1 Kings 18:7-16

18:7 As Obadiah was traveling along, Elijah met him. ¹  When he recognized him, he fell facedown to the ground and said, “Is it really you, my master, Elijah?” 18:8 He replied, “Yes, ²  go and say to your master, ‘Elijah is back.’” ³  18:9 Obadiah ⁴  said, “What sin have I committed that you are ready to hand your servant over to Ahab for execution? ⁵  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 ⁶  swear an oath that they could not find you. 18:11 Now you say, ‘Go and say to your master, “Elijah is back.”’ ⁷  18:12 But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. ⁸  If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. ⁹  That would not be fair, ¹⁰  because your servant has been a loyal follower of ¹¹  the Lord from my youth. 18:13 Certainly my master is aware of what I did ¹²  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,”’ ¹³  but he will kill me.” 18:15 But Elijah said, “As certainly as the Lord who rules over all ¹⁴  lives (whom I serve), ¹⁵  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. ¹⁶ 

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

[18:8]  ² tn Heb “[It is] I.”

[18:8]  ³ tn Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”

[18:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Obadiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “to kill me.”

[18:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “he makes the kingdom or the nation swear an oath.”

[18:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”

[18:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “to [a place] which I do not know.”

[18:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I will go to inform Ahab and he will not find you and he will kill me.”

[18:12]  ¹⁰ tn The words “that would not be fair” are added to clarify the logic of Obadiah’s argument.

[18:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “has feared the Lord” (also see the note at 1 Kgs 18:3).

[18:13]  ¹² tn Heb “Has it not been told to my master what I did…?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “Of course it has!”

[18:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”

[18:15]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of Hosts.”

[18:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “(before whom I stand).”

[18:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.”