1 Kings 18:10
in 1 Kings 18As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.
KJV
As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.
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This verse in 1 Kings 18
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThere is no nation or kingdom - He had sent through all his own states and to the neighboring governments to find out the prophet, as he knew, from his own declaration, that both rain and drought were to be the effect of his prayers. Had he found him, he no doubt intended to oblige him to procure rain, or punish him for having brought on this drought.
This site's exposition
Art thou that my lord Elijah
on 1 Kings 18:7-14
Obadiah's long protest is the chapter's measure of Elijah's reputation: no nation or kingdom where Ahab has not sought him, oaths taken from kings that he was not there, and the standing assumption that the Spirit of the LORD carries the prophet where no messenger can follow. A man who has spent three years hiding prophets by fifty is still afraid that this errand will cost his head. The fear is reasonable, and the text lets it speak at full length before Elijah answers it.
This site's exposition
there is no nation or kingdom
Adam Clarke reads the search as a hunt for the man whose word at 17:1 held back the rain. Ahab meant to force Elijah to bring rain or to punish him for the drought. Elijah had been hiding in Sidon, the land of Jezebel's father.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
As the Lord thy God liveth,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Art thou he that troubleth Israel--A violent altercation took place. Ahab thought to awe him into submission, but the prophet boldly and undisguisedly told the king that the national calamity was traceable chiefly to his own and his family's patronage and practice of idolatry. But, while rebuking the sins, Elijah paid all due respect to the high rank of the offender.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
There is no nation ... - This is expressed in the style of Oriental hyperbole. What Obadiah means is: “there is no nation nor kingdom, of those over which he has influence, whither the king has not sent.” He could scarcely, for example, have exacted an oath from such countries as Egypt or Syria of Damascus. But Ahab may have been powerful enough to expect an oath from the neighboring Hittite, Moabite, and Edomite tribes, perhaps even from Ethbaal his father-in-law, and the kings of Hamath and Arpad.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
That they did not find you. For the nation was unable to find you. 2 Below v.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חַ֣י׀ | chai | [by] [the] life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | of Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יֶשׁ־ | yesh- | there | H3426 → | |
| גּ֤וֹי | goy | [is] a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וּמַמְלָכָה֙ | umamlakhah | and a kingdom | H4467 → | 117 times |
| אֲ֠שֶׁר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁלַ֨ח | shalach | he has sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֲדֹנִ֥י | ʾadoni | master my | H113 → | 333 times |
| שָׁם֙ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לְבַקֶּשְׁךָ֔ | levakeshcha | to seek you | H1245 → | 225 times |
| וְאָמְר֖וּ | veameru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אָ֑יִן | ʾayin | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| וְהִשְׁבִּ֤יעַ | vehishbia' | and he made swear | H7650 → | 186 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמַּמְלָכָה֙ | hamamlakhah | the kingdom | H4467 → | 117 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַגּ֔וֹי | hagoy | the nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִמְצָאֶֽכָּה׃ | yimtzaekah | it has found you | H4672 → | 455 times |
חַ֣י׀[by] [the] life
chaiH2416 →498 times
יְהוָ֣הof Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יֶשׁ־there
yesh-H3426 →
גּ֤וֹי[is] a nation
goyH1471 →561 times
וּמַמְלָכָה֙and a kingdom
umamlakhahH4467 →117 times
אֲ֠שֶׁרwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁלַ֨חhe has sent
shalachH7971 →845 times
אֲדֹנִ֥יmaster my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
שָׁם֙there
shamH8033 →834 times
לְבַקֶּשְׁךָ֔to seek you
levakeshchaH1245 →225 times
וְאָמְר֖וּand they said
veameruH559 →5305 times
אָ֑יִןnot
ʾayinH369 →789 times
וְהִשְׁבִּ֤יעַand he made swear
vehishbia'H7650 →186 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמַּמְלָכָה֙the kingdom
hamamlakhahH4467 →117 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַגּ֔וֹיthe nation
hagoyH1471 →561 times
כִּ֖יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִמְצָאֶֽכָּה׃it has found you
yimtzaekahH4672 →455 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
Psalms 31:20You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.
it leads to
- Psalms 27:5
For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high upon a rock.
- Psalms 32:7
You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
- Psalms 91:1–4
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Job 5:21
You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes.
- Psalms 27:5
Through
1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…
it leads to
- Luke 4:25–26
But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…
- James 5:17
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
- Luke 4:25–26
Through
Psalms 10:2In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
it leads to
- Psalms 59:12
By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.
- Psalms 36:11
Let not the foot of the proud come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
- Psalms 59:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil, The Books of the Kings.