1 Kings 18:10

10 By the life of the Lord your God, there is not a nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you; and when they said, He is not here; he made them take an oath that they had not seen you.

1 Kings 18:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:10

As the Lord thy God liveth
Which is the form of an oath he thought fit to make, to ascertain the truth of what he was about to say: there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek
thee;
which is either an hyperbolical expression, signifying he had sought for him in many places, and in every place he could think of; or it must be understood either of the ten tribes, which were as so many nations and kingdoms as they had been; or were more in the times of the Canaanites; or of the nations round about, that were in alliance with or tributary to the king of Israel: and when they said, he is not there, he took an oath of the kingdom and
nation that they found thee not;
which he might exact of his own subjects, but could not of other nations, unless they were free to it of themselves; or he might take it of their ambassadors or merchants that came into his land, of whom he inquired, and adjured them to tell him the truth.

1 Kings 18:10 In-Context

8 And Elijah in answer said, It is I; now go and say to your lord, Elijah is here.

9 And he said, What sin have I done, that you would give up your servant into the hand of Ahab, and be the cause of my death?

10 By the life of the Lord your God, there is not a nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you; and when they said, He is not here; he made them take an oath that they had not seen you.

11 And now you say, Go, say to your lord, Elijah is here.

12 And straight away, when I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will take you away, I have no idea where, so that when I come and give word to Ahab, and he sees you not, he will put me to death: though I, your servant, have been a worshipper of the Lord from my earliest years.