They prophesied - They made incessant prayer and supplication; a farther proof that to pray or supplicate is the proper ideal meaning of the word נבא naba , which we constantly translate to prophesy, when even all the circumstances of the time and place are against such a meaning. See what is said on the case of Saul among the prophets, in the note on 1 Samuel 10:5 ; (note). read more
He repaired the altar of the Lord - There had been an altar of Jehovah in that place, called, even among the heathens, the altar of Carmel, probably built in the time of the judges, or, as the rabbins imagine, by Saul. Tacitus and Suetonius mention an altar on Mount Carmel, which Vespasian went to consult; there was no temple nor statue, but simply an altar that was respectable for its antiquity. " Est Judaeam inter Syriamque Carmelus; ita vocant montem Deumque: nec simulachrum... read more
Took twelve stones - He did this to show that all the twelve tribes of Israel should be joined in the worship of Jehovah. read more
He made a trench - This was to detain the water that might fall down from the altar when the barrels should be poured upon it, 1 Kings 18:35 . read more
Fill four barrels - This was done to prevent any kind of suspicion that there was fire concealed under the altar. An ancient writer under the name of Chrysostom, quoted by Calmet, says that he had seen under the altars of the heathens, holes dug in the earth with funnels proceeding from them, and communicating with openings on the tops of the altars. In the former the priests concealed fire, which, communicating through the funnels with the holes, set fire to the wood and consumed the... read more
Lord God of Abraham - He thus addressed the Supreme Being, that they might know when the answer was given, that it was the same God whom the patriarchs and their fathers worshipped, and thus have their hearts turned back again to the true religion of their ancestors. read more
Then the fire of the Lord fell - It did not burst out from the altar; this might still, notwithstanding the water, have afforded some ground for suspicion that fire had been concealed, after the manner of the heathens, under the altar. Pindar's account of the Rhodians' settling is the isle of Rhodes, and their first sacrifice there, bears a near affinity to the account here given: the shower of gold descending on the sacrifice offered up without fire, to show the approbation of... read more
Fell on their faces - Struck with awe and reverence at the sight of this incontestable miracle. And they said - We should translate the words thus: Jehovah, He is the God! Jehovah, He is the God! Baal is not the God; Jehovah alone is the God of Israel. As our term Lord is very equivocal, we should every where insert the original word יהוה , which we should write Yeve or Yeheveh, or Yahvah or Yehueh, or, according to the points, Yehovah. read more
Let not one of them escape - They had committed the highest crime against the state and the people by introducing idolatry, and bringing down God's judgments upon the land; therefore their lives were forfeited to that law which had ordered every idolater to be slain. It seems also that Ahab, who was present, consented to this act of impartial justice. read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 18:28
They cried aloud - The poor fools acted as they were bidden. And cut themselves after their manner - This was done according to the rites of that barbarous religion; if the blood of the bullock would not move him they thought their own blood might; and with it they smeared themselves and their sacrifice. This was not only the custom of the idolatrous Israelites, but of the Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Indians, and in short of all the heathen world. read more