1 Kings 18:30

30 Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.

1 Kings 18:30 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:30

And Elijah said unto all the people, come near unto me
And observe what I do, and what will be done at my request:

and all the people came near unto him;
left the prophets of Baal to themselves, and took no more notice of them, but attended to what the prophet should say and do:

and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down;
which had been set up when high places and altars were allowed of, while the tabernacle was unsettled, and the temple not built; this is supposed to have been erected in the times of the judges; though, according to a tradition of the Jews ^F4, it was built by Saul, see ( 1 Samuel 15:12 ) but had been thrown down by the idolatrous Israelites, who demolished such as were erected to the name of the Lord everywhere, and built new ones for their idols, ( 1 Kings 19:10 ) . Benjamin of Tudela ^F5 says, that on the top of Mount Carmel is now to be seen the place of the altar Elijah repaired, which is four cubits round.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Jarchi & Kimchi in loc.
F5 ltinerar. p. 37.

1 Kings 18:30 In-Context

28 So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out.

29 They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.

30 Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.

31 He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel,

32 and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the LORD . Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons.