1 Kings 18:42

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees,

1 Kings 18:42 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 18:42

So Ahab went up to eat and to drink
Up to his chariot, as some think, or rather to some place higher than that in which he now was:

and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel;
higher still, where he both might be alone, and have the opportunity of observing the clouds gathering, and the rain coming:

and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his
knees;
expressive of his humility, and of his earnestness, and vehement desire, and continued importunity, that rain might fall; for this was a posture of prayer he put himself into, and continued in; and it is certain that it was through his prayer that rain came, ( James 5:18 ) and from hence came the fable of the Grecians concerning Aeacus praying for rain in a time of drought, when it came ^F8. So the Chinese writers ^F9 report that at the prayers of their emperor Tangus, after a seven years' drought, great rains fell.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Pausan. Attica, sive, l. 1. prope finem. Isocrat. Evagoras, p. 373.
F9 Martin. Sinic. Hist. l. 3. p. 60.

1 Kings 18:42 In-Context

40 And Elijah said unto them, "Take the prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape!" And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and slew them there.

41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, "Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain."

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees,

43 and 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 it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." And he said, "Go up, say unto Ahab, `Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.'"