HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

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  a Heb Asherah

  16.8–14 The introduction to Elah’s reign omits the customary negative evaluation, although an oblique reference is later made to his sins, along with those of his father (v. 13). The bulk of the account concentrates on the circumstances of Elah’s death, which is characteristically interpreted as a judgment on the house of Baasha. As in the case of Jeroboam (14.10–11; 15.27–30), the prophetic judgment oracle is not fulfilled against the king to whom it is delivered but against his son.

  16.8 Elah reigned ca. 877–876 BCE.

  16.12 Another example of the narrator’s interest in noting the fulfillment of prophecies (see vv. 2–4).

  16.15–20 The narrative of Zimri’s brief reign is in fact simply an account of the aftermath of his coup against Elah.

  16.15 On the significance of military activity at Gibbethon, see note on 15.27.

  16.19 The Deuteronomistic narrator formulaically attributes Zimri’s death to his sins, although it is difficult to know what he could have done in seven days.

  16.21–23 Omri was one of Israel’s most powerful rulers and one of the few whose name has been preserved in extrabiblical sources. The Moabite Stone credits him with capturing Moabite territory, and Assyrian sources continued to call Israel “the Land of Omri” long after his death.

  16.23 Omri reigned ca. 876–869 BCE.

  16.24–28 The only one of Omri’s achievements mentioned by the narrator is the king’s construction of a new capital at Samaria.

  16.29–30 The narrator considers Ahab to be even more sinful than his predecessors, probably because of his introduction of the worship of Baal into Israel.

  16.29 Ahab reigned ca. 869–850 BCE.

  16.31–34 Just as Solomon was led to sin because of his foreign marriages (ch. 11), so also Ahab’s marriage to a Phoenician princess increases the already fatal sins of the Northern Kingdom.

  16.31 Baal, the Canaanite storm god who provided the rain necessary for the fertility of the land. His worship was widespread in Canaan and had probably infiltrated Israel long before the time of Ahab. Ahab, however, gave the Baal cult official status in the capital.

  16.33 Sacred pole. See note on 14.15.

  16.34 This verse notes the working out of Joshua’s curse when the Israelites destroyed Jericho (Josh 6.26). The narrator apparently sees in the event an analogy to the fulfillment of prophecy.

  1 KINGS 17

  Elijah Predicts a Drought

  1Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbea in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2The word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3“Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5So he went and did according to the word of the LORD; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. 7But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

  The Widow of Zarephath

  8Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9“Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” 11As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.” 15She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

  Elijah Revives the Widow’s Son

  17After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!” 19But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. 20He cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” 21Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” 24So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”

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  a Gk: Heb of the settlers

  17.1–7 The first of a series of stories concerning prophetic opposition to the Omride dynasty and to the worship of the Phoenician Baal, which King Ahab had introduced into Israel (1 Kings 17–2 Kings 10). Before being incorporated into the book of Kings, many of the stories probably circulated orally in Northern prophetic circles, and the Elijah and Elisha stories may have already been gathered into collections before being written down. Many of the stories focus on the miraculous deeds of the prophets and glorify both the prophets themselves and the God they represent. The writer of Kings has modified some of the stories in order to make them conform to Deuteronomic theology, but many non-Deuteronomic elements still remain. In general the stories dramatize a central theme of the book: the inevitable destruction of the evil Northern kings and the victory of the Lord over Baal.

  17.1 The opening of the first Elijah story seems abrupt, but it must be seen against the background of Ahab’s introduction of Baal worship (16.31–33). According to the mythology of the Baal cult, the storm god was responsible for bringing life-giving rains at certain times of the year and thus restoring fertility to the land. After the yearly rainy season, the ground got progressively dryer, and eventually all vegetation died. During this period Baal was thought to be in the power of the god of death and sterility. In this verse Elijah announces that the yearly alternation between life and death is an illusion and that Baal has nothing to do with bringing rain and fertility. In reality the Lord controls both rain and drought, fertility and sterility, and life and death. To illustrate the point, the prophet announces that God has decreed a three-year drought. Tishbe. Meaning uncertain. The Greek translators understood it as the name of the otherwise unknown town from which Elijah came. The Hebrew seems to require the translation “of the settlers.” Gilead, a mountainous region of Transjordan (modern Jordan) between Bashan and Moab (see note on 2 Kings 15.25) near the eastern boundary of the Northern Kingdom.

  17.3 Wadi Cherith. Location unknown. The journey east of the Jordan probably removes Elijah from Ahab’s jurisdiction.

  17.4 Although God denies rain to apostate Israel, the faithful prophet is provided with both water and food.

  17.7 Wadi, a stream bed that contains water only in the rainy season.

  17.8–16 This prophetic legend originally focused on the prophet’s ability to perform miracles. However, in its present context it provides another example of God’s care for Elijah and for all fa
ithful Israelites who support him. Cf. the similar tale involving Elisha in 2 Kings 4.1–7.

  17.9 The journey to Zarephath on the Phoenician coast south of Sidon takes the prophet into the heartland of the Baal cult (cf. 16.31). Even here God’s power over sterility and fertility is evident.

  17.10 Widows often had no means of economic support; if they were not sustained by the king or the religious community (cf. Deut 14.28–29), they were quickly reduced to poverty and forced to become scavengers and beggars.

  17.17–24 Although this story of the resurrection of the widow’s son serves to demonstrate Elijah’s ability to mediate divine power, the account also provides a third dramatic example of God’s control over life and death. A similar story is told about Elisha (2 Kings 4.18–37).

  17.21 Three often figures prominently in rituals.

  1 KINGS 18

  Elijah’s Message to Ahab

  1After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought,a saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.” 2So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. 3Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah revered the LORD greatly; 4when Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water.) 5Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” 6So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.

  7As Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him; Obadiah recognized him, fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” 8He answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.” 9And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would hand your servant over to Ahab, to kill me? 10As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you; and when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would require an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11But now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.’ 12As soon as I have gone from you, the spirit of the LORD will carry you I know not where; so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the LORD from my youth. 13Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred of the LORD’s prophets fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water? 14Yet now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here’ he will surely kill me.” 15Elijah said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

  17When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. 19Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

  Elijah’s Triumph over the Priests of Baal

  20So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word. 22Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. 23Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. 24Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the LORD; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” 25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. 27At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.

  30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me” and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down; 31Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, “Israel shall be your name” 32with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34Then he said, “Do it a second time” and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time” and they did it a third time, 35so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water.

  36At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. 37Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. 39When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD indeed is God; the LORD indeed is God.” 40Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” Then they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon, and killed them there.

  The Drought Ends

  41Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of rushing rain.” 42So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. 43He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” He went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” Then he said, “Go again seven times.” 44At the seventh time he said, “Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.” Then he said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” 45In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. 46But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

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  a Heb lacks of the drought

  18.1–19 This account of Ahab’s efforts to cope with the drought provides an introduction to one of the most famous of the Elijah stories, the contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (vv. 20–40).

  18.1 This verse has its counterpart in 17.1. Just as God, not Baal, controls drought (17.1), so also God, not Baal, provides rain. According to the terms of the oath in 17.1, only Elijah’s word can end the drought, and he must at last confront Ahab.

  18.12 For a dramatic example of the Lord carrying Elijah away, see 2 Kings 2.11.

  18.17 Ahab greets Elijah as troubler of Israel because he decreed the three-year drought (17.1).

  18.18 The prophet’s rejoinder locates the problem with Ahab’s ins
titution of Baal worship in Israel. Elijah’s use of the plural, Baals, is due to the fact that local manifestations of the Canaanite god were sometimes considered independent deities in their own right.

  18.19 Mount Carmel lies in western Israel at the entrance of the Jezreel Valley. The four hundred prophets of Asherah do not appear again in the story. For Asherah, see note on 14.15. Both groups of prophets were part of the royal court.

  18.20–40 The contest with the prophets of Baal demonstrates conclusively that there is only one true God in Israel and that that God, not Baal, is responsible for the fertility of the land.

  18.21 Limping. Meaning uncertain. There is no doubt, however, about the sense of Elijah’s question.

  18.22 Elijah’s claim to be the only remaining prophet of the Lord is an exaggeration for rhetorical effect (see v. 13).

  18.24 As a storm god, Baal should have been able to supply fire in the form of lightning. Fire is also often associated with the Lord (see, e.g., Gen 15.17; Ex 14.24; 19.18; Deut 4.11; 5.22–24; Isa 30.27).

  18.26 Limped, probably some sort of ritual dance (see also v. 21).

  18.27 Elijah’s taunts mock various aspects of the Baal cult. Meditating, perhaps having other things on his mind. Wandering away, perhaps a euphemism for taking care of bodily functions. Journey. During the dry season Baal travels to the underworld. Asleep. Part of the worship of Baal may have involved rituals to waken the god when he was in the power of death. See also note on 17.1.