New International Version
1 Kings 18:19
19Now 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.”
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.
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
Context of 1 Kings 18:19
17When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” 18“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 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.” 20So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.
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 off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
- Joshua 19:26Allammelek, Amad and Mishal. On the west the boundary touched Carmel and Shihor Libnath.
- 1 Samuel 15:12Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
- 2 Kings 2:25And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
- Jeremiah 46:18“As surely as I live,” declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty, “one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains, like Carmel by the sea.
- Amos 1:2He said: “The Lord roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers.”
- Amos 9:3Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
- 1 Kings 22:6So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”
- 2 Peter 2:1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
- Revelation 19:20But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
- 1 Kings 15:13He even deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
- 1 Kings 16:33Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.
- 2 Kings 13:6But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole remained standing in Samaria.
- 1 Kings 19:1Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
- 2 Kings 9:22When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”
- Revelation 2:20Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of 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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