1 Kings 18:1

Elijah’s Message to Ahab

1 After a long time, in the third year of the drought, ^[a] the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.”

1 Kings 18:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:1

And it came to pass after many days
When two years and more were gone from the time the drought and famine began; or rather from the time of the prophets departure to the brook Cherith, which might be six months after the famine began:

that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year;
of his absence from Ahab:

saying, go show thyself unto Ahab;
whom he had not seen so long, and who had been seeking for him, but to no purpose:

and I will send rain upon the earth;
the term of three years and six months being almost expired, see ( James 5:17 ) .

1 Kings 18:1 In-Context

1 After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.”

2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria,

3 and Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah greatly feared the LORD,

4 for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)

5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and every valley. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to destroy any livestock.”

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally And the days were many, and in the third year,