1 Kings 18:37
in 1 Kings 18Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
KJV
Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
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This verse in 1 Kings 18
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
That thou hast turned their heart - The hearts of the people were turning. Elijah speaks of them as already turned, anticipating the coming change, and helping it on.
This site's exposition
Lord God of Abraham
on 1 Kings 18:36-37
At the hour of the evening sacrifice Elijah prays about sixty words against Baal's wasted day: no shouting, no blood, no dance. The prayer asks for three knowings, that thou art God in Israel, that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word, and then names the end behind the fire, that thou hast turned their heart back again. The fire is not the goal; the turned heart is, and the prayer says so before the fire falls.
This site's exposition
turned their hearts back again
Albert Barnes notes that Elijah speaks of the hearts of the people as already turned, with the change under way as he prayed. Malachi 4:5 and 4:6 later promise that Elijah the prophet will come and turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. The prayer asks for knowledge first.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 2 -- On Faith · Written before 523.
proposed
Now when he was offering up sacrifices on Mount Carmel in the sight of Ahab and of all Israel, "Answer me, Lord, answer me, Lord," he cried out, "that all this people may know that thou art the Lord, and that I am Thy servant, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Elijah sought not his own glory but in subserviency to God's, and for his own necessary vindication. (2.) The edification of the people: " That they may know that thou art the Lord, and may experience thy grace, turning their heart, by this miracle, as a means, back again to thee, in order to thy return in a way of mercy to them." 5.
Hast turned - Let them feel so powerful a change in their hearts, that they may know it is thy work. Back again - Unto thee, from whom they have revolted.
Hear me, O Lord, hear 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֲנֵ֤נִי | ʾaneni | answer me | H6030 → | 331 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עֲנֵ֔נִי | ʾaneni | answer me | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וְיֵֽדְעוּ֙ | veyedeu | so they may know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| הָעָ֣ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתָּ֥ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים | haelohim | [are] <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְאַתָּ֛ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הֲסִבֹּ֥תָ | hasibota | you have turned around | H5437 → | 161 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לִבָּ֖ם | libam | heart their | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אֲחֹרַנִּֽית׃ | ʾachoranit | backwards | H322 → |
עֲנֵ֤נִיanswer me
ʾaneniH6030 →331 times
יְהוָה֙O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עֲנֵ֔נִיanswer me
ʾaneniH6030 →331 times
וְיֵֽדְעוּ֙so they may know
veyedeuH3045 →945 times
הָעָ֣םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אַתָּ֥הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
יְהוָ֖הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים[are] <the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
וְאַתָּ֛הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
הֲסִבֹּ֥תָyou have turned around
hasibotaH5437 →161 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
לִבָּ֖םheart their
libamH3820 →595 times
אֲחֹרַנִּֽית׃backwards
ʾachoranitH322 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
1 Kings 18:24Then you may call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered,…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:38
Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.
- 1 Chronicles 21:26
And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called upon the LORD, who answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.
- Leviticus 9:24
Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell…
- 2 Chronicles 7:1
When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
- 2 Chronicles 7:3
When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and…
- 1 Kings 18:38
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About 1 Kings
This page draws on 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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 2 -- On Faith.