Kings I 19:9

9 And an evil spirit from God was upon Saul, and he was resting in his house, and a spear in his hand, and David was playing on the harp with his hands.

Kings I 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.

Kings I 19:9 In-Context

7 And Jonathan called David, and told him all these words; and Jonathan brought David in to Saul, and he was before him as in former times.

8 And there was again war against Saul; and David did valiantly, and fought against the Philistines, and smote them with a very great slaughter, and they fled from before him.

9 And an evil spirit from God was upon Saul, and he was resting in his house, and a spear in his hand, and David was playing on the harp with his hands.

10 And Saul sought to smite David with the spear; and David withdrew from the presence of Saul; and he drove the spear into the wall; and David retreated and escaped.

11 And it came to pass in that night, that Saul sent messengers to the house of David to watch him, in order to slay him in the morning; and Melchol David's wife told him, saying, Unless thou save thy life this night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain.

Footnotes

• [a]. of God.
• [b]. sleeping.