1 Kings 18:39
in 1 Kings 18When all the people saw this, they fell facedown and said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God.
KJV
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.
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This verse in 1 Kings 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThey fell - In acknowledgment of the true God. He is God - He alone; and Baal is a senseless idol. And they double the words, to note their abundant satisfaction and assurance of the truth of their assertion.
This site's exposition
they fell facedown
The people's cry, “The LORD, He is God!”, said twice, is the exact meaning of Elijah's own name, my God is the LORD. The crowd's confession pronounces the prophet's name back over him. Verse 21's silence is answered; the limping has, for one evening, stopped.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Some, we hope, had their hearts thus turned back, but the generality of them were convinced only, not converted, yielded to the truth of God, that he is the God, but consented not to his covenant, that he should be theirs. Blessed are those that have not seen what they saw and yet have believed and been wrought upon by it more than those that saw it.
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces,.... In reverence of God, astonished at the miracle wrought, ashamed of themselves and their sins, particularly their idolatry, that they should turn their backs on the true God, and follow idols: and they said, the Lord, he is the God, the Lord, he is the God; which acknowledgment of God, as the true God, in opposition to Baal, is repeated, to show their firm belief and strong assurance of it.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.
Fell on their faces - Struck with awe and reverence at the sight of this incontestable miracle. And they said - We should translate the words thus: Jehovah, He is the God! Jehovah, He is the God! Baal is not the God; Jehovah alone is the God of Israel. As our term Lord is very equivocal, we should every where insert the original word יהוה, which we should write Yeve or Yeheveh, or Yahvah or Yehueh, or, according to the points, Yehovah.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Lord, he is the God - The people thus pronounced the matter to be clearly and certainly decided. Baal was overthrown; he was proved to be no god at all. The Lord Yahweh, He, and He alone, is God. Him would they henceforth acknowledge, and no other.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּרְא֙ | vaiyar' | and it saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּ | vaiyipelu | and they fell | H5307 → | 435 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵיהֶ֑ם | peneihem | faces their | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| ה֣וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים | haelohim | [is] <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ | haelohim | [is] <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
וַיַּרְא֙and it saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּand they fell
vaiyipeluH5307 →435 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵיהֶ֑םfaces their
peneihemH6440 →2123 times
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
ה֣וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים[is] <the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃[is] <the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 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
1 Kings 18:21Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did…
it leads to
- Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and…
- Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
- 1 Corinthians 10:21–22
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14–16
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- 1 Samuel 7:3
Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts…
- Matthew 6:24
Through
2 Chronicles 7:3When 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…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 5:13
The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the LORD with one voice. They lifted up their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the LORD: “For He…
- 2 Chronicles 5:13
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 Kings 18:38
Through
Acts 2:37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
it leads to
- Luke 3:10
The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”
- Luke 3:10
Where this verse is studied
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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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.