1 Kings 18:28

And they cried aloud [Heb. in a great voice, as above. It was not that they took Elijah's words au serieux, but his scorn led them to redouble their efforts, if only to testify their faith in their god. The frantic cries of the Greek Easter in Jerusalem, the prayers of the pilgrims for the descent of the holy fire, may help us to realize the scene here described], and cut themselves [cf. Deuteronomy 14:1 ; Jeremiah 16:6 ; Jeremiah 41:5 ; Jeremiah 47:5 ] after their manner [Keil quotes from Movers, Phoniz. 1. pp. 682-83, a description of the religious dances offered to the Dea Syria . "A discordant howling opens the scene. Then they rush wildly about in perfect confusion, with their heads bowed down to the ground, but always revolving in circles, so that the loosened hair drags through the mire; then they begin to bite their arms, and end with cutting themselves with the two-edged swords which they are in the habit of carrying. A new scene then opens. One of them, who surpasses all the rest in frenzy, begins to prophesy with sighs and groans," etc. In the "Contemporary Review," vol. 27, pp. 371 sqq; Bishop Caldwell has graphically described the devil dances of Southern India—a description which may be read with profit in this connexion. One sentence may be transcribed here: "He cuts and hacks and hews himself, and not unfrequently kills himself there and then." Kitto mentions "the furious gashes which the Persians inflict upon themselves in their frantic annual lamentation for Hossein." Rawlinson says this was also common among the Carians and Phrygians] with knives [Heb. swords ] and lancets [Heb. lances, spears . The A.V. is misleading. The instruments they used were weapons of heavy-armed troops. For רְמָחִים , see Numbers 25:7 ; 5:8 ; Jeremiah 46:4 ], till the blood gushed out upon them. [Heb. until the shedding of blood upon them . It is perfectly clear that their faith in Baal was sincere and profound. Making due allowance for the fact that they were under the eyes of their king and patron, and of representatives of the entire people, it is still impossible to doubt their sincerity. Some of them, it is probable, were Phoenicians. "Of one thing I am assured—the devil dancer never shams excitement" (Caldwell).]