1 Kings 19


1 Kings 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section comprising 1 Kings 16:15 to 2 Kings 8:29 which documents the period of the Omrides. The focus of this chapter is the activity of prophet Elijah during the reign of king Ahab in the northern kingdom.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and since the 16th century is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Elijah's flight to Horeb (19:1–8)

The strife for the exclusive worship of Yahweh and against Baalism in Israel took longer time and less straightforward than expected from 1 Kings 18—a fact reflected in Elijah's sudden flight to
Horeb, the name used in the Book of Deuteronomy and Chronicles for Mount Sinai, where the Israelites received the Ten Commandments. The dispirited Elijah miraculously received food and water as well as encouragement twice before reaching the mountain of God.

Verse 3

  • "And when he saw that": from Hebrew: וַיַּ֗רְא ; The Greek Septuagint follows the reading וַיִרָא and renders it as καὶ ἐφοβήθη, "and he was afraid", which makes sense but unnecessary, because Elijah clearly understood the threat for his life when he "saw" the message from Jezebel.
  • Beersheba: a frontier town far to the south of Jerusalem which was little mentioned after the patriarchal time. The note that "it belonged to Judah" was significant because the kingdom of Judah under Jehoshaphat was in an alliance with the kingdom of Israel, so Elijah might not be safe there, although his servant might stay safely there.

    Elijah's meeting with God on Horeb (19:9–18)

Patterning after Moses who met God on Mount Horeb Elijah hoped to have a similar meeting. However, instead of encountering God in impressive natural phenomena nor in violent power, Elijah met a completely different God whose approach was 'extremely powerful and quietly beautiful', a clear contrast to that of 1 Kings 18 and especially 2 Kings 10. The prophet was twice asked the reason for his presence, and twice he replied with the same frustration, as if God had not appeared to him in the meantime. God spoke of the 7,000 Israelites who did not kneel before Baal to redress the balance of Elijah's complaint about his apparent solitude. During that meeting Elijah was charged to enlist three warriors for Yahweh's cause, two of whom would 'draw a line of blood through history': Hazael of Aram and Jehu of Israel. The third one is the prophet Elisha who would actually anoint the other two to carry out Elijah's mission after Elijah was taken up to heaven.

Verses 11–12

  • "A still small voice": or "a delicate whispering voice", "a low whisper" or "a sound, a thin silence" from Hebrew קול דממה דקה, ; can be rendered as "a voice of gentle silence". "Demamah" is an onomatopoetic word meaning "whisper", rendered as "silence" in. This is not unconnected to God's instructions to Elijah to anoint Hazael, Jehu and Elisha, to set up a new order that would 'bring about the final victory over Baal worship', not by 'spectacular demonstrations of divine power' as in chapter 18, but 'through a political process' in which God removed some kings and appointed others.

    Elijah charges Elisha (19:19–21)

In his lifetime, Elijah only fulfilled one out of three required appointments in 19:15-16, that is of Elisha, who would fulfill the other two appointments, when he later took over Elijah's staff. Becoming Elijah's disciple required Elisha, who appeared to be a rich farmer, to relinquish his property and family and only to 'follow' Elijah
. After Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha would anoint Hazael and Jehu.

Verse 19

  • "Cast his mantle": This act was apparently a part of the form of adoption of a child, here in spiritual significance, which Elisha correctly understood after a moment's bewilderment. The mantle would have been 'the rough hair-mantle characteristic of the ascetic recluse' as described of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8, and, in the New Testament, of John the Baptist, as well as included in a warning in Zechariah 13:4 that the prophets ‘shall not wear a rough garment to deceive.’

    Verse 21

  • "And ministered unto him": from Hebrew: וַיְשָׁרְתֵֽהוּ, literally, "and became his servant", using the same root word to describe the relationship of Joshua with Moses. Elisha decisively turned his back on the life he had by 'destroying his previous means of sustenance' and became fully enlisted as Elijah's servant.