1 Kings 18:43

43 And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

1 Kings 18:43 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:43

And said to his servant
Whom some take to be the son of the widow of Sarepta, but he must be too young to be employed in such service as this was:

go up now;
still higher on Mount Carmel; than where he was, even to the highest point of it:

look towards the sea:
or the west, as the Targum, the Mediterranean sea, which lay to the west of the land of Israel:

and he went up and looked, and he said, there is nothing;
there was nothing in the sky, or arising out of the sea, that looked like or foreboded rain:

and he said, go again seven times;
till he should see something.

1 Kings 18:43 In-Context

41 And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

42 And Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed down on the earth, and put his face between his knees.

43 And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

44 And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Harness and go down, that the pour of rain stop thee not.

45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heavens became black [with] clouds and wind, and there was a great pour of rain. And Ahab got on the chariot, and went to Jizreel.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb. 'young man:' see ch. 20.14; Judg. 7.10; Ruth 2.5; 1Sam. 9.5.