1 Kings 18:26

26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came.

1 Kings 18:26 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:26

And they took the bullock which was given them
By such of them as made the choice:

and they dressed it;
slew it, and cut it in pieces, and laid it on the wood, but put no fire under it:

and called on the name of Baal, from morning even until noon, saying, O
Baal, hear us;
and send fire down on the sacrifice; and if the sun was their Baal, they might hope, as the heat he gradually diffused was at its height at noon, that some flashes of fire would proceed from it to consume their sacrifice; but after, their hope was turned into despair, they became and acted like madmen:

but there was no voice, nor any that answered;
by word, or by sending down fire as they desired:

and they leapt upon the altar which was made;
not by Elijah, but by themselves, either now or heretofore, and where they had formerly sacrificed; and they danced about it, and leaped on it, either according to a custom used by them; such as the Salii, the priests of Mars, used, so called from their leaping, because they did their sacred things leaping, and went about their altars capering and leaping F19; or rather they were mad on it, as the Targum renders it, and acted like madmen, as if they were agitated by a prophetic fury and frenzy.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 8. "tum Salii ad cantus" Vid. Gutberleth. de Salii, c. 2. p. 9.

1 Kings 18:26 In-Context

24 Then let the prophets of Baal pray to their god, and I will pray to the Lord, and the one who answers by sending fire - he is God." The people shouted their approval.
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are so many of you, you take a bull and prepare it first. Pray to your god, but don't set fire to the wood."
26 They took the bull that was brought to them, prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They shouted, "Answer us, Baal!" and kept dancing around the altar they had built. But no answer came.
27 At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!"
28 So the prophets prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and daggers, according to their ritual, until blood flowed.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.