1 Kings 18:4

4 Once when Jezebel had tried to kill all the LORD ’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 of them in two caves. He put fifty prophets in each cave and supplied them with food and water.)

1 Kings 18:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:4

For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord,
&c.] 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 and fifty in another; for there were large caves in the land of Israel capable of holding such a number, and many more, see ( 1 Samuel 22:1 ) ( 24:3 ) and fed them with bread and water; which in this time of famine were very acceptable; though these may be put for all the necessaries of life.

1 Kings 18:4 In-Context

2 So Elijah went to appear before Ahab. Meanwhile, the famine had become very severe in Samaria.

3 So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Obadiah was a devoted follower of the LORD .

4 Once when Jezebel had tried to kill all the LORD ’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 of them in two caves. He put fifty prophets in each cave and supplied them with food and water.)

5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “We must check every spring and valley in the land to see if we can find enough grass to save at least some of my horses and mules.”

6 So they divided the land between them. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.