1 Kings 18:19

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, he said to him, ‘Is that really you, the man who brings trouble to Israel?’ 18Elijah replied, ‘I have not brought trouble to Israel. But you and your father's family have done that. You have refused to obey the Lord's commands. Instead, you have worshipped the false gods of Baal. Now, tell people from all over Israel to come and meet me. They must meet me on Mount Carmel. Also, bring the 450 prophets who serve Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah that Jezebel provides with food.’ 20So Ahab sent men to take that message to all the Israelites. He brought the prophets to meet together at Mount Carmel. 21Elijah stood up in front of the people and he said, ‘You must now decide who to worship! If the Lord is the true God, worship him. But if Baal is God, worship him.’ But the people said nothing.

1 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 away to eat and to drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel. He bent low down towards the ground. He put his face between his knees.
• Joshua 19:26Allammelech, Amad and Mishal. The west border of their land touched Carmel and Shihor Libnath.
• 1 Samuel 15:12Samuel got up early the next morning. He went to meet Saul. Someone told Samuel, ‘Saul went to Carmel. He has put up a tall stone to give himself honour. Now he has left there and he has gone to Gilgal.’
• 2 Kings 2:25Then Elisha travelled to Mount Carmel. From there, he returned to Samaria.
• Jeremiah 46:18The Lord Almighty is the great King. He says, ‘I promise you, as surely as I live, that a powerful army will come to fight against you! They will look as great as Tabor looks among the other mountains. They will seem like Carmel mountain that stands beside the sea.
• Amos 1:2Amos said, ‘The Lord speaks loudly from Zion. Yes, he shouts from Jerusalem. As a result, the green fields will become dry and the grass will die. There will be nothing for the sheep to eat. Even the grass on Mount Carmel mountain will die.’
• Amos 9:3They might try to hide on the top of Mount Carmel. But I will find them and I will take them from there. They might try to hide from me deep down in the sea. But I will command the great sea snake to bite them.
• 1 Kings 22:6So the king of Israel brought together about 400 prophets. He asked them, ‘Should I attack Ramoth Gilead, or not?’ They answered, ‘Yes, go and attack it, because the Lord God will give it to you, our king.’
• 2 Peter 2:1Many years ago, there were false prophets among God's people. They did not speak God's true messages. In the same way, there will also be false teachers among you. They will come among you and they will teach you things that are not true. Their wrong ideas will deceive people. Those false teachers will even speak against the Master, who paid the price for their sins. As a result, they will bring trouble on themselves that quickly destroys them.
• Revelation 19:20But the rider and his army caught the wild animal. They also caught the false prophet who had done miracles to help the wild animal. He used those miracles to deceive the people who had the wild animal's mark on them. Those people worshipped his image. Now the rider and his army threw the wild animal and the false prophet into the lake of fire. They were still alive when they threw them into the lake that burns with sulphur.
• 1 Kings 15:13He also told his grandmother Maakah that she could no longer have authority as the Queen Mother. This was because she had made a disgusting Asherah pole to worship. Asa cut down the Asherah pole and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.
• 1 Kings 16:33Ahab also made an Asherah pole to worship. He did many bad things that made the Lord, Israel's God, angry. He did more bad things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him.
• 2 Kings 13:6But the Israelites still did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam and his family had done. Jeroboam had caused the Israelites to do bad things, and they still continued to do them. There were still Asherah poles that people worshipped in Samaria.
• 1 Kings 19:1King Ahab told Jezebel about everything that Elijah had done. He told her how Elijah had killed all Baal's prophets with a sword.
• 2 Kings 9:22When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, ‘Have you come as a friend, Jehu?’ Jehu replied, ‘We cannot be friends. Your mother Jezebel still causes people to worship idols and to use magic.’
• Revelation 2:20But I have something to say against you. You let that woman Jezebel teach you. She says that she is a prophet from God. But she leads my servants into bad ways. She teaches them to have sex with many people. And she teaches them to eat food that people have given 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

• Ahab
• Carmel
• Elijah
• Feasts
• Groves
• Jezebel
• Religion
• Reproof
• Revivals

In the dictionaries

• Baal
• Carmel
• Israel
• Four Hundred
• Ahab
• Answer
• Ashtoreth
• Cut
• Either
• Follow

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