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Elijah Runs for His Life

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, including a detailed account of how he killed all the prophets with the sword. Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this warning,[a] “May the gods judge me severely[b] if by this time tomorrow I do not take your life as you did theirs!”[c]

Elijah was afraid,[d] so he got up and fled for his life to Beer Sheba in Judah. He left his servant there, while he went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He went and sat down under a shrub[e] and asked the Lord to take his life:[f] “I’ve had enough! Now, O Lord, take my life. After all, I’m no better than my ancestors.”[g] He stretched out[h] and fell asleep under the shrub. Suddenly an angelic messenger[i] touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked and right there by his head was a cake baking on hot coals and a jug of water. He ate and drank and then slept some more.[j] The angel of the Lord came back again, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, for otherwise you won’t be able to make the journey.”[k] So he got up and ate and drank. That meal gave him the strength to travel forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 19:2 tn Heb “saying.”
  2. 1 Kings 19:2 tn Heb “So may the gods do to me, and so may they add.”
  3. 1 Kings 19:2 tn Heb “I do not make your life like the life of one of them.”
  4. 1 Kings 19:3 tc The MT has “and he saw,” but some medieval Hebrew mss as well as several ancient versions support the reading “he was afraid.” The consonantal text (וַיַּרְא, vayyarʾ) is ambiguous and can be vocalized וַיַּרְא (from רָאָה, raʾah, “to see”) or וַיִּרָא (vayyiraʾ, from יָרֵא, yareʾ, “to fear”).
  5. 1 Kings 19:4 tn Or “broom tree” (also in v. 5).
  6. 1 Kings 19:4 tn Heb “and asked with respect to his life to die.”
  7. 1 Kings 19:4 tn Heb “fathers.”
  8. 1 Kings 19:5 tn Or “lay down.”
  9. 1 Kings 19:5 tn Heb “Look, this messenger.”
  10. 1 Kings 19:6 tn Heb “and again lay down.”
  11. 1 Kings 19:7 tn Heb “for the journey is too great for you.”

Elijah Flees from Jezebel

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done, and [a](A)how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “(B)So may the gods do to me and more so, if by about this time tomorrow I do not make your [b]life like the [c]life of one of them.” And he [d]was afraid, and got up and ran for his [e]life and came to (C)Beersheba, which belongs to Judah; and he left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and (D)he asked for himself to die, and said, “Enough! Now, Lord, take my [f]life, for I am no better than my fathers.” Then he lay down and fell asleep under a broom tree; but behold, there was (E)an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat!” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a round loaf of bread baked on hot coals, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. But the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him, and said, “Arise, eat; because the journey is too long for you.” So he arose and ate and drank, and he journeyed in the strength of that food for (F)forty days and forty nights to (G)Horeb, the mountain of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 19:1 Lit all that he had
  2. 1 Kings 19:2 Lit soul
  3. 1 Kings 19:2 Lit soul
  4. 1 Kings 19:3 Reading of many mss; MT may read saw
  5. 1 Kings 19:3 Lit soul
  6. 1 Kings 19:4 Lit soul