1 Kings 18:42

42 Ach'av went up to eat and drink, while Eliyahu went up to the top of the Karmel. He bowed down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

1 Kings 18:42 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:42

So Ahab went up to eat and to drink
Up to his chariot, as some think, or rather to some place higher than that in which he now was:

and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel;
higher still, where he both might be alone, and have the opportunity of observing the clouds gathering, and the rain coming:

and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his
knees;
expressive of his humility, and of his earnestness, and vehement desire, and continued importunity, that rain might fall; for this was a posture of prayer he put himself into, and continued in; and it is certain that it was through his prayer that rain came, ( James 5:18 ) and from hence came the fable of the Grecians concerning Aeacus praying for rain in a time of drought, when it came ^F8. So the Chinese writers ^F9 report that at the prayers of their emperor Tangus, after a seven years' drought, great rains fell.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Pausan. Attica, sive, l. 1. prope finem. Isocrat. Evagoras, p. 373.
F9 Martin. Sinic. Hist. l. 3. p. 60.

1 Kings 18:42 In-Context

40 Eliyahu said to them, "Seize the prophets of Ba'al! Don't let one of them escape!" They seized them; and Eliyahu brought them down to Vadi Kishon and killed them there.

41 Then Eliyahu said to Ach'av, "Get up, eat, and drink, because I hear the sound of heavy rain."

42 Ach'av went up to eat and drink, while Eliyahu went up to the top of the Karmel. He bowed down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

43 "Now," he said to his servant, "go up, and look out toward the sea." He went up, looked, and said, "There's nothing there." Seven times he said, "Go again."

44 The seventh time, the servant said, "Now there's a cloud coming up out of the sea, no bigger than a man's hand." Eliyahu said, "Go up, and say to Ach'av, 'Prepare your chariot, and get down the mountain before the rain stops you!"