1 Kings 18:43

43 And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times."

1 Kings 18:43 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:43

And said to his servant
Whom some take to be the son of the widow of Sarepta, but he must be too young to be employed in such service as this was:

go up now;
still higher on Mount Carmel; than where he was, even to the highest point of it:

look towards the sea:
or the west, as the Targum, the Mediterranean sea, which lay to the west of the land of Israel:

and he went up and looked, and he said, there is nothing;
there was nothing in the sky, or arising out of the sea, that looked like or foreboded rain:

and he said, go again seven times;
till he should see something.

1 Kings 18:43 In-Context

41 And Eli'jah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of the rushing of rain."
42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Eli'jah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees.
43 And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times."
44 And at the seventh time he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising out of the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.'"
45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.