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1 Kings 19:2

in 1 Kings 19

So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the lives of those you killed!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time.

KJV

Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

This verse in 1 Kings 19

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
The prophet had not long to wait before learning the intentions of the queen. A priest’s daughter herself, she would avenge the slaughtered priests; a king’s wife and a king’s child, she would not quail before a subject. That very night a messenger declared her determination to compass the prophet’s death within the space of a day. So let the gods ... - A common oath about this time (marginal references).

This site's exposition

all that Elijah had done

on 1 Kings 19:1-2

Ahab reports Carmel accurately and draws no conclusion from it: the king who watched fire fall and heard all Israel confess the Lord he is the God tells his wife only that the prophets are dead. Jezebel answers with an oath sworn by her own gods, promising Elijah's life within a day. The victory of chapter eighteen survives one king's silence and does not survive one queen's threat.

This site's exposition

Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah

Albert Barnes notes that Jezebel was the daughter of a priest and of a king, so the killing of the prophets of Baal struck at her own house. Barnes also calls her oath a common form of the time. Her messenger gives Elijah a day's notice.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 19:2 · Written before 373.

proposed

"Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, 'So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.' " The insane woman contemplated that after learning from …

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), lest the worshippers of Baal should triumph and blaspheme the God of Israel, whom they will think themselves too hard for, if they can run down his advocate. He pleads, "It is enough.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Do to me, &c. - So far was she from being changed by that evident miracle, that she persists in her former idolatry, and adds to it a monstrous confidence, that in spight of God she would destroy his prophet.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

I am apt to think that though she desired nothing more than his blood, yet, at this time, she durst not meddle with him for fear of the people, all counting him a prophet, a great prophet, and therefore sent this message to him merely to frighten him and get him out of the way. for the present, that he might not carry on what he had begun.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

So let the gods do - If I do not slay thee, let the gods slay me with the most ignominious death.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַתִּשְׁלַ֤חand she sent

    vatishlachH7971845 times

  • אִיזֶ֙בֶל֙Jezebel

    ʾizevelH34822 times

  • מַלְאָ֔ךְa messenger

    malakhH4397213 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • אֵלִיָּ֖הוּElijah

    ʾeliyahuH45271 times

  • לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying

    lemorH5595305 times

  • כֹּֽה־thus

    koh-H3541577 times

  • יַעֲשׂ֤וּןmay they do !

    yaasunH62132628 times

  • אֱלֹהִים֙[the] gods

    ʾelohimH4302601 times

  • וְכֹ֣הand thus

    vekhohH3541577 times

  • יוֹסִפ֔וּןmay they add !

    yosifunH3254212 times

  • כִּֽי־if

    ki-H35884482 times

  • כָעֵ֤תabout <the> this time

    khaetH6256296 times

  • מָחָר֙tomorrow

    macharH4279

  • אָשִׂ֣יםI will make

    ʾasimH7760584 times

  • אֶֽת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • נַפְשְׁךָ֔life your

    nafshekhaH5315754 times

  • כְּנֶ֖פֶשׁlike [the] life of

    kenefeshH5315754 times

  • אַחַ֥דone

    ʾachadH259971 times

  • מֵהֶֽם׃from them

    mehem

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Proverbs 27:1

    Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

    it leads to

    • James 4:13–16

      Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”

    • Luke 12:19–20

      Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

    • 2 Corinthians 6:2

      For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!

  • Through

    Ruth 1:17

    Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 3:17

      “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Kings 2:23

      Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Samuel 19:13

      And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from this time you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

    • 2 Kings 6:31

      He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

  • Through

    Daniel 3:15

    Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I…

    it leads to

    • Acts 5:29

      But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.

Where this verse is studied

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); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 19:2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.