1 Reyes 19:9

9 Allí entró en una cueva y pasó en ella la noche; y he aquí, vino a él la palabra del SEÑOR, y El le dijo: ¿Qué haces aquí, Elías?

1 Reyes 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.

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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 Reyes 19:9 In-Context

7 Y el ángel del SEÑOR volvió por segunda vez, lo tocó y le dijo: Levántate, come, porque es muy largo el camino para ti.

8 Se levantó, pues, y comió y bebió, y con la fuerza de aquella comida caminó cuarenta días y cuarenta noches hasta Horeb, el monte de Dios.

9 Allí entró en una cueva y pasó en ella la noche; y he aquí, vino a él la palabra del SEÑOR, y El le dijo: ¿Qué haces aquí, Elías?

10 Y él respondió: He tenido mucho celo por el SEÑOR, Dios de los ejércitos; porque los hijos de Israel han abandonado tu pacto, han derribado tus altares y han matado a espada a tus profetas. He quedado yo solo y buscan mi vida para quitármela.

11 Entonces El dijo: Sal y ponte en el monte delante del SEÑOR. Y he aquí que el SEÑOR pasaba. Y un grande y poderoso viento destrozaba los montes y quebraba las peñas delante del SEÑOR; pero el SEÑOR no estaba en el viento. Después del viento, un terremoto; pero el SEÑOR no estaba en el terremoto.