1 Reis 19

ARC · Chapter 19/22

1E Achab fez saber a Jezabel tudo quanto Elias havia feito, e como totalmente matara todos os prophetas á espada.

2Então Jezabel mandou um mensageiro a Elias, a dizer-lhe: Assim me façam os deuses, e outro tanto, se de certo ámanhã a estas horas não pozer a tua vida como a d'um d'elles.

3O que vendo elle, se levantou, e, para escapar com vida, se foi, e veiu a Berseba, que é de Judah, e deixou ali o seu moço.

4E elle se foi ao deserto, caminho de um dia, e veiu, e se assentou debaixo de um zimbro; e pediu em seu animo a morte, e disse: Já basta, ó Senhor; toma agora a minha vida, pois não sou melhor do que meus paes.

5E deitou-se, e dormiu debaixo d'um zimbro: e eis que então um anjo o tocou, e lhe disse: Levanta-te, come.

6E olhou, e eis que á sua cabeceira estava um pão cozido sobre as brazas, e uma botija de agua: e comeu, e bebeu, e tornou a deitar-se.

7E o anjo do Senhor tornou segunda vez, e o tocou, e disse: Levanta-te e come, porque mui comprido te será o caminho.

8Levantou-se pois, e comeu e bebeu: e com a força d'aquella comida caminhou quarenta dias e quarenta noites até Horeb, o monte de Deus.

9E ali entrou n'uma caverna e passou ali a noite: e eis que a palavra do Senhor veiu a elle, e lhe disse: Que fazes aqui, Elias?

10E elle disse: Tenho sido muito zeloso pelo Senhor Deus dos Exercitos, porque os filhos d'Israel deixaram o teu concerto, derribaram os teus altares, e mataram os teus prophetas á espada, e eu só fiquei, e buscam a minha vida para m'a tirarem.

11E elle lhe disse: Sae para fóra, e põe-te n'este monte perante a face do Senhor. E eis que passava o Senhor, como tambem um grande e forte vento que fendia os montes e quebrava as penhas diante da face do Senhor; porém o Senhor não estava no vento: e depois do vento um terremoto: tambem o Senhor não estava no terremoto:

12E depois do terremoto um fogo; porém tambem o Senhor não estava no fogo: e depois do fogo uma voz mansa e delicada.

13E succedeu que, ouvindo-a Elias, envolveu o seu rosto na sua capa, e saiu para fóra, e poz-se á entrada da caverna: e eis que veiu a elle uma voz, que dizia: Que fazes aqui, Elias?

14E elle disse: Eu tenho sido em extremo zeloso pelo Senhor Deus dos exercitos, porque os filhos d'Israel deixaram o teu concerto, derribaram os teus altares, e mataram os teus prophetas á espada, e só eu fiquei; e buscam a minha vida para m'a tirarem.

15E o Senhor lhe disse: Vae, torna-te pelo teu caminho para o deserto de Damasco; e vem, e unge a Hazael rei sobre a Syria.

16Tambem a Jehu, filho de Nimsi, ungirás rei d'Israel: e tambem a Eliseo, filho de Saphat de Abel-mehola, ungirás propheta em teu logar.

17E ha de ser que o que escapar da espada de Hazael matal-o-ha Jehu: e o que escapar da espada de Jehu matal-o-ha Eliseo.

18Tambem eu fiz ficar em Israel sete mil: todos os joelhos que se não dobraram a Baal, e toda a bocca que o não beijou.

19Partiu pois Elias d'ali, e achou a Eliseo, filho de Saphat, que andava lavrando com doze juntas de bois adiante d'elle, e elle estava com a duodecima: e Elias passou por elle, e lançou a sua capa sobre elle.

20Então deixou elle os bois, e correu apoz Elias: e disse: Deixa-me beijar a meu pae e a minha mãe, e então te seguirei. E elle lhe disse: Vae, e volta; porque que te tenho eu feito?

21Voltou pois de atraz d'elle, e tomou uma junta de bois, e os matou, e com os apparelhos dos bois cozeu as carnes, e as deu ao povo, e comeram: então se levantou e seguiu a Elias, e o servia.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Threatened with death by Jezebel, Elijah flees in deep despair and asks God to let him die. An angel feeds him, and he walks 40 days to Mount Horeb, where God reveals himself not in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a 'still small voice.' God then sends him to anoint new leaders, including his successor Elisha.

Explanation

This chapter shows the human, fragile side of a prophet who had just won the greatest spiritual confrontation of his career, yet falls into deep discouragement soon after — a recognizable psychological pattern of exhaustion following a great victory. God's revelation in the 'still small voice' (also translated 'a gentle whisper') rather than the dramatic phenomena that came before teaches that God often speaks through stillness and intimacy, not only through spectacular manifestations. God's response also corrects Elijah's isolated perception that he was alone, revealing that there were still 7,000 unidentified faithful people in Israel.

Fun facts

  • Mount Horeb is the same Mount Sinai where Moses received the law — Elijah essentially makes the same 40-day journey as Moses, and both hide in a cleft of the rock as God's glory passes by (compare Exodus 33:21-22).
  • Elisha's calling, found plowing with twelve yoke of oxen (a sign of a wealthy family), and his gesture of burning his farming tools to prepare a farewell meal, symbolizes a definitive, irreversible break with his former life.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Reis 19:1Ahab tells Jezebel everything Elijah did, including how he killed all the prophets of Baal at Carmel with the sword.
  2. 1 Reis 19:2Jezebel sends a messenger to threaten Elijah: may the gods punish me if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the life of one of them — a death sentence right after Elijah’s greatest victory.
  3. 1 Reis 19:3Afraid, Elijah flees for his life all the way to Beersheba, in Judah, leaving his servant there — the prophet who had just won at Carmel is now running from one woman’s threat.
  4. 1 Reis 19:4Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai, and the forty days of walking to reach it deliberately echo Israel’s forty years in the wilderness and Moses’s forty days on that same mountain. It’s a way of linking Elijah directly to the exodus tradition.
  5. 1 Reis 19:5He lies down and sleeps under the tree, and suddenly an angel touches him and says, “Arise and eat.”
  6. 1 Reis 19:6He looks and finds a cake baked on the coals and a jar of water by his head; he eats, drinks, and lies back down.
  7. 1 Reis 19:7The angel of the LORD comes back a second time, touches him, and says, “Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.”
  8. 1 Reis 19:8Strengthened by that food, he walks forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God — the same mountain where Moses had met God before.
  9. 1 Reis 19:9There he enters a cave and spends the night; the word of the LORD comes to him, asking: what are you doing here, Elijah?
  10. 1 Reis 19:10Elijah answers: I have been very zealous for the LORD, because Israel has forsaken Your covenant, torn down the altars, and killed the prophets with the sword — I alone am left, and now they seek my life too.
  11. 1 Reis 19:11God does not appear in the spectacular phenomena the text lists — a strong wind, an earthquake, a fire — but in a quiet, subtle sound. It’s one of the most often-cited moments in the Hebrew Bible for how the divine presence doesn’t always show up in the most dramatic way we’d expect.
  12. 1 Reis 19:12After the earthquake comes fire, but the LORD was not in the fire either; and after the fire, a still small voice — the most famous moment in the passage.
  13. 1 Reis 19:13On hearing that still small voice, Elijah covers his face with his cloak and goes out to stand at the mouth of the cave; a voice asks again: what are you doing here, Elijah?
  14. 1 Reis 19:14He repeats exactly the same answer as before, word for word — his despair hasn’t changed even after that whole impressive display.
  15. 1 Reis 19:15These three anointings — a foreign king, a future king of Israel, and a prophet — set the agenda for the chapters ahead. Each of them will, in his own way, carry out the judgment against the house of Ahab that Elijah announces here.
  16. 1 Reis 19:16God tells Elijah to also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat as prophet to succeed him.
  17. 1 Reis 19:17Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill — a chain of judgment still to be carried out.
  18. 1 Reis 19:18Even so, God reveals that He has kept seven thousand people in Israel who have never bowed the knee to Baal or kissed him — Elijah wasn’t as alone as he thought.
  19. 1 Reis 19:19Using his own farming equipment as firewood to roast the meat was a gesture of total, final break with his old life. Elisha leaves himself no way back, unlike someone who just tags along with Elijah for a while.
  20. 1 Reis 19:20Elisha leaves the oxen and runs after Elijah, asking to kiss his father and mother goodbye first; Elijah tells him to go back, asking what he has really done to him.
  21. 1 Reis 19:21Elisha goes back, slaughters a yoke of oxen, uses his own plowing equipment to cook the meat, and gives it to the people to eat; then he sets out to follow and serve Elijah, leaving his old life behind completely.

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