1 Kings 18:29
in 1 Kings 18Midday passed, and they kept on raving until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered, no one paid attention.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it was so, when midday was past, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening oblation; but there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
KJV
And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
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This verse in 1 Kings 18
Commentary
8 notes on this verse[Elijah and the prophets of Baal] had agreed to fix a specific time and deadline [by saying], "We will stay until this hour, and he whose sacrifice is not accepted will die." Otherwise they might have said, "Today [our sacrifice] was not accepted, but it …
This site's exposition
until the blood gushed over them
on 1 Kings 18:28-29
The “knives and lances” are their custom, self-wounding to force a god's attention, the precise practice Deut 14:1 forbade Israel. The frenzy runs past midday to the hour of the evening sacrifice. The narrator closes the audit with a triple silence: “no one answered, no one paid attention”.
This site's exposition
until the time of the evening sacrifice
The prophets of Baal kept on raving, and Albert Barnes notes that the Hebrew verb here means to prophesy, as at 22:12. Ishodad of Merv holds that Elijah and the prophets had fixed this hour as the end of the test. Elijah prays at the evening sacrifice in verse 36.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The Baalites are forced to give up their cause, and now it is Elijah's turn to produce his. Let us see if he speed better. He would not make use of theirs, which had been polluted with their prayers to Baal, but, finding the ruins of an altar there, which had formerly been used in the service of the Lord, he chose to repair that (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And it came to pass when midday was past,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And they prophesied - Compare 1Ki 22:12. The expression seems to be used of any case where there was an utterance of words by persons in a state of religious ecstasy. Until the time of the offering etc - Rather, “Until toward the time.” Elijah had built his altar by the actual time of the offering 1Ki 18:36.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
In vain did they continue invoking their senseless deity from morning till noon, and from noon till evening, uttering the most piercing cries, using the most frantic gesticulations, and mingling their blood with the sacrifice. Elijah exposed their folly and imposture with the severest irony and, as the day was far advanced, commenced his operations.
They prophesied - They made incessant prayer and supplication; a farther proof that to pray or supplicate is the proper ideal meaning of the word נבא naba, which we constantly translate to prophesy, when even all the circumstances of the time and place are against such a meaning. See what is said on the case of Saul among the prophets, in the note on 1Sa 10:5 (note).
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כַּעֲבֹ֣ר | kaavor | when passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| הַֽצָּהֳרַ֔יִם | hatzohorayim | the noontide<s> | H6672 → | 24 times |
| וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֔וּ | vaiyitnabeu | and they prophesied | H5012 → | 115 times |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| לַעֲל֣וֹת | laalot | <to> goes up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| הַמִּנְחָ֑ה | haminchah | the offering | H4503 → | 211 times |
| וְאֵֽין־ | veein- | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ק֥וֹל | kol | [was] a sound | H6963 → | 506 times |
| וְאֵין־ | veein- | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| עֹנֶ֖ה | ʾoneh | [was one who] answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| קָֽשֶׁב׃ | kashev | [was] attention | H7182 → |
וַֽיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כַּעֲבֹ֣רwhen passed
kaavorH5674 →556 times
הַֽצָּהֳרַ֔יִםthe noontide<s>
hatzohorayimH6672 →24 times
וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֔וּand they prophesied
vaiyitnabeuH5012 →115 times
עַ֖דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
לַעֲל֣וֹת<to> goes up
laalotH5927 →890 times
הַמִּנְחָ֑הthe offering
haminchahH4503 →211 times
וְאֵֽין־and there not
veein-H369 →789 times
ק֥וֹל[was] a sound
kolH6963 →506 times
וְאֵין־and there not
veein-H369 →789 times
עֹנֶ֖ה[was one who] answered
ʾonehH6030 →331 times
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
קָֽשֶׁב׃[was] attention
kashevH7182 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Galatians 4:8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 8:4
So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5
not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9
For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
- Ephesians 2:11–12
Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4
Through
1 Kings 18:26And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:5
Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any…
- Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.
- 1 Corinthians 12:2
You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
- Jeremiah 10:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 18:29; Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 14:13; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
