1 Kings 19:3–10
Elijah flees and asks to die; he feels he is the only one left
Study it word by word3He saw this, and got up and went for his life; and he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his young man there.
4But he himself went into the wilderness a day’s journey, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked for himself to die, and said, “Enough now, YHWH! Take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
5He lay down and slept under a broom tree; and there, an angel was touching him, and he said to him, “Get up, eat.”
6He looked, and there, at his head, was a cake baked on hot stones and a jug of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.
7The angel of YHWH came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up, eat, for the journey is too much for you.”
8He got up and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to the mountain of Elohim, Horeb.
9There he went into the cave and spent the night there. And the word of YHWH came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10He said, “I have been very jealous for YHWH, Elohim Tsevaot, for the sons of Israel have abandoned your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword; and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
In its context
1Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and all how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do and so may they add, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the life of one of them.”
…
11He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before YHWH.” And there, YHWH was passing by, and a great and strong wind was tearing mountains and breaking rocks before YHWH; YHWH was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake; YHWH was not in the earthquake.
12And after the earthquake, a fire; YHWH was not in the fire. And after the fire, a sound of thin silence.
Its words in the original
- יַּרְאyar· see
See. Also look, observe, notice, consider; in some forms, "appear" or "show".
- יָּקָםyakam· rise, stand, establish
Rise, stand up; also stand firm, establish or fulfill something. "Rise against" is to attack.
- יֵּלֶךְyelech· go, walk
Go, walk, depart; in the causative form, lead or bring.
- נַפְשׁnafsh· soul, living being, life
A breathing being, a living being. It is translated "living being" (people and animals), "life" (when living or dying is at stake), "person" (in counts and laws), "soul" (the person at the innermost: desires, joy, anguish) or "myself". In the Old Testament it names the whole living being, not only a part of it.
- יָּבֹאyavo· come, go in, bring
Come, arrive, go in, enter. In the causative form, "bring" or "carry in". "Go in to" a woman is to have marital relations with her.
- בְּאֵרbeer· Beersheba
Beersheba, a place with wells in the south of Canaan, the southern limit of the land ("from Dan to Beersheba"). The name sounds like "well of the oath" and "well of the seven" (Genesis 21:28-31).
- יהוּדָהyhuda· Judah
Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah; also the tribe that came from him and its land, and later the southern kingdom; King David came from it. The name sounds like "give thanks". Borne also by other Israelites.
- יַּנַּחyanach· put, leave
Put, set down, leave in a place; let rest.
- נַעֲרnaar· young man, servant
Boy, young man; also a servant or attendant.
- הָלַךְhalach· go, walk
Go, walk, come. Figuratively, the way one lives ("walk with God").
- מִּדְבָּרmidbar· wilderness
Wilderness: in the Bible it is not only sand; it is dry, untilled land, where flocks can be led but people cannot live by sowing.
- דֶּרֶךְderech· way
Way, road, journey. Figuratively, the way one lives or acts.
- יוֹםyom· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- יֵּשֶׁבyeshev· sit, dwell
Sit, sit down; from there stay in a place, live, dwell. In the causative form, settle someone, make to dwell. Also sit as judge or as king.
- רֹתֶםrotem· broom tree
Broom tree: a desert shrub with long thin branches, which gives a little shade and whose root was used for firewood.
- אֶחָדechad· one
One; only, the same. Also "first" in a series.
- יִּשְׁאַלyishal· ask
Ask, inquire; request.
- מוּתmut· die
Die. In the causative form, kill, put to death. Hebrew can repeat the verb for emphasis ("dying you will die" = "you will surely die").
- יֹּאמֶרyomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- רַבrav· many, great
Many, much, abundant, great; also "elder" or "chief".
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- קַחkach· take
Take: seize, take along, receive. Also "take a wife" (marry).
- טוֹבtov· good
Good in the widest sense: pleasant, beautiful, useful, right, of good quality. As a noun, "good", "good things", "well-being".
- אֲבֹתָavota· father
Father; also ancestor ("our fathers"), and the founder or head of a family or group.
- יִּשְׁכַּבyishkav· lie down
Lie down: to sleep, or for sexual relations ("lie with"). "Lie down with one's fathers" is to die.
- יִּישַׁןyishan· sleep
Sleep. Of a disease or a thing, grow old, become chronic.
- מַלְאָךְmalach· messenger, angel
Messenger: someone sent with a task. It can be a human being or one sent by God, that is, an angel. "The angel of YHWH" is a messenger who speaks in God's name, and in several passages the text treats him as God himself (Genesis 16:13; Exodus 3:2-6).
- נֹגֵעַnogea· touch
Touch; also reach, or strike.
- אֱכוֹלechol· eat
Eat; also consume, devour (said of fire or the sword).
- יַּבֵּטyabet· look
Look intently, gaze; regard, pay attention to.
- מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיmeraashotay· at the head
The place at someone's head where they sleep.
- עֻגַתugat· flat cake
Round, thin loaf baked on hot stones.
- רְצָפִיםretsafim· hot stone
A hot stone or coal on which bread was baked.
- צַפַּחַתtsapachat· jug, flask
Jug or flask for water or oil, flat in shape.
- מָיִםmayim· water
Water. In Hebrew it is always plural ("waters").
- יֵּשְׁתְּyesht· drink
Drink.
- יָּשָׁבyashav· return, turn back
Turn back, return. Also turn away; in the causative form, bring back, give back, answer. Figuratively, turn back to God (change course). Often adverbial: "again".
- שֵׁנִיתshenit· second
Second; also "again".
- כֹחַchoach· strength
Strength, power, vigor; also what the ground can produce. A word with the same letters names a large lizard.
- אֲכִילָהachila· food
Food: what is eaten. It appears only in 1 Kings 19:8.
- אַרְבָּעִיםarbaim· forty
Forty.
- לַיְלָהlayla· night
Night.
- הַרhar· mountain, hill country
Mountain, hill; hill country.
- אֱלֹהִיםelohim· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- חֹרֵבchorev· Horeb
Horeb, the mountain where God appeared to Moses and later gave the Law; another name for Mount Sinai.
- מְּעָרָהmeara· cave
Cave.
- יָּלֶןyalen· spend the night
Spend the night, lodge; stay. A word with the same letters means "grumble".
- דְבַרdevar· word, matter, thing
Word; what is said. Also "matter" or "thing": what is spoken about, an affair, an event.
- אֵלִיָּהוּeliyahu· Elijah
Elijah: a name meaning "my El is YHWH." It is the prophet from Gilead who confronted King Ahab and the worship of Baal (1 Kings 17–2 Kings 2); two other Israelites bear the same name (1 Chronicles 8:27; Ezra 10:21).
- קַנֹּאkano· be jealous, be zealous
Be jealous or envious; in other passages, be zealous for something.
- צְבָאוֹתtsevaot· host, army
A great ordered company, like an army. "All their host" is everything that fills the heavens and the earth: the stars and the created beings. From this word comes the title "YHWH of hosts" (YHWH Tsevaot).
- עָזְבוּazvu· leave, forsake
Leave, forsake, abandon; also let go, leave behind for someone.
- בְרִיתְverit· covenant
Covenant: a solemn commitment between two parties, with promises and obligations. When God makes it, he is the one who offers it and guarantees it.
- בְּנֵיbene· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- יִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael· Israel
Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.
- מִזְבְּחֹתֶיmizbchote· altar
Altar: a structure of stone or earth on which sacrifices are offered to God.
- הָרָסוּharasu· tear down; break through
Tear down, throw down; also break through by force.
- נְבִיאֶיnevie· prophet
Prophet: a person to whom God speaks and who speaks in his name; he also intercedes for others.
- הָרְגוּhargu· kill
Kill, slay.
- חָרֶבcharev· sword
Sword; also any tool with an edge, like a knife or a chisel.
- אִוָּתֵרivater· be left, remain
Remain, be left over: what is left. In the causative form, leave over, spare; make abound.
- בַדִּvadi· alone, apart; pole
Alone, apart; "besides". The same word (in another sense) means "pole", like the ones for carrying the ark, or a branch.
- יְבַקְשׁוּyevakshu· seek
Seek, look for; also require, demand an account.