1 Kings 18:3-16

3 Ahab called Obadiah ¹who was over the household. (Now Obadiah ²feared the LORD greatly;

4 for ³when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and ⁴provided them with bread and water.)

5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle."

6 So they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.

7 Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, ⁵and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, "Is this you, Elijah my master?"

8 He said to him, "It is I. Go, say to your master, 'Behold, Elijah is here."'

9 He said, "What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death?

10 "⁶As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where * my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, 'He is not here,' he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.

11 "And now you are saying, 'Go, say to your master, "Behold, Elijah is here."'

12 "It will come about when I leave * you ⁷that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you where * I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth.

13 "⁸Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, that I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water?

14 "And now you are saying, 'Go, say to your master, "Behold, Elijah is here"'; he will then kill me."

15 Elijah said, "⁹As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today."

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

1 Kings 18:3-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 18

In this chapter Elijah has an order from the Lord to show himself to Ahab, who, going first, and meeting with a servant of his, Obadiah, charges him to tell his master where he was, that he might meet him, 1Ki 18:1-16, and, upon meeting him, desires that all Israel, and the prophets of Baal, might be convened, which was accordingly done, 1Ki 18:17-20, when he expostulated with the people of Israel for their idolatry, mocked and confounded the prophets of Baal, and gave the strongest proofs, to the conviction of the people, that Jehovah is the true God, 1Ki 18:21-39, on which all the prophets of Baal were slain, 1Ki 18:40, and rain in great abundance was given at the prayer of the prophet, 1Ki 18:41-46.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Kings 16:9
• 2. Nehemiah 7:2; Job 28:28
• 3. 1 Kings 18:13
• 4. Matthew 10:40-42
• 5. 2 Kings 1:6-8
• 6. 1 Kings 17:1
• 7. 2 Kings 2:16; Ezekiel 3:12, 14; Acts 8:39
• 8. 1 Kings 18:4
• 9. 1 Kings 17:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "revered"
• [b]. Lit "cut off"
• [c]. Lit "cut off"
• [d]. Lit "pass through"
• [e]. Lit "to meet"
• [f]. Lit "have I sinned"
• [g]. Or "revered"
• [h]. Lit "a hundred men of the prophets"