1 Kings 18:27

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.” ¹ 

Ecclesiastes 8:16

Limitations of Human Wisdom

8:16 When I tried ²  to gain ³  wisdom

and to observe the activity ⁴  on earth –

even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night ⁵  –

Revelation 7:15

7:15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve ⁶  him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. ⁷ 

¹ 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.

² tn Heb “I applied my heart.”

³ tn Heb “to know.”

⁴ tn Heb “and to see the business which is done.”

⁵ tn Heb “for no one sees sleep with their eyes either day or night.” The construction גַם …כִּי (ki… gam) expresses a concessive sense: “even though” (e.g., Ps 23:4; Prov 22:6; Eccl 4:14; Isa 1:15; Lam 3:8; Hos 8:10; 9:16); cf. HALOT 196 s.v. גַּם 9; BDB 169 s.v. גַּם 6; 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c.

⁶ tn Or “worship.” The word here is λατρεύω (latreuw).

⁷ tn Grk “will spread his tent over them,” normally an idiom for taking up residence with someone, but when combined with the preposition ἐπί (epi, “over”) the idea is one of extending protection or shelter (BDAG 929 s.v. σκηνόω).