Amplified Bible
1 Kings 18:19
19Now then, send word and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of [the goddess] Asherah, who eat at [Queen] Jezebel’s table.”
1 Kings 18:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Context of 1 Kings 18:19
17When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Are you the one who is bringing disaster on Israel?” 18Elijah said, “I have not brought disaster on Israel, but you and your father’s household have, by abandoning (rejecting) the commandments of the Lord and by following the Baals. Now then, send word and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of [the goddess] Asherah, who eat at [Queen] Jezebel’s table.” 20So Ahab sent word to all the Israelites and assembled the [pagan] prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people [of Israel] did not answer him [so much as] a word.
Read all of 1 Kings 181 Kings 18:19 word by word
וְעַתָּ֗ה שְׁלַ֨ח קְבֹ֥ץ אֵלַ֛י אֶת־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶל־הַ֣ר הַכַּרְמֶ֑ל וְאֶת־נְבִיאֵ֨י הַבַּ֜עַל אַרְבַּ֧ע מֵא֣וֹת וַחֲמִשִּׁ֗ים וּנְבִיאֵ֤י הָֽאֲשֵׁרָה֙ אַרְבַּ֣ע מֵא֔וֹת אֹכְלֵ֖י שֻׁלְחַ֥ן אִיזָֽבֶל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Now therefore sendשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- gatherקָבַץqâbats · to gatherH6908
- to me all Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- unto mountהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
- Carmelכַּרְמֶלkarmel · (Mount) CarmelH3760
- and the prophetsנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
- of Baalבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
- fourאַרְבַּע'arba‛ 'arbâ‛âh · fourH702
- hundredמֵאָהmê'âh mê'yâh · hundredH3967
- and fiftyחֲמִשִּׁיםchămishshîym · fiftyH2572
- of the grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
- which eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- at Jezebel’sאִיזֶבֶל'îyzebel · JezebelH348
- tableשֻׁלְחָןshûlchân · tableH7979
Cross-references for 1 Kings 18:19
- 1 Kings 18:42So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down to the earth and put his face between his knees,
- Joshua 19:26and Allammelech and Amad and Mishal; and on the west it reached to Carmel and to Shihor-libnath.
- 1 Samuel 15:12When Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, he was told, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up for himself a monument [commemorating his victory], then he turned and went on and went down to Gilgal.”
- 2 Kings 2:25Elisha went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
- Jeremiah 46:18As I live,” says the King, Whose name is the Lord of hosts, “Surely like Tabor among the mountains Or like Carmel by the sea, So shall he [the great king of Babylon] come.
- Amos 1:2And he said, “The Lord thunders and roars from Zion [in judgment] And utters His voice from Jerusalem; Then the pastures of the shepherds mourn, And the summit of [Mount] Carmel dries up [because of God’s judgment].”
- Amos 9:3Though they hide on the summit of [Mount] Carmel, I will track them down and take them from there; And though they hide from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I shall command the serpent and it will bite them.
- 1 Kings 22:6Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord has handed it over to the king.”
- 2 Peter 2:1But [in those days] false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will subtly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.
- Revelation 19:20And the beast (Antichrist) was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who, in his presence, had performed [amazing] signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were hurled alive into the lake of fire which blazes with brimstone.
- 1 Kings 15:13He also deposed his [great-grand]mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid (obscene, vulgar) image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her horrid image, and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
- 1 Kings 16:33Ahab also made the Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
- 2 Kings 13:6Yet they did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of the [royal] house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin; but walked in them. And the Asherah [set up by Ahab] also remained standing in Samaria [Israel’s capital].
- 1 Kings 19:1Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword.
- 2 Kings 9:22When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?” And he answered, “What peace [can exist] as long as the fornications of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?”
- Revelation 2:20But I have this [charge] against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and she teaches and misleads My bond-servants so that they commit [acts of sexual] immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols.
Commentaries on 1 Kings 18:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19Gather to me all Israel - The heads of tribes and families; the rulers of the people. The prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty - the prophets of the groves four hundred - The king and queen had different religious establishments; the king and his servants worshipped Baal, the supreme lord and master of the world, the sun. For this establishment four hundred and fifty priests were maintained. The queen and her women worshipped אשרה Asherah, Astarte, or…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19Carmel (Joshua 12:22 note) was chosen by the prophet as the scene of the gathering to which he invited, or rather summoned, Ahab. Its thick jungles of copse and numerous dwarf-oaks and olives, would furnish abundant wood for his intended sacrifice. Here was a perennial fountain; and here again an ancient “altar of the Lord” 1 Kings 18:30, belonging probably to the old times of non-idolatrous high-place worship - perhaps an erection of one of the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-20Verses 17-20 One may guess how people stand affected to God, by observing how they stand affected to his people and ministers. It has been the lot of the best and most useful men, like Elijah, to be called and counted the troublers of the land. But those who cause God's judgments do the mischief, not he that foretells them, and warns the nation to repent.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-20Mount Carmel is on a ridge that separates the coastal plain of Palestine. The site was famous for Canaanite idol worship, and an altar to the Lord was also built there earlier (1 Kings 18:30). It was a natural place for the contest with Baal. The Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament) might suggest that the prophets of Asherah were present at the contest on Mount Carmel, but the Hebrew text does not confirm this (compare 1 Kings 18:22).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. gather ... the prophets of Baal ... the prophets of the groves--From the sequel it appears that the former only came. The latter, anticipating some evil, evaded the king's command. which eat at Jezebel's table--that is, not at the royal table where she herself dined, but they were maintained from her kitchen establishment (see on 1Sa 20:25 and 1Ki 4:22). They were the priests of Astarte, the Zidonian goddess.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 18:19
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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