1Ki 19:1-18 | TNotes

19:2 ^a Speaking a curse, Jezebel reinforced her threat to kill Elijah within a day. Solomon had made a similar declaration regarding his half-brother Adonijah (2:23 ^b), and the king of Aram later issued an edict against Elisha with the same formula (2 Kgs 6:31 ^c). Jezebel acted with cold-blooded resolve to accomplish her purposes (1 Kgs 21:5-15 ^d).
19:3 ^e Elijah was afraid: The NLT follows the Greek Old Testament and a majority of scholars in translating Elijah’s reaction as one of fear, proposing a reading of wayyira’ (“he feared”) in the original Hebrew. The Hebrew text as we have it reads, “he saw it” (wayyare’)—i.e., the danger in Jezebel’s threat. Rather than a warm reception after the spectacular victory, and a hoped-for repentance beginning with the royal house, Elijah faced a death threat.

• Beersheba lay at the southern end of the country. A familiar formula described the limits of the land as “from Dan . . . to Beersheba” (4:25 ^f; 2 Sam 24:2 ^g).
19:4 ^h Though technically a shrub, the broom tree can reach a height of ten feet. Its leaves are small, but it provides adequate shade for a weary traveler in the wilderness. Like Jonah (Jon 4:3 ⁱ), Elijah had successfully carried out his commission, but he felt a sense of defeat with the results.

• no better: God’s refugee prophet felt that he had accomplished little and would be better off dead.
Summary for 1Kgs 19:5-7: 19:5-7 ^j The angel of the Lord provided Elijah with precisely what he needed at the moment (17:2-6 ^k, 10-12 ^l). God often sent an angel to minister to one of his servants (Ps 34:7 ^m; Heb 1:14 ⁿ).
19:8 ^o Elijah’s determination to go to Mount Sinai took him on a journey of approximately 200 miles. The trip would not have required forty days and forty nights, so Elijah may have set a pace that was symbolic of Israel’s past. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai, and Israel subsequently wandered in the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:33-34 ^p; Deut 1:2-3 ^q). Forty sometimes represented a period of full testing (Gen 7:4 ^r; Ps 95:10 ^s; Jon 3:4 ^t; Matt 4:1-2 ^u).
Summary for 1Kgs 19:9-10: 19:9-10 ^v a cave (literally the cave): Some have suggested that Elijah came to the very place where God appeared to Moses (Exod 33:21-23 ^w).

• What are you doing here, Elijah? The Lord’s question may have a double implication: Why had Elijah come, and did he understand the significance of the spot where he stood? Elijah replied to the former part of the question. Elijah had boldly announced that he was alone in his stand for the Lord (1 Kgs 18:22 ^x); now, that feeling turned to self-pity.
Summary for 1Kgs 19:11-12: 19:11-12 ^y The powerful physical phenomena that sometimes signal God’s presence (Exod 3:2 ^z; 19:18 ^aa; Pss 68:7-8 ^ab; 114:4 ^ac; Heb 3:6-7 ^ad) did not herald God’s approach on this occasion. Instead, Elijah sensed God’s presence when he heard the sound of a gentle whisper.
Summary for 1Kgs 19:13-14: 19:13-14 ^ae What are you doing here? The Lord repeats his question (see 19:9 ^af), and Elijah gives exactly the same response as earlier. Elijah’s answer gives no indication that he understood how God was working through all that had happened. Paul makes reference to this interchange in Rom 11:3-4 ^ag.
Summary for 1Kgs 19:15-17: 19:15-17 ^ah Go back ... and travel: In loving patience, God renewed his prophet’s commission (cp. John 21:15-19 ^ai). God directed Elijah to retrace his steps back to the place where he had strayed from God’s mission; from there he could move forward.

• Hazael and Jehu both became instruments of God’s judgment (2 Kgs 8:7-15 ^aj; 9:14-37 ^ak).

• Elisha, Elijah’s successor, would bring spiritual discernment and the Lord’s further judgment to Israel (2 Kgs 3:10-19 ^al; 8:7-15 ^am; 9:1–10:31 ^an; 13:3 ^ao, 15-19 ^ap).

• Abel-meholah was located south of Beth-shan, where the valley of Jezreel and the Jordan Valley come together (see 1 Kgs 4:12 ^aq; Judg 7:22 ^ar).
19:18 ^as The Lord corrected Elijah’s thinking; the prophet was not alone. Earlier he had forgotten the 100 prophets protected by Obadiah (18:4 ^at, 13 ^au). Now he learned that there were 7,000 others who remained faithful to the Lord.

• bowed down ... or kissed him: These common forms of submission in the ancient Near East (2 Kgs 21:3 ^av; Isa 46:6 ^aw; 60:14 ^ax; Hos 13:2 ^ay) are often mentioned in the annals of victorious kings or in the ancient epics. Ashurbanipal reported that on his sixth campaign, an Elamite king kissed his royal feet and tidied up the ground with his beard. In the Mesopotamian creation epic (Enuma Elish, V 86), even the great gods bowed down and kissed the feet of Marduk, the victorious head of the pantheon.