57 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 18 In this chapter Elijah has an order from the Lord to show himself to Ahab, who, going first, and meeting with a servant of his, Obadiah, charges him to tell his master where he was, that he might meet him, 1 Kings 18:1, and, upon meeting him, desires that all Israel, and the prophets of Baal, might be convened, which was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
We left the prophet Elijah wrapt up in obscurity. It does not appear that either the increase of the provision or the raising of the child had caused him to be taken notice of at Zarephath, for then Ahab would have discovered him; he would rather do good than be known to do it. But in this chapter his appearance was as public as before his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house,.... Perhaps his steward: the Jews (m) 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As the Lord thy God liveth,.... Which is the form of an oath he thought fit to make, to ascertain the truth of what he was about to say: there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; which is either an hyperbolical expression, signifying he had sought for him in many places, and in every place he could think of; or it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And now thou sayest, go tell thy lord, behold, Elijah is here. Which, if I should not be able to make good, would be of fatal consequence to me; and that it is plain he feared, by what he next says.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not,.... This he supposed might possibly, and very probably, be the case, since small raptures might have been already, and known to Obadiah, as there were afterwards, see 2 Kings 2:16, and then he should not know where he was,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord? how I hid one hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?] [See comments on 1 Kings 18:4], this he said not in a way of ostentation, but to show that it would be very ungenerous and ungrateful, as well as impolitic, to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And now thou sayest, go tell my lord, behold, Elijah [is here]: and he shall slay me. That is, should he carry such a message to him, and Elijah should be removed elsewhere, and not to be found.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elijah said, as the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand,.... In whose presence he was, and whose prophet and minister he was; he takes this oath, to assure Obadiah that he would certainly be upon the spot, or to be found, and not expose him to any danger: I will surely show myself unto him today; he was determined at all events to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him,.... That Elijah was in such a place, and had desired him to inform him of it, and was ready to appear before him that day wherever he pleased; for upon the prophet's oath Obadiah was entirely satisfied, and was in no fear of delivering the message: and Ahab went to meet Elijah; though perhaps the bold...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah,.... As soon as he came up to him, and knew who he was; Abarbinel thinks, because his hair was grown so long that Ahab did not know him certainly, and therefore put the following question: that Ahab said unto him, art thou he that troubleth Israel? by opposing the religion of Baal, which prevailed among...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel: but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and Thou hast followed Baalim. It is the way of men to cast the blame of their trouble not upon their sin and...