1 Kings 18:27

THE MESSAGE

By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting, "Call a little louder—he is a god, after all. Maybe he's off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he's gotten involved in a project, or maybe he's on vacation. You don't suppose he's overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?" They prayed louder and louder, cutting themselves with swords and knives—a ritual common to them—until they were covered with blood.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!”

Hebrew Names Version
It happened at noon, that Eliyah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleeps and must be awakened.

King James Version
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

English Standard Version
And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."

New Century Version
At noon Elijah began to make fun of them. "Pray louder!" he said. "If Baal really is a god, maybe he is thinking, or busy, or traveling! Maybe he is sleeping so you will have to wake him!"

New English Translation
At noon Elijah mocked them, "Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened."

Amplified Bible
At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied, or he is out [at the moment], or he is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened!"

New American Standard Bible
And at noon Elijah ridiculed them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, since he is a god; undoubtedly he is attending to business, or is on the way, or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep, and will awaken."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And at noone Eliiah mocked them, & said, Crye loude: for he is a god: either he talketh or pursueth his enemies, or is in his iourney, or it may be that he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now it happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or relieving himself, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened."

Contemporary English Version
At noon, Elijah began making fun of them. "Pray louder!" he said. "Baal must be a god. Maybe he's day-dreaming or using the toilet or traveling somewhere. Or maybe he's asleep, and you have to wake him up."

Complete Jewish Bible
Around noon Eliyahu began ridiculing them: "Shout louder! After all, he's a god, isn't he? Maybe he's daydreaming, or he's on the potty, or he's away on a trip. Maybe he's asleep, and you have to wake him up."

Darby Translation
And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god; for he is meditating, or gone aside, or he is on a journey; perhaps he sleeps, and will awake.

Easy-to-Read Version
At noon Elijah began to make fun of them. He said, "If Baal really is a god, maybe you should pray louder! Maybe he is busy. Maybe he is thinking about something, or maybe he stepped out for a moment! He could be sleeping! Maybe you should pray louder and wake him up!"

George Lamsa Translation
And when it was noon, Elijah mocked them and said, Cry with a loud voice; for he is a god; perhaps he is meditating or he is busy or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.

Good News Translation
At noon Elijah started making fun of them: "Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone off on a trip! Or maybe he's sleeping, and you've got to wake him up!"

Lexham English Bible
It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or is using the bathroom, or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must wake up!"

Literal Translation
And it happened at noon, that Elijah taunted them and said, Call with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep and must be awakened.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now whan it was noone daye, Elias mocked them, and sayde: Crye loude. For he is a god, peradueture he is musynge, or hath somwhat to do, or is gone some iourneye, or happlye he slepeth, so that he wolde be waked vp.

American Standard Version
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked.

Bible in Basic English
And in the middle of the day, Elijah made sport of them, saying, Give louder cries, for he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or he may have gone away for some purpose, or he may be on a journey, or by chance he is sleeping and has to be made awake.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And at noone Elias mocked them, and sayde: Crye lowde, for he is a God, peraduenture he is talking, or occupied in folowing vpon his enemies, or is in his iourney, or happyly he slepeth, and must be awaked [with your crie.]

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said: 'Cry aloud; for he is a god; either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.'

King James Version (1611)
And it came to passe at noone, that Eliiah mocked them, and saide, Crie aloud: for he is a god, either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or hee is in a iourney, or peraduenture he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it was noon, and Eliu the Thesbite mocked them, and said, Call with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating, or else perhaps he is engaged in business, or perhaps he is asleep, and is to be awaked.

English Revised Version
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Berean Standard Bible
At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, "Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne it was thanne myddai, Elie scornede hem, and seide, Crie ye with gretter vois, for Baal is youre god, and in hap he spekith with an other, ethir he is in a herborgerie, ether in weie, ether certis he slepith, that he be reisid.

Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass, at noon, that Elijah playeth on them, and saith, `Call with a loud voice, for he [is] a god, for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep, an doth awake.'

Update Bible Version
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he [is] a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, [or] perhaps he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

World English Bible
It happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or peradventure he sleeps and must be awakened.

New King James Version
And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened."

New Living Translation
About noontime Elijah began mocking them. "You'll have to shout louder," he scoffed, "for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!"

New Life Bible
At noon Elijah made fun of them. He said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god. It might be that he is in deep thought or has turned away. He could be away traveling. Or it may be that he is asleep and needs to have someone wake him."

New Revised Standard
At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it came to pass, at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said - Cry with a loud voice, for, a god, he is, either he hath, a meditation, or an occasion to retire, or he hath, a journey, - peradventure, he, sleepeth, and must be awaked.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: Cry with a louder voice: for he is a god; and perhaps he is talking, or is in an inn, or on a journey; or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked.

Revised Standard Version
And at noon Eli'jah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened."

Contextual Overview

²¹ Elijah challenged the people: "How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it's Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!" Nobody said a word; nobody made a move. ²²Then Elijah said, "I'm the only prophet of God left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don't ignite it. I'll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I'll pray to God . The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God." All the people agreed: "A good plan—do it!" ²⁵ Elijah told the Baal prophets, "Choose your ox and prepare it. You go first, you're the majority. Then pray to your god, but don't light the fire." ²⁶ So they took the ox he had given them, prepared it for the altar, then prayed to Baal. They prayed all morning long, "O Baal, answer us!" But nothing happened—not so much as a whisper of breeze. Desperate, they jumped and stomped on the altar they had made. ²⁷By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting, "Call a little louder—he is a god, after all. Maybe he's off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he's gotten involved in a project, or maybe he's on vacation. You don't suppose he's overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?" They prayed louder and louder, cutting themselves with swords and knives—a ritual common to them—until they were covered with blood. ²⁹ This went on until well past noon. They used every religious trick and strategy they knew to make something happen on the altar, but nothing happened—not so much as a whisper, not a flicker of response. ³⁰Then Elijah told the people, "Enough of that—it's my turn. Gather around." And they gathered. He then put the altar back together for by now it was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob, the same Jacob to whom God had said, "From now on your name is Israel." He built the stones into the altar in honor of God . Then Elijah dug a fairly wide trench around the altar. He laid firewood on the altar, cut up the ox, put it on the wood, and said, "Fill four buckets with water and drench both the ox and the firewood." Then he said, "Do it again," and they did it. Then he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. The altar was drenched and the trench was filled with water. ³⁶When it was time for the sacrifice to be offered, Elijah the prophet came up and prayed, "O God , God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I'm doing what I'm doing under your orders. Answer me, God ; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God , the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance." ³⁸ Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench. ³⁹ All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming, " God is the true God! God is the true God!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Elijah: 1 Kings 22:15, 2 Chronicles 25:8, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Isaiah 8:9, Isaiah 8:10, Isaiah 44:15-17, Ezekiel 20:39, Amos 4:4, Amos 4:5, Matthew 26:45, Mark 7:9, Mark 14:41

aloud: Heb. with a great voice

for he is a god: Isaiah 41:23

either: Such were the absurd and degrading notions which the heathens entertained of their gods. "Vishnoo sleeps four months in the year; and to each of the gods some particular business is assigned. Vayoo manages the winds; Vuroonu the waters, etc. According to a number of fables in the pooranus, the gods are often out on journeys or expeditions." Ward's Views of the Hindoos, vol. ii. p. 324.

he is talking: or, he meditateth

is pursuing: Heb. hath a pursuit

must be awaked: Psalms 44:23, Psalms 78:65, Psalms 78:66, Psalms 121:4, Isaiah 51:9, Mark 4:38, Mark 4:39

Reciprocal: Genesis 11:6 - Behold Deuteronomy 18:20 - in the name Judges 6:31 - if he be Judges 10:14 - General 1 Kings 8:36 - give rain 2 Kings 4:33 - prayed 2 Chronicles 18:14 - Go ye up Job 26:2 - How hast thou Psalms 145:18 - nigh unto John 13:27 - That

Cross-References

Genesis 18:1
God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.

Genesis 18:6
Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, "Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread."

Genesis 18:30
He said, "Master, don't be irritated with me, but what if only thirty are found?" "No, I won't do it if I find thirty."

Genesis 18:32
He wouldn't quit, "Don't get angry, Master—this is the last time. What if you only come up with ten?" "For the sake of only ten, I won't destroy the city."

Psalms 144:3
I wonder why you care, God — why do you bother with us at all? All we are is a puff of air; we're like shadows in a campfire.

Isaiah 64:8
Still, God , you are our Father. We're the clay and you're our potter: All of us are what you made us. Don't be too angry with us, O God . Don't keep a permanent account of wrongdoing. Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us. Your holy cities are all ghost towns: Zion's a ghost town, Jerusalem's a field of weeds. Our holy and beautiful Temple, which our ancestors filled with your praises, Was burned down by fire, all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins. In the face of all this, are you going to sit there unmoved, God ? Aren't you going to say something? Haven't you made us miserable long enough?

Luke 5:8
Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus. "Master, leave. I'm a sinner and can't handle this holiness. Leave me to myself." When they pulled in that catch of fish, awe overwhelmed Simon and everyone with him. It was the same with James and John, Zebedee's sons, coworkers with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "There is nothing to fear. From now on you'll be fishing for men and women." They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed him. One day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before him in prayer and said, "If you want to, you can cleanse me." Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone. Jesus instructed him, "Don't talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest, along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done." But the man couldn't keep it to himself, and the word got out. Soon a large crowd of people had gathered to listen and be healed of their ailments. As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer. One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. The healing power of God was on him. Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn't find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, he said, "Friend, I forgive your sins." That set the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing. "Who does he think he is? That's blasphemous talk! God and only God can forgive sins." Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, "Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,' or to say ‘Get up and start walking'? Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both...." He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: "Get up. Take your bedroll and go home." Without a moment's hesitation, he did it—got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, "We've never seen anything like that!" After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, "Come along with me." And he did—walked away from everything and went with him. Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. "What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and ‘sinners'?" Jesus heard about it and spoke up, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out." They asked him, "John's disciples are well-known for keeping fasts and saying prayers. Also the Pharisees. But you seem to spend most of your time at parties. Why?" Jesus said, "When you're celebrating a wedding, you don't skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but this isn't the time. As long as the bride and groom are with you, you have a good time. When the groom is gone, the fasting can begin. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come! "No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don't put wine in old, cracked bottles; you get strong, clean bottles for your fresh vintage wine. And no one who has ever tasted fine aged wine prefers unaged wine."

Luke 18:1
Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, "There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: ‘My rights are being violated. Protect me!'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass at noon,.... When they had been from the time of the morning sacrifice until now invoking their deity to no purpose:

that Elijah mocked them; he jeered and bantered them:

and said, cry aloud; your god does not hear you; perhaps, if you raise your voice higher, he may;

for he is a god; according to your esteem of him, and, if so, he surely may hear you: unless

either he is talking; with others about matters of moment and importance, who are waiting on him with their applications to him; or he is in meditation; in a deep study upon some things difficult to be resolved:

or he is pursuing; his studies, or his pleasures, or his enemies, to overtake them; or he is employed on business t:

or he is in a journey; gone to visit his friends, or some parts of his dominions; so Homer u represents Jupiter gone to pay a visit to the Ethiopians, and as yesterday gone to a feast, and all the gods following him, from whence he would not return until twelve days; and in like manner Lucian w speaks of the gods, mocking at them:

or, peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked; with a loud crying to him: it being now noon, Abarbinel thinks this refers to a custom of sleeping after dinner; Homer x also speaks of the sleep of the gods, and which used to be at noon; and therefore the worshippers of Baal ceased then to call upon him; and it is said y, the Heathens feared to go into the temples of their gods at noon, lest they should disturb them; but such is not the true God, the God of Israel, he neither slumbers nor sleeps, Psalms 121:4.

t David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 211. 1. u Iliad. ver. 1. 423. w Jupiter Tragoedus. x Ut supra, (Iliad. ver. 1. 423.) in fine, & Iliad. 2. ver. 1, 2. y Meurs. Auctuar. Philol. c. 6. apud Quistorp. in loc.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The object of Elijah’s irony was two-fold;

(1) to stimulate the priests to greater exertions, and so to make their failure more complete, and

(2) to suggest to the people that such failure would prove absolutely that Baal was no God.

The force of the expressions seems to be, “Cry on, only cry louder, and then you will make him hear, for surely he is a god; surely you are not mistaken in so regarding him.” He is “talking,” or “meditating;” the word used has both senses, for the Hebrews regarded “meditation” as “talking with oneself;” “or he is pursuing;” rather, perhaps, “he hath a withdrawing,” i. e., “he hath withdrawn himself into privacy for awhile,” as a king does upon occasions. The drift of the whole passage is scornful ridicule of the anthropomorphic notions of God entertained by the Baal-priests and their followers (compare Psalms 50:21). The pagan gods, as we know from the Greek and Latin classics, ate and drank, went on journeys, slept, conversed, quarrelled, fought. The explanations of many of these absurdities were unknown to the ordinary worshipper, and probably even the most enlightened, if his religion was not a mere vague Pantheism, had notions of the gods which were largely tainted with a false anthropomorphism.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 18:27. At noon - Elijah mocked them — Had not Elijah been conscious of the Divine protection, he certainly would not have used such freedom of speech while encompassed by his enemies.

Cry aloud — Make a great noise; oblige him by your vociferations to attend to your suit.

For he is a god — כי אלהים הוא ki Elohim hu, he is the supreme God, you worship him as such, he must needs be such, and no doubt jealous of his own honour and the credit of his votaries! A strong irony.

He is talking — He may be giving audience to some others; let him know that he has other worshippers, and must not give too much of his attention to one. Perhaps the word שיח siach should be interpreted as in the margin, he meditateth; he is in a profound revery; he is making some god-like projects; he is considering how he may best keep up his credit in the nation. Shout! let him know that all is now at stake.

He is pursuing — He may be taking his pleasure in hunting, and may continue to pursue the game in heaven, till he have lost all his credit and reverence on earth.

The original words, שיג לו sig lo, are variously translated; He is in a hotel, in diversorio, VULGATE. Perhaps he is delivering oracles, μη ποτε χρηματιζει αυτος, SEPTUAGINT. Or, he is on some special business. Therefore, cry aloud!

He is in a journey — He has left his audience chamber, and is making some excursions; call aloud to bring him back, as his all is at stake.

Peradventure he sleepeth — Rab. S. Jarchi gives this the most degrading meaning; I will give it in Latin, because it is too coarse to be put in English; Fortassis ad locum secretum abiit, ut ventrem ibi exomeret; "Perhaps he is gone to the ______." This certainly reduces Baal to the lowest degree of contempt, and with it the ridicule and sarcasm are complete.

Among Asiatic idolaters their gods have different functions to fulfil, and require sleep and rest. Vishnoo sleeps four months in the year. Budhoo is represented in his temple as sleep, though his eyes are open. Vayoo manages the winds; Varoona, the waters; Indra, the clouds, c. and according to many fables in the Pooranas, the gods are often out on journeys, expeditions, &c.