1 Kings 18:42

42 Ahab went up to eat and drink; but Elijah went up into (the top of) the hill of Carmel, and he set lowly his face to the earth, betwixt his knees; (So Ahab went to eat and drink; but Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel, and he put his face low to the ground, 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 to them, Take ye the prophets of Baal; not one soothly escape of them. And when they had taken them, Elijah led them to the strand of Kishon, and killed them there. (And Elijah said to them, Take ye hold of the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape. And when they had taken hold of them, Elijah led them to the Kishon Stream/to the Kishon Gorge, and they killed them there.)

41 And Elijah said to Ahab, Go thou up, and eat, and drink, for the sound of much rain is nigh. (And Elijah said to Ahab, Go thou to eat, and drink, for there is the sound of much rain coming.)

42 Ahab went up to eat and drink; but Elijah went up into (the top of) the hill of Carmel, and he set lowly his face to the earth, betwixt his knees; (So Ahab went to eat and drink; but Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel, and he put his face low to the ground, between his knees;)

43 and said to his servant, Go thou up, and behold thou against the sea. And when he had gone up, and beheld, he said, Nothing is (there). And again Elijah said to him, Turn thou again seven times. (and said to his servant, Go thou up now, and behold the sea. And when he had gone, and beheld it, he said, There is nothing there. And Elijah said to him, Do it again; and in all, he commanded him to do it seven times.)

44 And in the seventh time, lo! a little cloud, as the step of a man, went up from the sea. And Elijah said, Go thou up, and say to Ahab, Join thy chariot, and go down, lest the rain before-occupy thee. (And on the seventh time, lo! a little cloud, like the hand of a man, went up from the sea. And Elijah said, Go thou up now, and say to Ahab, Join up thy chariot, and get going, or the rain shall stop thee!)