New English Translation
1 Kings 19:18
18I still have left in Israel seven thousand followers who have not bowed their knees to Baal or kissed the images of him.”
1 Kings 19:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
- New International Version (NIV)Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Context of 1 Kings 19:18
16You must anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to take your place as prophet. 17Jehu will kill anyone who escapes Hazael’s sword, and Elisha will kill anyone who escapes Jehu’s sword. I still have left in Israel seven thousand followers who have not bowed their knees to Baal or kissed the images of him.” 19Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen; he was near the twelfth pair. Elijah passed by him and threw his robe over him. 20He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, then I will follow you.” Elijah said to him, “Go back! Indeed, what have I done to you?”
Read all of 1 Kings 191 Kings 19:18 word by word
וְהִשְׁאַרְתִּ֥י בְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל שִׁבְעַ֣ת אֲלָפִ֑ים כָּל־הַבִּרְכַּ֗יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־כָֽרְעוּ֙ לַבַּ֔עַל וְכָ֨ל־הַפֶּ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־נָשַׁ֖ק לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Yet I have leftשָׁאַרshâ'ar · to remainH7604
- sevenשֶׁ֫בַעsheba‛ shib‛âh · sevenH7651
- thousandאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · thousandH505
- in Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- all the kneesבֶּ֫רֶךְberek · kneeH1290
- which have not bowedכָּרַעkâra‛ · to bowH3766
- unto Baalבַּעַלba‛al · BaalH1168
- and every mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310
- which hath not kissedנָשַׁקnâshaq · to kissH5401
Cross-references for 1 Kings 19:18
- Isaiah 1:9If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors, we would have quickly become like Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 10:20At that time those left in Israel, those who remain of the family of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. Instead they will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
- Romans 11:4But what was the divine response to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand people who have not bent the knee to Baal.”
- Exodus 20:5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me,
- Isaiah 49:23Kings will be your children’s guardians; their princesses will nurse your children. With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you and they will lick the dirt on your feet. Then you will recognize that I am the Lord; those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.
- Romans 14:10But you who eat vegetables only – why do you judge your brother or sister? And you who eat everything – why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
- Philippians 2:10so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth –
- Job 31:27so that my heart was secretly enticed, and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,
- Psalms 2:12Give sincere homage! Otherwise he will be angry, and you will die because of your behavior, when his anger quickly ignites. How blessed are all who take shelter in him!
- Hosea 13:2Even now they persist in sin! They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen! There is a saying about them: “Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!”
Commentaries on 1 Kings 19:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Seven thousand in Israel - That is, many thousands; for seven is a number of perfection, as we have often seen: so, The barren has borne seven - has had a numerous off-spring; Gold seven times purified - purified till all the dross is perfectly separated from it. The court and multitudes of the people had gone after Baal; but perhaps the majority of the common people still worshipped in secret the God of their fathers. Every mouth which hath not kissed…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Yet I have left me - Rather, as in the margin. “Seven thousand” faithful Israelites shall survive all the persecutions of Ahab and Jezebel, and carry down the worship of Yahweh to another generation. Elijah is mistaken in supposing that he only is left. The number is manifestly a “round” number, not an exact estimate. Perhaps it is, moreover, a mystical or symbolic number. Compare Revelation 7:5-8. Of all the symbolic numbers used in Scripture, seven is…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-18Verses 14-18 God repeated the question, What doest thou here? Then he complained of his discouragement; and whither should God's prophets go with their complaints of that kind, but to their Master? The Lord gave him an answer. He declares that the wicked house of Ahab shall be rooted out, that the people of Israel shall be punished for their sins; and he shows that Elijah was not left alone as he had supposed, and also that a helper should at once be…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18The Lord corrected Elijah's thinking. The prophet was not alone. Earlier, he forgot about the 100 prophets protected by Obadiah (1 Kings 18:4, 13). Now he learned that 7,000 others stayed faithful to the Lord. bowed … kissed him: These were common ways to show submission in the ancient Near East (2 Kings 21:3; Isaiah 46:6; 60:14; Hosea 13:2). They are often mentioned in the records of victorious kings or ancient stories. Ashurbanipal reported that during…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-184-18. went a day's journey into the wilderness--on the way from Beer-sheba to Horeb--a wide expanse of sand hills, covered with the retem (not juniper, but broom shrubs), whose tall and spreading branches, with their white leaves, afford a very cheering and refreshing shade. His gracious God did not lose sight of His fugitive servant, but watched over him, and, miraculously ministering to his wants, enabled him, in a better but not wholly right frame of…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 19:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 19
- 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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