And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him ,.... In order to awake him out of sleep: and said unto him, arise, and eat, because the journey is too great for thee ; which he had to go to Horeb, without eating more than he had; and there were no provisions to be had in a common way and manner in his road thither. read more
The journey is too great for thee - From Beer-sheba to Horeb was about one hundred and fifty miles. read more
Elijah's Prayer for Death. How erratic have been the movements of this prophet! Our first introduction to him is at the court of Ahab, whence, as soon as he utters his prophecy, he is away to Cherith in the east, among the wilds of Gilead. Next we find him in the north, at Zarephath of Zidon. Then he meets Obadiah, probably in the plain of Esdraelon, whence he passes over to Carmel in the west. From Carmel he runs before Ahab's horses to the entrance of Jezreel. The next day finds him on... read more
The Prophet's Despair. I. ELIJAH 'S WEAKNESS . 1 . His disappointment . With the hand of the Lord upon him he had come to Jezreel ( 1 Kings 18:46 ). Was it not because a further success for God awaited him there? Could Carmel's wonders and the mercy of God in the rain now flooding the earth be resisted? Jezebel's message, displaying only determined and increased hostility, rudely dispels the dream. The blighting of the long-expected fruit of prayer and waiting and mightiest... read more
The Desponding Prophet. A marvellous change has come over Elijah. It is difficult to imagine a more complete contrast than is presented by his moral attitude in this and the previous chapters. He who just before has so boldly confronted the proud king, and defied the priests of Baal, standing without fear before his flaming altar, and sternly carrying out the judgment of God on the corrupters of His people, is now filled with dismay, and flies from the post of duty and of danger. So... read more
The Desponding Prophet. A marvellous change has come over Elijah. It is difficult to imagine a more complete contrast than is presented by his moral attitude in this and the previous chapters. He who just before has so boldly confronted the proud king, and defied the priests of Baal, standing without fear before his flaming altar, and sternly carrying out the judgment of God on the corrupters of His people, is now filled with dismay, and flies from the post of duty and of danger. So... read more
And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him [ i.e; to awaken him. It was the food was to strengthen him], and said, Arise and eat [Probably he had eaten but little the first time, for sorrow and weariness]; because the journey is too great for thee. [The LXX . ὅτι πολλὴ ἀπὸ σοῦ ἡ ὁδός and the Vulgate grandis enim tibi restat via, which Bähr follows, seem hardly so true to the Hebrew idiom as the A.V. rendering. Keil cites Vatablus, iter... read more
" Arise and eat ." Though this was supernatural food, so far as we can see miraculously provided, and in any case of preternatural efficacy, yet it must be taken and eaten in the ordinary way. Elijah might have been endued with strength for his desert journey without the aid of any material elements. The angel's touch or even the word of the Lord would surely have sufficed ( 6:21 ; Ezekiel 2:2 ; Ezekiel 3:24 ; Luke 7:7 ). Instead of which a cake is baken on the coals, and he must... read more
Arise and eat ... - i. e., “Eat a second time, for otherwise the journey will be beyond thy powers.” “The journey” was not simply a pilgrimage to Horeb, which was less than 200 miles distant, and might have been reached in six or seven days. It was to be a wandering in the wilderness, not unlike that of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt; only it was to last forty days instead of forty years. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 19:1-8
One would have expected, after such a public and sensible manifestation of the glory of God and such a clear decision of the controversy depending between him and Baal, to the honour of Elijah, the confusion of Baal's prophets, and the universal satisfaction of the people?after they had seen both fire and water come from heaven at the prayer of Elijah, and both in mercy to them, the one as it signified the acceptance of their offering, the other as it refreshed their inheritance, which was... read more