1 Kings 18:30
in 1 Kings 18Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me; and all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah that was thrown down.
KJV
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.
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This verse in 1 Kings 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseHe repaired the altar of the Lord - There had been an altar of Jehovah in that place, called, even among the heathens, the altar of Carmel, probably built in the time of the judges, or, as the rabbins imagine, by Saul. Tacitus and Suetonius mention an altar on Mount Carmel, which Vespasian went to consult; there was no temple nor statue, but simply an altar that was respectable for its antiquity. “Est Judaeam inter Syriamque Carmelus; ita vocant montem Deumque: nec simulachrum Deo, aut templum situm tradidere majores: aram tantum, et reverentiam.” - Tacit. Hist. lib. ii., c.
This site's exposition
he repaired the altar
on 1 Kings 18:30-32
Elijah repairs “the altar of the LORD that had been torn down”, using “twelve stones, one for each tribe of the sons of Jacob”. The nation has been split ten and two for sixty years, and the stones recall the word to Jacob, “Israel shall be your name”.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Probably on that mountain they had an eminent high place, where formerly the pure worship of God had been kept up as well as it could be any where but at Jerusalem.
), to intimate to them that he was not about to introduce any new religion, but to revive the faith and worship of their fathers' God, and reduce them to their first love, their first works.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The altar - This had been built by some of their ancestors for the offering of sacrifice to the God of Israel, which was frequently done in high places.
And Elijah said unto all the people, come near unto me,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלִיָּ֤הוּ | ʾeliyahu | Elijah | H452 → | 71 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| גְּשׁ֣וּ | geshu | draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| אֵלַ֔י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וַיִּגְּשׁ֥וּ | vaiyigeshu | and they drew near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֵלָ֑יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וַיְרַפֵּ֛א | vayrape' | and he repaired | H7495 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִזְבַּ֥ח | mizbach | [the] altar of | H4196 → | 401 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֶהָרֽוּס׃ | heharus | that was torn down | H2040 → | 43 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלִיָּ֤הוּElijah
ʾeliyahuH452 →71 times
לְכָל־to all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
גְּשׁ֣וּdraw near
geshuH5066 →125 times
אֵלַ֔יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
וַיִּגְּשׁ֥וּand they drew near
vaiyigeshuH5066 →125 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אֵלָ֑יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
וַיְרַפֵּ֛אand he repaired
vayrape'H7495 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִזְבַּ֥ח[the] altar of
mizbachH4196 →401 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֶהָרֽוּס׃that was torn down
heharusH2040 →43 times
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
Romans 11:3“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”?
it leads to
- 1 Kings 19:10–18
“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am…
- 1 Kings 18:13
Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them…
- Nehemiah 9:26
But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- 1 Kings 19:10–18
Through
1 Kings 19:10“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:4
for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 34:14
For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
- Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth…
- Romans 11:2–4
God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel:
- 1 Kings 18:22
Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
- 1 Kings 18:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.