1Ki 19:18 | TNotes | STEP | 19:18 The Lord corrected Elijah’s thinking; the prophet was not alone. Earlier he had forgotten the 100 prophets protected by Obadiah (18:4 , 13 ). 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 ; Isa 46:6 ; 60:14 ; Hos 13:2 ) 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.

d2 Kgs 21:3►

eIsa 46:6►

gHos 13:2►

‏ 1 Kings 19:18

19:18 ^a The Lord corrected Elijah’s thinking; the prophet was not alone. Earlier he had forgotten the 100 prophets protected by Obadiah (18:4 ^b, 13 ^c). 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 ^d; Isa 46:6 ^e; 60:14 ^f; Hos 13:2 ^g) 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.