48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, above all that were before him. Adding other idols to the calves, and those more abominable than they; since the other kings pretended to worship God in them, but he worshipped other gods besides him, as the following verses show.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,.... To worship the golden calves he set up: that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians; who is called Ithobalus and Itobalus king of the Tyrians, by Heathen historians (h); and, by Theophilus of Antioch (i),...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. That he might not go so far as Tyre or Zidon; and for his wife's convenience also he built a temple in Samaria for Baal, and erected an altar there to offer sacrifices upon it unto him; so open and daring was he in his idolatrous practices.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Ahab made a grove,.... About the temple of Baal, or elsewhere, in which he placed an idol, and where all manner of filthiness was secretly committed; or rather "Asherah", rendered "grove", is Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, an image of which Ahab made: and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And in his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho,.... Which was forbidden by Joshua under an anathema; but this man, either ignorant of that adjuration of Joshua, or in contempt and defiance of it, and knowing it might please the king and queen, set about the rebuilding of it; and it being done by the leave and under the authority of Ahab, is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 17 This chapter begins with a prophecy of Elijah, that there should be want of rain for some years to come, and he is directed to go first to the brook Cherith, where he should be fed by ravens, 1 Kings 17:1, and afterwards he is sent to a widow at Zarephath, where he, she, and her son, were supported for a considerable...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Elijah the Tishbite, [who] was of the inhabitants of Gilead,.... Which belonged partly to the Reubenites and Gadites, and partly to the half-tribe of Manasseh on the other side Jordan, where this prophet dwelt; but why he is called the Tishbite is not easy to say; what Kimchi observes seems right, that he was at first of a city called Toshab,...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
So sad was the character both of the princes and people of Israel, as described in the foregoing chapter, that one might have expected God would cast off a people that had so cast him off; but, as an evidence to the contrary, never was Israel so blessed with a good prophet as when it was so plagued with a bad king. Never was king so bold to sin as...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. How abruptly this man breaks in upon the scene! He leaps like a lion from the thicket. There is no previous announcement of his coming; but here...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the word of the Lord came to him,.... The word of prophecy, as the Targum; this shows that by word, in the former verse, he means the word of the Lord by him: saying; as follows.
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. Of course, the prophet would have had to share in the general want unless God had provided for him, and therefore the Lord took care that his servant should be hidden away where a brooklet would...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward,.... From the place where he was, being in danger from Ahab and Jezebel, provoked by his reproofs, threatenings, and prophecies: and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan; in some wood or cave near it, or among the reeds and rushes that grew on the banks of it; and Bochart (o) takes it to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook,.... The water of that was to be his drink: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there; whereby he should be provided with food to eat; by whom are meant not angels in the form of ravens, as some; nor, as others, Arabians, for there were none of that people near him; nor, as others,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. Perhaps someone says, “Ravens were more likely to rob the prophet than to feed him;” and so they were. Some have objected that these ravens were unclean; what if they were? Things are not made unclean because they are carried by unclean...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord,.... Took his journey eastward, and hid himself in the place directed to: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan, [See comments on 1 Kings 17:3].
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. It is the glory of Elijah that he does whatever God bids him, asking no questions. He simply, like a child, goes to the brook just as, like a hero, he had previously stood before the king.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening,.... For his breakfast and supper, the two principal meals then in use; and as there were several employed, they could bring a sufficiency in a short time for each meal; and these provisions were ready prepared, the bread made and baked, and the flesh...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Brooks will dry up, even if godly men are being sustained by them. Is there anyone here whose brook is drying up? Has it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass after a while,.... Or "at the end of days" (x), perhaps a year, which sometimes is the sense of this phrase, see Exodus 13:10, that the brook dried up; through the excessive heat, and for want of supplies from the springs and fountains with which it was fed, and for the following reason: because there had been no rain in the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the word of the Lord came unto him,.... As before, after he had been a year at the brook, and that was dried up: saying; as follows.