1 Kings 18:4

4 For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water.

1 Kings 18:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:4

For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord,
&c.] Or slew them, as the Targum; put them to death some way or another; such as were brought up in the schools of the prophets, trained up in religious exercises, and instructed others therein:

that Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a
cave;
fifty in one cave and fifty in another; for there were large caves in the land of Israel capable of holding such a number, and many more, see ( 1 Samuel 22:1 ) ( 24:3 ) and fed them with bread and water; which in this time of famine were very acceptable; though these may be put for all the necessaries of life.

1 Kings 18:4 In-Context

2 And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a grievous famine in Samaria.

3 And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house: now Abdias feared the Lord very much.

4 For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water.

5 And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains of waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can find grass, and save the horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish.

6 And they divided the countries between them, that they might go round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way by himself.