1 Kings 19:9

There he went into a cave and spent the night.

The LORD Appears to Elijah

9 And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

1 Kings 19:9 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
English Standard Version (ESV)
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. The Speaks to Elijah But the LORD said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
The Message Bible (MSG)
9 When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep. Then the word of God came to him: "So Elijah, what are you doing here?"
American Standard Version (ASV)
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. Then the LORD spoke his word to Elijah. He asked, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
9 He entered a cave there and spent the night. Then the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. A message came to Elijah from the Lord. He said, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"

1 Kings 19:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 19:9

And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there
This cave, some travellers say F21, is to be seen at this day, not far from a church dedicated to the prophet Elijah, and that the cave itself has the appearance of a chapel; but a more particular account of it is given in a journal F23 lately published, which says, this cave exists to this very day, and is situated at the foot of Mount Sinai, and is now enclosed in a church built of red and white granite marble, the entrance into which is from the west; the dimensions of this cave are in length five feet, in depth four feet, and in height four and a half. The Jewish writers are of opinion that this was the cleft of the rock in which Moses was put, when the Lord passed before him; but, if so, there would have been no need of Elijah to have gone forth to and stand upon the mount when the Lord passed by, ( 1 Kings 19:11 ) ,

and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him;
an articulate voice was heard by him:

and he said unto him, what dost thou here, Elijah?
this is not a proper place for a prophet to be in, in a wilderness, in a mountain, in a cave in it: what work could he do for God? or what service to his people? in the land of Israel he might bear his testimony against idolatry, and so be a means of reclaiming backsliders, and of establishing those that were in the true religion; but of what usefulness could he be here? Abarbinel takes it to be a reproof of Elijah, for going into a place so holy as it was, and in which Moses, the chief of the prophets, had been, and that it did not become such a man as he was to be in such a place.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 2. p. 166.
F23 Journal from Cairo to Mount Sinai in 1722, p. 26. Ed. 2.

1 Kings 19:9 In-Context

7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”
8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

Cross References 2

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