1 Kings 18:2
in 1 Kings 18So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And the famine was sore in Samaria.
KJV
And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.
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This verse in 1 Kings 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab,.... Which showed his cheerful and ready obedience to the will of God, and his great courage and magnanimity, to face a king enraged against him, and that sought his life: and there was a sore famine in Samaria; the metropolis of the kingdom, where Ahab kept his court, and therefore must be sensible of it, and bore the greater indignation against the prophet who had foretold it.
This site's exposition
in the third year
on 1 Kings 18:1-2
The drought that began with a sentence at 17:1 ends the same way: the word of the LORD comes, and rain is promised before any contest is proposed. Kings dates the word in the third year; Luke 4:25 and Jas 5:17 give the whole span as three years and six months, the New Testament's own reckoning of the closed heaven. Carmel is not a duel to see whether rain will come but a public settling of who sends it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
So this might be in the middle of the third year, which also makes up the three years and six months. Go to Ahab - To acquaint him with the cause of this judgment, and to advise him to remove it, and upon that condition to promise him rain. Will send - According to thy word and prayer, which thou shalt make for it.
Elijah went - Wherein he shews a strong faith, and resolute obedience, and invincible courage, that he durst at God's command run into the mouth of this raging lion.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Elijah went--a marvellous proof of the natural intrepidity of this prophet, of his moral courage, and his unfaltering confidence in the protecting care of God, that he ventured to approach the presence of the raging lion. there was a sore famine in Samaria--Elijah found that the famine was pressing with intense severity in the capital.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֵֽלִיָּ֔הוּ | ʾeliyahu | Elijah | H452 → | 71 times |
| לְהֵרָא֖וֹת | leheraot | to present himself | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַחְאָ֑ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| וְהָרָעָ֖ב | veharaav | and the famine | H7458 → | |
| חָזָ֥ק | chazak | [was] severe | H2389 → | 56 times |
| בְּשֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃ | beshomeron | in Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙and he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
אֵֽלִיָּ֔הוּElijah
ʾeliyahuH452 →71 times
לְהֵרָא֖וֹתto present himself
leheraotH7200 →1300 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַחְאָ֑בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
וְהָרָעָ֖בand the famine
veharaavH7458 →
חָזָ֥ק[was] severe
chazakH2389 →56 times
בְּשֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃in Samaria
beshomeronH8111 →109 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 27:1The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?
it leads to
- Psalms 118:6
The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 13:6
So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
- Exodus 15:2
The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of…
- Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Psalms 118:6
Through
Isaiah 51:12“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- Isaiah 2:22
Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- John 14:26–27
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.
- 1 Peter 1:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About 1 Kings
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomElijahThe Tishbite who shut heaven for three years and a half, called down fire on Carmel, heard the still small voice at Horeb, and wen…
- PersonDivided kingdomAhabSeventh king of the northern kingdom, son of Omri, who "did evil above all that were before him"; Elijah's chief antagonist, conde…
- PlaceThe northern hill countrySamariaThe hill Omri bought and built his capital on, where Ahab raised a temple to Baal, where the four lepers found the Aramean camp em…
This page draws on F. W. Farrar, The First Book of Kings (Expositor's 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 and Keil, The Books of the Kings.