W M¹ 1,2. Jezebel's threat.
N¹ v 3,4. Elijah. To the desert.
w 5-7. Coming of Angel.
v 8,9-. Elijah to Horeb.
w -9. Coming of the word of Yehovah.
M² 10. Jezebel's threat.
N² x 11-. Elijah. Command.
y -11,12. Yahaveh. Manifestations.
x 13-. Elijah. Awe.
y -13. Yahaveh. Inquiry.
M³ 14. Jezebel's threat.822-800 B.C.
1 Kings 19)
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword (or, all about how he had slain).
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do [to me], and more also, if I make not your life (= soul) as the soul of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”
3 And when he saw [that], he arose (some codices read "And he feared and rose"), and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which [belongs] to Judah, and left his young man there.
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for his soul that he might die; and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my soul; for I [am] not better than my fathers.”
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an Angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise [and] eat.”
6 And he looked, and, behold, [there was] a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water at his pillow (Elijah miraculously fed 3 times. See 17:4,6). And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
7 And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise [and] eat; because the journey [is] too great for you.”
8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meal forty days and forty nights (the number of probation) to Horeb (about 150 miles) the mount of God.
9 And he came to that place to a cave, and passed the night there;
and, behold, the word of the Lord [came] to him, and He said to him, “What do you here, Elijah?” (Fig. Anthropopatheia, as though He did not know)
10 And he said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts (= Yahaveh Elohim zeb’ãõth. First occ. of this title. It occurs in 2 Sam. 5:10, but in narrative, not address. "The Lord [Yahaveh] God [Elohim] of hosts" occurs only here in Kings and Chronicles. Often in Psalms [59:5; 69:6; 80:4,19; 84:8; 89:8]. In Isa. 10:23,24; 22:5,12,14,15; 28:22. Jer.2:19; 5:14; 15:16; 35:17; 49:5; 50:25,31. Hos.12:5. Amos 5:15. After the return from captivity "Lord of hosts" occurs 14 times in Haggai; about 50 in Zechariah; and 25 in Malachi. But "Lord God of hosts" is not found in those Books): for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my soul, to take it away.” (Quoted in Romans 11:2,3. "Altars" - they were the lay altars [local] for customary individual offerings by laymen, as well as at Jerusalem. These had no horns)
11 And He said, “Go forth (Sept. adds "tomorrow"), and stand upon the mount before the Lord.”
And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind (Her. ruach = invisible force) tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord; [but] the Lord [was] not in the wind (He commanded it): and after the wind an earthquake; [but] the Lord [was] not in the earthquake:
12 And after the earthquake a fire; [but] the Lord [was] not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice (= the sound of stillness. Cp. Job 4:16. Sept. = a gentle breeze, usually misquoted "the still", &c. It was the voice of God. He cares. See 1 Cor.2:4).
13 And it was [so], when Elijah heard [it], that he wrapped his face in his mantle (as Moses at the bush [Ex. 3:6]), and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave.
And, behold, [there came] a voice to him, and said, “What do you here, Elijah?”
14 And he said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my soul, to take it away.”
X O z 15-. Return of Elijah. Commanded.
a -15,16. Anoitings. Commanded.
P b¹ 17. Prophecy.
b² 18. History.
O z 19-. Return of Elijah. Effected.
a -19-21. Anointings. Effected.15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return to your way to the wilderness of Damascus (i.e. out of which he had deviated):
and when you come, anoint (i.e. cause to be anointed. Cp. 2 Kings 9:1-7) Hazael [to be] king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the grandson of Nimshi (see 2 Kings 9:2) shall you anoint [to be] king over Israel: and Elisha (= El = my God is salvation) the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shall you anoint [to be] prophet in thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay (fig. put for judgments inflicted by it. Cp. 2 Kings 9 and 10. The first prophecy given to Elijah): and him that escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left [me] seven thousand in Israel (7 x 1000 = spiritual perfection x divine completeness and the Glory of God. See Rom.11:4), all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him (fig. put for worshiping. Cp. Hos.3:12. Also cp. Job 31:26,27).
19 So he departed from that place,
and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who [was] plowing [with] twelve yoke [of oxen] before him (seven separate plows following each other. Often seen today), and he with the twelfth (#12 = governmental perfection or completeness): and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him (cp. Zech.13:4).
20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me, I pray you, kiss my father and my mother, and [then] I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again: for what have I done to you?” (or, "what is the meaning of what I did?")
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen (cp. 2 Sam. 24:22), and gave to the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.