm. Ahab rode toward 84 Jezreel. 18:46 Now the Lord energized Elijah with power; 85 he tucked his robe into his belt 86 and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
1 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
2 tn Heb “except at the command of my word.”
3 tn Heb “and the word of the
4 tn Heb “commanded.”
5 tn Heb “to provide for you.”
6 tn Heb “So he went and did.”
7 tn Heb “And it came about at the end of days.”
8 tn Heb “And the word of the
9 tn Heb “Look, I have commanded.”
10 tn Heb “a little.”
11 tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “in your hand.”
12 tn Heb “Look, I am gathering two sticks and then I will go and make it for me and my son and we will eat it and we will die.”
13 tn Heb “according to your word.”
14 tn Heb “and she ate, she and he and her house [for] days.”
15 tn Heb “out, according to the word of the
16 tn Heb “after these things.”
17 tn Heb “What to me and to you, man of God, that you have come.”
18 tn Heb “to make me remember.”
19 tn Heb “you are a man of God and the word of the
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
20 tn Heb “the word of the
21 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
22 tn Heb “now Obadiah greatly feared the
23 tn Heb “cutting off.”
24 tn Heb “grass.”
25 tn Heb “to cut off.”
26 tn The Hebrew text has “alone” here and again in reference to Obadiah toward the end of the verse.
27 tn Heb “look, Elijah [came] to meet him.”
28 tn Heb “[It is] I.”
29 tn Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”
30 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Obadiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 tn Heb “to kill me.”
32 tn Heb “he makes the kingdom or the nation swear an oath.”
33 tn Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”
34 tn Heb “to [a place] which I do not know.”
35 tn Heb “and I will go to inform Ahab and he will not find you and he will kill me.”
36 tn The words “that would not be fair” are added to clarify the logic of Obadiah’s argument.
37 tn Heb “has feared the
38 tn Heb “Has it not been told to my master what I did…?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “Of course it has!”
39 tn Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”
40 tn Traditionally, “the
41 tn Heb “(before whom I stand).”
42 tn Heb “Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.”
43 tn Heb “Ahab.”
44 tn Or “trouble.”
45 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46 tn Or “trouble.”
47 tn The word “messengers” is supplied in the translation both here and in v. 20 for clarification.
48 tn Heb “who eat at the table of Jezebel.”
49 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.
50 tn Heb “the God.”
51 tn Heb “to the people.”
52 tn Elijah now directly addresses the prophets.
53 tn Heb “the God.”
54 tn Heb “The matter [i.e., proposal] is good [i.e., acceptable].”
55 tc The last sentence of v. 25 is absent in the Syriac Peshitta.
56 tn Heb “and they took the bull which he allowed them.”
57 tn Heb “limped” (the same verb is used in v. 21).
58 tc The MT has “which he made,” but some medieval Hebrew
59 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.
60 tn Or “as was their custom.”
61 tn Heb “until blood poured out on them.”
sn mutilated…covered with blood. This self-mutilation was a mourning rite designed to facilitate Baal’s return from the underworld.
62 tn Heb “when noon passed they prophesied until the offering up of the offering.”
63 tc The Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta include the following words here: “When it was time to offer the sacrifice, Elijah the Tishbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations: ‘Stand aside for the time being, and I will offer my burnt offering.’ So they stood aside and departed.”
sn In 2 Kgs 4:31 the words “there was no sound and there was no response” are used to describe a dead boy. Similar words are used here to describe the god Baal as dead and therefore unresponsive.
64 sn Torn down. The condition of the altar symbolizes the spiritual state of the people.
65 tn The word “new” is implied but not actually present in the Hebrew text.
66 sn Israel will be your new name. See Gen 32:28; 35:10.
67 tn Heb “and he built the stones into an altar in the name of the
68 tn A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about seven quarts.
69 tn The words “when they had done so” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
70 tn Heb “at the offering up of the offering.”
71 tn The words “the altar” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
72 tn Heb “let it be known.”
73 tn Heb “the God.”
74 tn Heb “that you are turning their heart[s] back.”
75 tn The words “from the sky” are added for stylistic reasons.
76 tn Heb “the God” (the phrase occurs twice in this verse).
77 tn Or “slaughtered.”
78 tn Heb “for [there is] the sound of the roar of the rain.”
79 sn So he went on up, looked, and reported, “There is nothing.” Several times in this chapter those addressed by Elijah obey his orders. In vv. 20 and 42 Ahab does as instructed, in vv. 26 and 28 the prophets follow Elijah’s advice, and in vv. 30, 34, 40 and 43 the people and servants do as they are told. By juxtaposing Elijah’s commands with accounts of those commands being obeyed, the narrator emphasizes the authority of the
80 tn Heb “He said, ‘Return,’ seven times.”
81 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
82 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
83 tn Heb “so that the rain won’t restrain you.”
84 tn Heb “rode and went to.”
85 tn Heb “and the hand of the
86 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).
