1 Kings · WEB-C
1 Kings
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After many days, the LORD’s word came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain on the earth.” See also: Luke 4:25James 5:171 Kings 17:1Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. See also: Leviticus 26:26Psalms 51:4Jeremiah 14:18Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly; See also: Nehemiah 7:21 Kings 16:9Matthew 10:28for when Jezebel cut off the LORD’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) See also: 1 Kings 18:13Matthew 10:40-42Matthew 25:40Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land, to all the springs of water, and to all the brooks. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose all the animals.” See also: Jeremiah 14:5-6Joel 1:18Habakkuk 3:17So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. See also: Jeremiah 14:3As Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. He recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” See also: 2 Kings 1:6-81 Kings 11:29Genesis 50:18He answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here!’” See also: 1 Kings 18:31 Peter 2:17-18Romans 13:7He said, “How have I sinned, that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? See also: 1 Kings 17:181 Kings 18:12Exodus 5:21As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath of the kingdom and nation that they didn’t find you. See also: 1 Kings 17:1Psalms 12:7-81 Kings 17:12Now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’ See also: 1 Kings 18:81 Kings 18:14It will happen, as soon as I leave you, that the LORD’s Spirit will carry you I don’t know where; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he can’t find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the LORD from my youth. See also: Acts 8:392 Kings 2:16Ezekiel 8:3Wasn’t it told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the LORD’s prophets, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD’s prophets with fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? See also: 1 Kings 18:4Matthew 25:351 Thessalonians 2:9-10Now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here”.’ He will kill me.” See also: Matthew 10:28Elijah said, “As the LORD of Armies lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” See also: 1 Kings 17:11 Kings 18:10Psalms 24:8-10So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” See also: Joshua 7:251 Kings 21:20Acts 17:6He answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house, in that you have forsaken the LORD’s commandments and you have followed the Baals. See also: 2 Chronicles 15:21 Kings 9:9Jeremiah 2:19Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” See also: 1 Kings 16:33Joshua 19:262 Kings 2:25So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together to Mount Carmel. See also: 1 Kings 22:9Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you waver between the two sides? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people didn’t say a word. See also: Matthew 6:24Joshua 24:151 Corinthians 10:21-22Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left as a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred fifty men. See also: 1 Kings 19:101 Kings 19:141 Kings 20:13Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the LORD’s name. The God who answers by fire, let him be God.” All the people answered, “What you say is good.” See also: 1 Kings 18:381 Chronicles 21:26Leviticus 9:24Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves, and dress it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, “Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice, and nobody answered. They leaped about the altar which was made. See also: Jeremiah 10:51 Corinthians 12:21 Corinthians 8:4At noon, Elijah mocked them, and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is deep in thought, or he has gone somewhere, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened.” See also: Isaiah 41:23Psalms 78:65-66Ecclesiastes 11:9They cried aloud, and cut themselves in their way with knives and lances until the blood gushed out on them. See also: Leviticus 19:28Deuteronomy 14:1Mark 5:5When midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the evening offering; but there was no voice, no answer, and nobody paid attention. See also: Exodus 29:41Exodus 29:392 Timothy 3:8-9Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me!”; and all the people came near to him. He repaired the LORD’s altar that had been thrown down. See also: 2 Chronicles 33:161 Kings 19:141 Kings 19:10Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the LORD’s word came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” See also: 2 Kings 17:34Genesis 32:28Genesis 35:10With the stones he built an altar in the LORD’s name. He made a trench around the altar large enough to contain two seahs of seed. See also: Colossians 3:17Exodus 20:24-251 Samuel 7:9He put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” See also: Genesis 22:9Judges 6:20Leviticus 1:6-8He said, “Do it a second time;” and they did it the second time. He said, “Do it a third time;” and they did it the third time. See also: 2 Corinthians 8:212 Corinthians 4:2The water ran around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. See also: 1 Kings 18:321 Kings 18:38At the time of the evening offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. See also: 1 Kings 18:29Exodus 3:62 Kings 19:19Hear me, LORD, hear me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again.” See also: Daniel 9:17-19Luke 1:16-17Ezekiel 36:25-27Then the LORD’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust; and it licked up the water that was in the trench. See also: Leviticus 9:241 Chronicles 21:262 Chronicles 7:1When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, “The LORD, he is God! The LORD, he is God!” See also: 1 Kings 18:242 Chronicles 7:31 Kings 18:21Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let one of them escape!” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there. See also: Judges 4:7Deuteronomy 18:20Deuteronomy 13:5Elijah said to Ahab, “Get up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” See also: 1 Kings 18:11 Kings 17:1Ecclesiastes 9:7So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put his face between his knees. See also: Luke 6:121 Kings 18:19-20Joshua 7:6He said to his servant, “Go up now and look toward the sea.” He went up and looked, then said, “There is nothing.” He said, “Go again” seven times. See also: Habakkuk 2:3Luke 18:7Luke 18:1On the seventh time, he said, “Behold, a small cloud, like a man’s hand, is rising out of the sea.” He said, “Go up, tell Ahab, ‘Get ready and go down, so that the rain doesn’t stop you.’” See also: Luke 12:54Job 8:7Micah 1:13In a little while, the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. See also: 1 Kings 21:11 Kings 18:39-402 Kings 9:16The LORD’s hand was on Elijah; and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. See also: Ezekiel 3:14Ezekiel 1:32 Kings 3:15
See also: Cross references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), derived in part from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
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Notes · Haydock (1859, public domain)33 notes
Notes in English 19th-century Catholic commentary by Fr. George Leo Haydock, shown as published.
These notes keep the polemics of their time: some speak harshly of the Jewish people or of other Christians. The Church teaches otherwise today. The Jewish people may not be blamed for the death of Christ (Nostra Aetate 4; Catechism 597–598), and Christians of other communities are our brothers and sisters in the Lord (Unitatis Redintegratio 3). Christian unity
1 Kings 18:1
Ver. 1. Year of his sojourning at Sarephta. As other six months elapsed before the drought was removed, it is probable that Elias had spent them at Carith. S.
Jam. v. 17. C. --- Earth. God is pleased to withdraw his chastisement, though the guilty were not yet reclaimed. Salien.
↑ 11 Kings 18:2
Ver. 2. Samaria, and the vicinity. The people could procure corn from a distance. But Achab is solicitous to find grass, v. 5.
↑ 21 Kings 18:3
Ver. 3. Abdias. Some suppose that he was the fourth of the minor prophets, or the husband of the Sunamitess, (4 K. iv.) or the third of the captains, who were ordered by Ochozias to seize Elias, 4
K. i. 13. T. --- But this is uncertain. He took care of the persecuted prophets, (ver. 4. 13,) judging it better to obey God than man. C.
↑ 31 Kings 18:6
Ver. 6. Himself. So Providence ordered it, that the prophet might declare his sentiments to him freely. H. --- Achab would go in person, another way, that he might not be imposed upon. He was more solicitous for his cattle than for his subjects. M.
↑ 61 Kings 18:7
Ver. 7. Face, to shew him a religious veneration, due to the servant of God. W.
↑ 71 Kings 18:9
Ver. 9. Kill me, as an impostor, or an accomplice of thy escape, if afterwards thou shouldst disappear, v. 12. C.
↑ 91 Kings 18:10
Ver. 10. An oath of every kingdom, adjuring all his neighbours to tell if they knew any thing about Elias. H. --- Achab wished to make him restore rain, or to punish him for the refusal. C. ---
How stupid he must have been, not to perceive that God was punishing him!
H. --- Elias must have kept himself very retired, not to be discovered at Sarephta, which was so near, (C.) and where Jezabel's father reigned. But God could render him invisible, even upon the high road, when he went thither. H.
↑ 101 Kings 18:12
Ver. 12. Spirit. Abdias supposed that the prophet had been transported to some unknown country, (C.) as he was afterwards to paradise. His disciples imagined, by a violent wind. 4 K. ii.
16. H. --- Thus the spirit of the Lord took away Philip, (Acts viii. 39,) and conducted Jesus into the desert. Mat. iv. 1. Mar. i. 12. C. --- Infancy. This he mentions, that the prophet might take pity on him. M.
↑ 121 Kings 18:13
Ver. 13. A hundred. Hence we may judge how numerous they were. These prophets were not perhaps all inspired: but they had such at their head; and spent their time in working and in the divine praises. They were the salt and light of the earth, the pillars of the true religion, against whom Jezabel bent all her fury, during the first years of the drought. C.
↑ 131 Kings 18:14
Ver. 14. Kill me. He had expressed this fear twice before. Elias perceiving how much he was agitated, confirmed him with an oath. H.
↑ 141 Kings 18:16
Ver. 16. Meet Elias, out of respect, (Abulensis) or rather to upbraid him.
↑ 161 Kings 18:17
Ver. 17. Troublest Israel? Thus the wicked esteem those disturbers of the public repose, who will not suffer them to go on in their wickedness unmolested. Thus the Jews complain of Jesus Christ. Luke xxiii. 5. Such a war is better than a false peace: and Achab, in fact, proclaims the praise of Elias, who strove by easy means to make the people open their eyes and return to their God. C.
↑ 171 Kings 18:18
Ver. 18. House. Your impiety has brought on this scourge. I only denounced it.
Salien.
↑ 181 Kings 18:19
Ver. 19. Fifty, attached to Baal, and fed by the king; while the prophets of the groves, or of Astarte, lived at the queen's expense. They imitated the lives of the true prophets, to delude the people. --- Carmel was long after famous fo the worship of Apollo, who was the same with Baal, or the sun. Jos. xix. 26. C. ---
No mention is made of rain: but it was understood that it would be given, when the people should assemble to hear God's determination. M. --- Achab durst not therefore refuse to convoke them. H.
↑ 191 Kings 18:21
Ver. 21. Sides: sometimes adoring God; at other times the devil. C. --- Such an expostulation ought to be made to those who are indifferent about religion. W.
--- You cannot serve two masters. C. --- They wished to unite the service of both, foolishly supposing that there might be many gods; as some, at present assert that many religions may be pleasing to heaven. H. --- A word, not knowing the drift of his proposal. But, as they might perhaps rely that they considered Baal also as a god, Elias puts this to the test of a miracle; being convinced that God would never suffer the devils to prevail on this occasion.
Salien. --- They might otherwise have brought down fire, as they will do in the days of Antichrist. Apoc. xiii. 13. M.
↑ 211 Kings 18:22
Ver. 22. I. Heb. repeats "I," to make the contrast more striking. Elias alone was present, in this assembly, as the prophet of the Lord. H. --- He knew that Abdias had preserved 100: but they were concealed. --- Men. The other 400 of Jezabel did not appear.
↑ 221 Kings 18:24
Ver. 24. Call ye. He does not order them to invoke idols; but challenges them to prove their divinity, if they can. --- By fire. On such trying occasions, it is not tempting God to ask for a miracle. God had given this proof of fire repeatedly.
Gen. xv. 17. Lev. ix. 24. 2 Par. vii. 1. He will restrain the devil's power, to confirm the truth. Mark ult. W.
↑ 241 Kings 18:26
Ver. 26. That they. Heb. "which he (Achaz) had made;" (C.) or, "which was made." H. --- The altar of Elias was erected afterwards, v. 30. The prophets of Baal acted in a foolish manner, (C.) as if in jest, but really despairing of success. H. --- The pagans were accustomed to dance around their altars: ---
Pingues spatiatur ad aras. Æneid iv. --- and some would translate, "near the altar." We might apply to these prophets, the verses of Horace:---
Dedit risusque jocosque,
Dum, flamma sine, thura liquescere limine sacro
Persuadere cupit: credat Judæus Apella
Non ego. Sat. i. 5.
↑ 261 Kings 18:27
Ver. 27. Talking to some of his prophets, (C.) or in deep contemplation. Mon. ---
An inn. Sept.
"giving oracles;" or, "he is pursuing." Pagnin.
↑ 271 Kings 18:28
Ver. 28. Blood. Strange infatuation! which has nevertheless prevailed in many pagan mysteries and countries. Thus were Bellona, Cybele, the Syrian goddess, &c. honoured and appeased. C.
--- God prohibits this fury. Deut. xiv. 1. The devil always endeavours to destroy or to injure man.
M.
"Ipsa bipenne suos cædit violenta lacertos,
Sanguineque effuso spargit inepta deam." Tibullus.
↑ 281 Kings 18:29
Ver. 29. Prophesying, "acting like fools;" (Chal.) performing their superstitious rites, and singing the praises of their god, &c. C. --- Sacrifice, by Elias, who had assigned all the morning to Baal's prophets. Perhaps he waited till the time of the evening sacrifice. Ex. xxix. 38. M.
↑ 291 Kings 18:30
Ver. 30. Down, by the false prophets, whose fury the people now repressed. T.
--- The altar might have been erected, under the judges, lawfully. C.
↑ 301 Kings 18:31
Ver. 31. Twelve stones, (as Ex. xxiv. &c.) intimating that he acted in the name of all; (M.) and in order that all Israel might return with one heart to the service of God. H. --- The prophet did not follow his own spirit in erecting this altar. C.
↑ 311 Kings 18:32
Ver. 32. Furrows. Heb. "of two (sathayim) measures of seed." These furrows Elias filled with water, to impede the natural activity of fire, and to shew the miracle in a more striking light; (H.) as also to convince all that there was no deceit. An author quoted, under the name of S.
Chrysostom, says that the pagans had sometimes subterraneous passages, by which they kindled the wood on the altar, as if by miracle, ita ut multi decepti ignem illum cœlestem esse existiment.
ap. Surium iv.
↑ 321 Kings 18:34
Ver. 34. Time. So that the wood was less disposed to catch fire. M.
↑ 341 Kings 18:37
Ver. 37. Again. This effect he hoped for from the miracle.
↑ 371 Kings 18:38
Ver. 38. Trench, as if it had been of an inflammable nature. Julian himself was forced to acknowledge this miracle. "This, says he, once happened under Moses, and, a long while after, again under Elias, the Thesbite."
↑ 381 Kings 18:40
Ver. 40. Cison, at the foot of Carmel. Adrichomius. --- Achab durst not protect his prophets, being confounded by the evidence of the miracle, (M.) and the unanimity of the people's cry. H.
--- Killed them, by God's inspiration, (C.) as impostors, who had deluded the people, and were worthy of death.
↑ 401 Kings 18:41
Ver. 41. Sound. It will as surely come, as if you heard it falling. H.
↑ 411 Kings 18:42
Ver. 42. Knees, in fervent and humble prayer. God made his servant wait some time before he granted his request, that he might not give way to vanity. The people were not present, so that there was no danger of their being scandalized. M.
↑ 421 Kings 18:44
Ver. 44. Sea, the Mediterranean, which could be seen from Carmel. H. --- Hence the rain commonly came in that country. Luke xii. 54.
↑ 441 Kings 18:45
Ver. 45. Jezrahel, where Achab had a palace. C. xxi. 1. C. --- He stopped for shelter, as he had not time to reach Samaria. M.
↑ 451 Kings 18:46
Ver. 46. Before Achab, notwithstanding the king was drawn by horses, (C.) and Elias was advanced in years. C. xix. 4. M. --- The invigorating spirit gave him such strength and agility, (H.) as Jezrahel was 12 or 15 leagues, (C.) or about 36 miles, from Carmel. In the Levant, impostors still run very swiftly before the chariots of princes, to imitate Elias. C.
↑ 46License: Notes by Fr. George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), from the Douay-Rheims Bible with Haydock's commentary (first ed. Thomas Haydock, Manchester/Dublin, 1811–1814; New York: Edward Dunigan & Brother, 1859); New Testament notes compiled with Fr. Benedict Rayment. Public domain. Digital text: "The Haydock Bible", Internet Archive (archive.org/details/TheHaydockBible), uploaded 2011 under the Public Domain Mark. · Credits and licenses