1 Kings 19:11

11 He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh." Suddenly Yahweh was passing by, with a great and strong wind ripping the mountains and crushing rocks before Yahweh; [but] Yahweh [was] not in the wind. After the wind, [there was] an earthquake; [but] Yahweh was not in the earthquake.

1 Kings 19:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 19:11

And he said, go forth and stand upon the mount before the
Lord
Who would appear there as he had to Moses formerly, though not in the same manner:

and, behold, the Lord passed by;
or was about to pass, for as yet he had not; his messengers first went before him:

and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the
rocks before the Lord;
strong enough to do all this, and so it might:

but the Lord was not in the wind;
as he sometimes is, ( Nahum 1:3 ) , he spake to Job out of a whirlwind, ( Job 38:1 ) ,

and after the wind an earthquake;
that shook the earth all around, and the mountain also, as it did when the law was given on it, ( Psalms 68:8 )

but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
as he was when it trembled in the times of Moses, ( Exodus 19:18 ) .

1 Kings 19:11 In-Context

9 He came to the cave there and spent the night there. Suddenly the [word] of Yahweh came to him and asked him, "{Elijah, what are you doing here}?"

10 Then he said, "I have been very zealous for Yahweh the God of hosts, for the {Israelites} have forsaken your covenant. They have demolished your altars, and they have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left over, and they seek to take my life.

11 He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh." Suddenly Yahweh was passing by, with a great and strong wind ripping the mountains and crushing rocks before Yahweh; [but] Yahweh [was] not in the wind. After the wind, [there was] an earthquake; [but] Yahweh was not in the earthquake.

12 After the earthquake [was] a fire, [but] Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire [there was] the sound of a gentle whisper.

13 It happened at the moment Elijah heard, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood [at] the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice [came] to him and said, "{Elijah, why are you here}?"

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, Yahweh