838 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel..... No doubt but more discourse passed between Ahab and Elijah, though not recorded, before he made this motion to him; it is very probable, that after some dispute between them, who was the true God, and about idolatry, as the cause of want of rain, Elijah proposed to the king...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel,.... By messengers, requiring their attendance at Mount Carmel at such a time, at least their chief and principal men: and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel; the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, but not the four hundred prophets of the groves; for of them we have no account...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elijah came unto all the people,.... Assembled at Mount Carmel: and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? sometimes inclining to the one, and sometimes to the other: as a lame man in walking, his body moves sometimes to one side, and sometimes to another; or "leap ye upon two branches" (r), like a bird that leaps or hops from one branch...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only remain a prophet of the Lord,.... At least as he thought, all the rest being slain, as he supposed; however there were none present but himself: but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men; which were very great odds he had to contend with.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Let them therefore give us two bullocks,.... Who, being so many, were better able to be at the expense of them, and having the king on their party too; though perhaps no more is meant than that two bullocks should be brought thither, and presented before them: and let them choose one bullock for themselves; which of the two they would, if they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And call ye on the name of your gods,.... The Baalim, the many lords and gods they served: and I will call on the name of the Lord; the one true Jehovah and God of Israel, whom I serve: and the God that answereth by fire; by causing fire to come down upon the sacrifice, and consume it: let him be God; accounted, owned, and acknowledged as the true...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal,.... Who agreed to this proposal, though not expressed; or they signified it by their silence. Ben Gersom thinks they agreed to it, because that, according to their belief, Baal was Mars, and in the sign of Aries, one of the fiery planets, and therefore fancied he could send down fire on their sacrifice;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they took the bullock which was given them,.... By such of them as made the choice: and they dressed it; slew it, and cut it in pieces, and laid it on the wood, but put no fire under it: and called on the name of Baal, from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us; and send fire down on the sacrifice; and if the sun was their Baal,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass at noon,.... When they had been from the time of the morning sacrifice until now invoking their deity to no purpose: that Elijah mocked them; he jeered and bantered them: and said, cry aloud; your god does not hear you; perhaps, if you raise your voice higher, he may; for he is a god; according to your esteem of him, and, if...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they cried aloud,.... Trying to make him hear, if possible: and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them; so the priests of Heathen deities used to slash themselves on their shoulders, arms, and thighs, in their devotions to them, as many writers observe (z), fancying their gods were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass when midday was past,.... And nothing done, no fire descended: and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; continued praying to Baal, and singing his praises, but all to no purpose; or they behaved like madmen, as the Targum; thus they went on until it was time to offer the evening sacrifice; so...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elijah said unto all the people, come near unto me,.... And observe what I do, and what will be done at my request: and all the people came near unto him; left the prophets of Baal to themselves, and took no more notice of them, but attended to what the prophet should say and do: and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob,.... Which he might very easily come at from the mountain: unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name, which signifies one that has power with God, as Jacob had, when the word came to him to make a change in his name at Penuel,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And with the stones he built an altar in the same of the Lord,.... Whom the twelve tribes had formerly worshipped; and though now divided in their civil state, yet ought to be united in the worship of God: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed; or two seahs, one of which was the third part of an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood,.... Just in such manner as sacrifices usually were: and said, fill four barrels with water; either from the brook Kishon, or, if that was dried up, from the sea; for both were near this mountain, and so to be had, though a time of drought: and pour it on the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, do it the second time, and they did it the second time,.... That is, poured four barrels of water more upon the wood: and he said, do it the third time, and they did it the third time; so that there were in all twelve barrels of water poured on the wood, agreeably to the number of the twelve stones the altar was built with, and may...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the water ran round about the altar,.... There being such a large effusion of it on it; and he filled the trench also with water; which surrounded the altar, so that it seemed impracticable that any fire should kindle upon it; and this gave full proof and demonstration there could be no collusion in this matter.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,.... Which the people of God at Jerusalem were now attending to: that Elijah the prophet came near; to the altar he had built, and on which he had laid the sacrifice: and said; in prayer to God: Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the covenant God of the ancestors of his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Hear me, O Lord, hear me;.... Which repetition is made to express his importunity, and the vehement earnest desire of his soul to be heard in such a case, which so much concerned the glory of God; the Targum is, "receive my prayer, O Lord, concerning the fire, receive my prayer concerning the rain;'' as if the one respected the sending down the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the fire of the Lord fell,.... An extraordinary fire from God out of heaven, as the effects of it show: and consumed the burnt sacrifice; as it had done in former instances, Leviticus 9:24, and besides this, which is still more extraordinary, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; of the altar, thereby signifying that even such were not...