1 Kings 18:1-15 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 18:1-16

In these verses we find, I. The sad state of Israel at this time, upon two accounts:? 1. Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord (1 Kgs. 18:4), slew them, 1 Kgs. 18:13. Being an idolater, she was a persecutor, and made Ahab one. Even in those bad times, when the calves were worshipped and the temple at Jerusalem deserted, yet there were some good people that feared God and served him, and some good prophets that instructed them in the knowledge of him and assisted them in their devotions. The... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:1

And it came to pass after many days ,.... When two years and more were gone from the time the drought and famine began; or rather from the time of the prophets departure to the brook Cherith, which might be six months after the famine began: that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year ; of his absence from Ahab: saying, go show thyself unto Ahab ; whom he had not seen so long, and who had been seeking for him, but to no purpose: and I will send rain upon the earth ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:2

And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab ,.... Which showed his cheerful and ready obedience to the will of God, and his great courage and magnanimity, to face a king enraged against him, and that sought his life: and there was a sore famine in Samaria ; the metropolis of the kingdom, where Ahab kept his court, and therefore must be sensible of it, and bore the greater indignation against the prophet who had foretold it. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:3

And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house ,.... Perhaps his steward: the Jews F13 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 39. 2. take him to be Obadiah the prophet, who wrote the small prophecy that goes by his name: (now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly:) who, though he did not go up to Jerusalem to worship, which ceremonial service was dispensed with in him, yet he did not worship the calves, nor Baal, but served the Lord in a spiritual manner. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:4

For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord ,.... Or slew them, as the Targum; put them to death some way or another; such as were brought up in the schools of the prophets, trained up in religious exercises, and instructed others therein: that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave ; fifty in one cave and fifty in another; for there were large caves in the land of Israel capable of holding such a number, and many more, see 1 Samuel 22:1 and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:5

And Ahab said unto Obadiah, go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks ,.... To observe in what condition they were, and the places adjoining to them, the meadows and valleys: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive ; particularly those which belonged to the king's stables, to find provisions for which it was found difficult: that we lose not all the beasts ; many of them, doubtless, were lost through the drought already, and there... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:6

So they divided the land between them, to pass through it ,.... And one took one part, and the other the other part: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself ; Ahab not caring to trust any but Obadiah, who he knew was a faithful man, lest they should be bribed by those that had grass not to discover it. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:7

And as Obadiah was in the way ,.... In his district, making his observations: behold, Elijah met him : where is not said; but he was, no doubt, upon the road from Zarephath to Samaria: and he knew him that is, Obadiah knew Elijah, having seen him at Ahab's court before he absconded: and fell on his face, and said, art thou that my lord Elijah? thus doing him honour and reverence both by words and gesture, as being an extraordinary prophet of the Lord. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:8

And he answered him, I am ,.... He did not desire to be concealed, his orders were to show and make himself known to Ahab, and Obadiah was one of his domestic servants: go tell thy lord, behold, Elijah is here ; in such a place, ready to face him at any time. Elijah, by calling Ahab the lord of Obadiah, as he tacitly reproves him for calling him lord, shows reverence to Ahab as a king, and yet that he was fearless of him, as he was the prophet and ambassador of the Lord of hosts to him. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:9

And he said, what have I sinned ,.... Or in what have I offended God or his prophet, that revenge should be taken on me in this way: that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me ? for that he supposed would be the consequence of it, as he argues and more plainly expresses his sense in the following words. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 18:1-16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 18:9

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