1Ki 18:1-18 - Commentary

Commentary

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Text -- 1 Kings 18:1-18 (NET)

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Context

Elijah Meets the King’s Servant

18:1 Some time later, in the third year of the famine, the Lord told Elijah, “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. 18:3 So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who supervised the palace. (Now Obadiah was a very loyal follower of the Lord. 18:4 When Jezebel was killing 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 so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to kill some of the animals.” 18:6 They divided up the land between them; Ahab went one way and Obadiah went the other. 18:7 As Obadiah was traveling along, Elijah met him. When he recognized him, he fell facedown to the ground and said, “Is it really you, my master, Elijah?” 18:8 He replied, “Yes, go and say to your master, ‘Elijah is back.’” 18:9 Obadiah said, “What sin have I committed that you are ready to hand your servant over to Ahab for execution? 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 swear an oath that they could not find you. 18:11 Now you say, ‘Go and say to your master, “Elijah is back.”’ 18:12 But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. That would not be fair, because your servant has been a loyal follower of the Lord from my youth. 18:13 Certainly my master is aware of what I did 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,”’ but he will kill me.” 18:15 But Elijah said, “As certainly as the Lord who rules over all lives (whom I serve), I will make an appearance before him today.”

Elijah Confronts Baal’s Prophets

18:16 When Obadiah went and informed Ahab, the king went to meet Elijah. 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is it really you, the one who brings disaster on Israel?” 18:18 Elijah replied, “I have not brought disaster on Israel. But you and your father’s dynasty have, by abandoning the Lord’s commandments and following the Baals.

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ITL

Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:

· Ahab son and successor of Omri, king of Israel,son of Kolaiah; a false prophet in the time of King Zedekiah

· Baal a pagan god,a title of a pagan god,a town in the Negeb on the border of Simeon and Judah,son of Reaiah son of Micah; a descendant of Reuben,the forth son of Jeiel, the Benjamite

· Elijah a prophet from the 9th century B.C.,a prophet from Tishbe in Gilead to Israel in King Ahab's time,son of Jeroham of Benjamin,a priest of the Harim clan who put away his heathen wife,a layman of the Bani Elam clan who put away his heathen wife

· Israel a citizen of Israel.,a member of the nation of Israel

· Jezebel the wife of King Ahab of Israel,wife of Ahab and mother of Jehoram, kings of Israel; daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians

· Obadiah a man who was in charge of king Ahab's household,son of Arnan, a descendant of Hananiah, Zerubbabel and David,son of Izrahiah of Issachar,son of Azel of Benjamin,son of Shemaiah; a Levite leader of a group of returned exiles,a Gadite officer who defected to David in the wilderness,a man of Zebulun in Saul and David's time,a prince King Jehoshaphat sent to teach the law around Judah,son of Jehiel; head of the Joab Clan group of returnees,a priest who signed the covenant to keep God's law,a gatekeeper in the time of Nehemiah

· Samaria residents of the district of Samaria

Table of Contents

Verse Notes / Footnotes NET Notes

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:1 Heb “the word of the Lord came to Elijah.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:2 For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:3 Heb “now Obadiah greatly feared the Lord.” “Fear” refers here to obedience and allegiance, the products of healthy respect for...

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:4 Heb “cutting off.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:5 Heb “to cut off.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:6 The Hebrew text has “alone” here and again in reference to Obadiah toward the end of the verse.

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:7 Heb “look, Elijah [came] to meet him.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:8 Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:9 Heb “to kill me.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:10 Heb “he makes the kingdom or the nation swear an oath.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:11 Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:12 Heb “has feared the Lord” (also see the note at 1 Kgs 18:3).

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:13 Heb “Has it not been told to my master what I did…?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “Of course it has!”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:14 Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:15 Heb “(before whom I stand).”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:16 Heb “Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:17 Or “trouble.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 18:18 Or “trouble.”

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