and nation, that they found thee not. (11) And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. (12) And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. (13) Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? (14) And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. (15) And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.

(16) So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah. (17) And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel ? (18) And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy

(12) The Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee.In this phrase there is perhaps a survival of the original physical sense of the word Spirit "-the whirlwind which is "the breath of the Lord." (Comp. 2 Kings ii. 16; Acts viii. 39.) To Obadiah it seemed that only by such miraculous agency could Elijah have been removed from the persecution for so long a time, and that, having emerged for a moment, he will be swept away into his hidden refuge again. (17) Art thou -Probably (as in verse 7) the rendering should be, “Thou here, the troubler of Israel!" -defying vengeance (that is) in the very land which thou hast troubled.

(18) Baalim--that is, as usual, "the Baalim "—the phrase being probably used contemptuously for false gods generally, the Baal, the Asherah, and perhaps other Canaanitish idols, being included.

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(19) Carmel.-The word signifies a garden" or "park" (see Isa. xxix. 17, xxxii. 15, 16, &c.) and, when used for the proper name of the mountain, has commonly the article. Mount Carmel-rightly called "the park," well planted and watered, of central Palestineis a limestone ridge, with deep ravines thickly wooded, running north-west for about twelve miles from the central hills of Manasseh, so as to form the south side of the bay of Ptolemais, and almost to reach the sea, leaving, however, a space round which the southern armies constantly poured into the plain of Jezreel. It varies from 600 feet to 1,700 feet in height. Near its higher eastern extremity there is a place still called El Maharrakah, "the burning," in view of the plain and city of Jezreel, and commanding from one point a glimpse of the sea, which is the traditional (and highly probable) scene of Elijah's sacrifice. Carmel is previously mentioned in Josh. xix. 26, as

He speaks to the People.

father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. (19) Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. (20) So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

(21) And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

(22) Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. (23) Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: (24) and call ye

falling to Asher, and the existence of the altar of the Lord shows that, as was natural, it was made one of the "high places," and, indeed, it appears to have been known as such even to the heathen. In the prophetic writings it is referred to as proverbial for its luxuriant pasturage and beauty. (See Isa. xxxiii. 9; Jer. iv. 26; Amos i. 2, ix. 3; Cant. vii. 6.) No more striking scene could well be found for the great drama of this chapter.

The prophets of the groves (Asherah) -These, being probably the devotees of the female deity Astarte, seem to have been especially favoured by the queen. It is, however, to be noted that, in spite of Elijah's challenge, they do not appear at all in the subsequent scene. (See verses 22, 40.)

(21) How long halt ye between two opinions? -In this exclamation is expressed the very motto of Elijah's life. It is that of righteous impatience of the "halting" (i.e., limping to and fro) "between two opinions at all times more dangerous, because more easy, than open apostasy-which was evidently characteristic of Ahab, and probably of the mass of the people. It might have suited well the accommodating genius of such polytheism as had been brought into Israel since the days of Solomon himself, but was utterly incompatible with the sole absolute claim of the worship of Jehovah. Perhaps Jezebel would have scorned it equally for Baal. Compare the indignant expostulation of Ezekiel (Ezek. xx. 31, 39). The question, once clearly understood, is always unanswerable, and is listened to here in awestruck silence.

speculation. A ready surmise, by those unacquainted with the country, was that the water was taken from the sea flowing at the base of Carmel; but a glance at the position and the height of the mountain puts this not unnatural surmise out of the question, as difficult, if not impossible. Examination of the locality has discovered a perennial spring in the neighbourhood of the traditional scene of the sacrifice, which is never known to fail in the severest drought. From this, no doubt (as indeed Josephus expressly says), the water was drawn, with, of course, the object of precluding all idea of fraud or contrivance, and bringing out strikingly the consuming fierceness of the fire from heaven, so emphatically described in verse 38.

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(36) Lord God of Abraham.-In this solemn and earnest invocation of God, as in Exod. iii. 15, vi. 2, 3, the name JEHOVAH, describing God as He is in Himself-the One eternal self-existent Being-is united with the name which shows His special covenant with Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel." In His own nature incomprehensible to finite being, He yet reveals Himself in moral and spiritual relations with His people, through which they know that which passeth knowledge." "The prominence of the name" Jehovah," thrice repeated in this short prayer of Elijah, is significant as of the special mission, symbolised in his very name, so also of his immediate purpose. He desires to efface himself. The God of Israel is to show Himself as the true worker, not only in the outer sphere by miracle, but in the inner sphere by that conversion of the hearts of the people, which to the prophet's eye is already effected. Like his antitype in the New Testament, Elijah is but a voice calling on men "to prepare the way of the Lord."

(39) They fell on their faces.-Exactly as in Lev. ix. 24, at the inauguration of the sacrifices of the new Tabernacle by the fire from heaven, with the characteristic addition of the cry, "Jehovah; He, and He only, is God."

(40) Slew them.-This ruthless slaughter of Baal's prophets, as a judgment on their idolatry and perversion of the people, belongs alike to the fierce righteousness of the character of Elijah, and to the spirit of the old

Death of the Prophets.

and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

(39) And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. (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 east himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, (3) and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he

Law. (See, for example, Deut. xiii. 6—18, xvii. 2—7.) The law was adapted (as in the terrible crucial example of the slaughter of the Canaanites) to the "hardness of men's hearts." In the imperfect moral and religious education of those times, it did not recognise the difference between moral and political offences punishable by human law, and the religious sin or apostasy which we have been taught to leave to the judgment of God alone; and it enjoined an unrelenting severity in the execution of righteous vengeance, which would be morally impossible to us, who have been taught to hate the sin, and yet spare, as far as possible, the sinner. The frequent quotation of such examples by Christians of which Luke ix. 54 is the first example

is a spiritual anachronism. In this particular case, however, it is also to be remembered that those slain were no doubt implicated in the persecution headed by Jezebel, and that the Baal-worship was a licentious and perhaps bloody system. Elijah, presiding over the slaughter which dyed the waters of the Kishon with blood, felt himself the avenger of the slaughtered prophets, as well as the instrument of the judgment of God.

(41) Get thee up, eat and drink.-There seems a touch of scorn in these words. Ahab, remaining passive throughout, had descended to the place of slaughter in the valley, looking on silent-if not unmoved-while the priests, whose worship he had openly or tacitly sanctioned, were slain by hundreds. Now Elijah bade him get up to his palace, taking it for granted that, fresh from that horrible sight, he is yet ready to feast, and rejoice over the approaching removal of the judgment, which alone had told on his shallow nature. The king goes to revel, the prophet to pray.

(42) Put his face between his knees.-The attitude is, of course, one of prayer, but is a peculiar attitude distinct from the ordinary postures of standing and kneeling-which has been noted as existing still among the modern dervishes. Possibly it is characteristic of the vehement excitement of the moment, and of the impulsive nature of Elijah.

(43) Go again seven times. From this delay of the answer to prayer Elijah's example became pro

Bind.

CHAPTER XIX.-(1) And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and

verbial for intensity and perseverance in supplication (James v. 17). The contrast is remarkable between the immediate answer to his earlier prayer (see verses 36, 37) and the long delay here. The one was for the sake of the people; the other for some lesson-perhaps of humility and patience to Elijah himself. When the answer does come, it fulfils itself speedily. The "little cloud" becomes all but immediately (for so "in the mean while" should be rendered) a storm blackening the whole heavens, borne by a hurricane from the west.

(45) Jezreel. This is the first mention of the city Jezreel, a city of Issachar (Josh. xix. 18), as a royal city. The name (signifying "Jehovah hath sown") was applied to the whole of the rich plain, the garden and battlefield of northern Palestine. (See Judges vi. 33: 1 Sam. xxix. 1; 2 Sam. ii. 9.) The city was made a royal residence by Ahab, as Samaria by Omri. It stands in a position of some strength and great beauty, supplied by unfailing springs of water, visible from Carmel, and commanding views east and west far over the plain.

(16) The hand of the Lord was on Elijahin a striking reaction of enthusiastic thankfulness after the stern calmness of his whole attitude throughout the great controversy, and his silent earnestness of prayer. At the head of the people he brings the king, conquered, if not repentant, home in triumph. To our conception of a prophet this frenzied excitement seems strange. Nor could it have belonged to a Samuel, an Elisha, or an Isaiah. In the simple and enthusiastic warrior of God it is natural enough.

XIX.

(1, 2) There is a certain grandeur of fearlessness and ruthlessness in the message of Jezebel, which marks her character throughout, and places it in striking contrast with the vacillating impressibility of Ahab, whom she treats with natural scorn. (See xxi. 7.) Ahab, as before, remains passive; he has no courage, perhaps no wish, to attack Elijah, before whom he had quailed; but he cares not, or dares not, to restrain Jezebel. She disdains to strike secretly and without warning in fact, her message seems intended to give the opportunity for a flight, which might degrade Elijah in the eyes of the people. We note that the

Flight of Elijah.

withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. (2) Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. (3) And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

(4) But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. (5) And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto

prophet (see chap. xviii. 46) had not ventured to enter Jezreel till he should know how his deadly foe would receive the news of the great day at Carmel.

(3) He arose, and went for his life.-The sudden reaction of disappointment and despondency, strange as it seems to superficial observation, is eminently characteristic of an impulsive and vehement nature. His blow had been struck, as he thought, triumphantly. Now the power of cool unrelenting antagonism makes itself felt, unshaken and only embittered by all that had passed. On Ahab and the people he knows that he cannot rely; so once more he flees for his life.

Beer-sheba. (See Gen. xxi. 14, 33, xxii. 19, xxviii. 10, xlvi. 1, &c.)-This frontier town of Palestine to the south is little mentioned after the patriarchal time. The note that "it belonged to Judah" is, perhaps, significant. Judah was now in half-dependent alliance with Israel; even under Jehoshaphat, Elijah might not be safe there, though his servant-traditionally the son of the widow of Zarephath-might stay without danger.

(4) Juniper tree.-A sort of broom, found abundantly in the desert. It has been noted that its roots were much prized for charcoal, the "coal" of verse 6. I am not better than my fathers.-The exclamation is characteristic. Evidently he had hoped that he himself was better than his fathers

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as

a servant of God-singled out beyond all those that went before him, to be the victorious champion of a great crisis, "he, and he alone" (chaps. xviii. 22, xix. 10-14). Now he thinks his hope vain, and sees no reason why he should succeed when all who went before have failed. Why, he asks, should he live when the rest of the prophets have died?

(5) An angel touched him.-The word may signify simply a messenger," human or super-human; but the context suggests a miraculous ministration of some unearthly food. It is notable that, except as ministers of God in the physical sphere (as in 2 Sam. xxiv. 16, 17; 2 Kings xix. 35), the angels, whose appearances are so often recorded in earlier days, hardly appear during the prophetic period, as though the place of their spiritual ministry, as messengers of God, to the people had been supplied by the prophetic mission. Here, and in 2 Kings

Elijah in the Wilderness,

him, Arise and eat.

vi. 17, the angel is but auxiliary to the prophet, simply ministering to him in time of danger and distress, as the angel of the Agony to the Prophet of prophets.

(6) And laid him down. There is a pathetic touch in the description of the prophet, wearied and disheartened, as caring not to eat sufficiently, and glad, after a morsel eaten, to forget himself again in sleep.

(8) Forty days and forty nights.-Unless this time includes, as has been supposed by some, the whole journey to and from Horeb, and the sojourn there, it is far in excess of what would be recorded for a journey of some two hundred miles. It may, therefore, be thought to imply an interval of retirement for rest and solitary meditation, like the sojourn of Moses in Horeb, and the sojourn of our Lord in the wilderness (Exod. xxiv. 18; Matt. iv. 2) during which the spirit of the prophet might be calmed from the alternations of triumph and despondency, to receive the spiritual lesson which awaited him. During all that time he went "in the strength" of the Divine food, that he might know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Deut. viii. 3).

(9) A cave. This is properly, "the cave"-perhaps a reference to some cave already well known, as connected with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, or perhaps only an anticipatory reference to the cave which Elijah's sojourn was to make famous.

The word of the Lord came to him.-The connection suggests that this message came to him in vision or dream at night. The LXX. implies this distinctly by inserting in verse 11 the word "to-morrow," which is also found in the rather vague and prosaic paraphrase of the passage in Josephus. What Elijah replies in imagination in the vision, he repeats next day in actual words.

(10) And he said.-The reply to the implied reproof is one of impatient self-exculpation and even remonstrance. He himself (it says) had been very jealous for the Lord; yet the Lord had not been jealous for Himself, suffering this open rebellion of the

and on Mount Horeb.

my life, to take it away. (11) And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: (12) and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (13) And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? (14) And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets

people, the slaughter of His prophets, the persecution to death of the one solitary champion left. What use is there in further striving, if he is left unsupported and alone? The complaint is like that of Isaiah (lxiv. 1), "O that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down!" The zeal for God's glory, as imperilled by His long-suffering, is like that of Jonah (iv. 1—3); the impatience of the mysterious permission of evil, like that rebuked in the celebrated story of Abraham and the Fire-worshipper. In the Elias of the New Testament there is something of the same despondent impatience shown in the message from prison to our Lord: Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another?"

(11) And, behold.-In the LXX., the whole of this verse, couched in the future, is made part of the "word of the Lord." But our version is probably correct.

The whole of the vision, which is left to speak for itself, without any explanation or even allusion in the subsequent message to Elijah, is best understood by comparison with two former manifestations at Horeb, to the people and to Moses (Exod. xix. 16–18; xxxiv. 5-8). To the people the Lord had then been manifested in the signs of visible power, the whirlwind, the earthquake, and the fire-first, because these were the natural clothing of the terrors of the Law, which is the will of God visibly enforced; next, because for such visible manifestations of God, and perhaps for these alone, the hearts of Israel were then prepared. To Moses, in answer to his craving for the impossible vision of the glory of the Lord face to face, the manifestation granted was not of the Divine majesty, but of the Name of the Lord," Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth;" for this higher conception of the majesty of God, as shown in righteousness and mercy, Moses, as being the greatest of prophets, could well understand. The vision of Elijah stands out in contrast with the one and in harmony with the other. It disclaims the visible manifestation in power and vengeance, for which he had by implication craved; it

'the