Lièwángjìshang 19:9

9 Tā zaì nàli jìn le yī gè dòng , jiù zhù zaì dòng zhōng . Yēhéhuá de huà líndào tā shuō , Yǐlìyà a , nǐ zaì zhèlǐ zuò shénme .

Lièwángjìshang 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.

Lièwángjìshang 19:9 In-Context

7 Yēhéhuá de shǐzhĕ dì èr cì lái pāi tā , shuō , qǐlai chī ba . yīnwei nǐ dāng zǒu de lù shén yuǎn .

8 Tā jiù qǐlai chī le hē le , zhàng zhe zhè yǐnshí de lì , zǒu le sì shí zhòuyè , dào le shén de shān , jiù shì Héliè shān .

9 Tā zaì nàli jìn le yī gè dòng , jiù zhù zaì dòng zhōng . Yēhéhuá de huà líndào tā shuō , Yǐlìyà a , nǐ zaì zhèlǐ zuò shénme .

10 Tā shuō , wǒ wèi Yēhéhuá wàn jūn zhī shén dà fā rèxīn . yīnwei Yǐsèliè rén beìqì le nǐde yuē , huǐhuaì le nǐde tán , yòng dāo shā le nǐde xiānzhī , zhǐ shèngxia wǒ yī gèrén , tāmen hái yào xún suǒ wǒde méng .

11 Yēhéhuá shuō , nǐ chūlai zhàn zaì shān shàng , zaì wǒ miànqián . nàshí Yēhéhuá cóng nàli jīngguò , zaì tā miànqián yǒu liè fēng dà zuò , bēng shān suì shí , Yēhéhuá què bú zaì fēng zhōng . fēng hòu dìzhèn , Yēhéhuá què bú zaì qízhōng .