Discovery Box1 Kings 18:26 
Context18:26 So they took a bull, as he had suggested, 1 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 2 around on the altar they had made. 3
1 Kings 18:29
Context18:29 Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, 4 but there was no sound, no answer, and no response. 5
1 tn Heb “and they took the bull which he allowed them.”
2 tn Heb “limped” (the same verb is used in v. 21).
3 tc The MT has “which he made,” but some medieval Hebrew
4 tn Heb “when noon passed they prophesied until the offering up of the offering.”
5 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.
