1 Kings 19:18

Contextual Overview

⁹ And he came there to a cave, and lodged there; and, look, the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? ⁹ There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" ⁹ And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? ⁹ There Elijah went into a cave and stayed all night. Then the Lord spoke his word to him: "Elijah! Why are you here?" ⁹ He went into a cave there and spent the night. All of a sudden the Lord spoke to him, "Why are you here, Elijah?" ⁹ And he came thither to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD [came] to him, and he said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah? ⁹ He came there to a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? ⁹There he came to a cave and spent the night in it; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" ⁹ There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" ⁹ And whanne he hadde come thidur, he dwellide in a denne; and lo! the word of the Lord `was maad to him, and seide to hym, Elie, what doist thou here?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Yet I have left: or, Yet I will leave, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 10:20-22, Romans 11:4, Romans 11:5

the knees: Exodus 20:5, Isaiah 49:23, Romans 14:10-12, Philippians 2:10

every mouth: Idolaters often kissed their hand in honour of their idols; and hence the origin of adoration from ad, to and os, oris, the mouth. Cicero mentions a statue of Hercules, the chin and lips of which were considerably worn by the kissing of his worshippers. Job 31:27, Psalms 2:12, Hosea 13:2

Reciprocal: Numbers 25:2 - bowed 1 Samuel 10:1 - kissed him 1 Kings 20:15 - seven thousand 2 Kings 5:18 - and I bow 2 Kings 23:4 - Baal Isaiah 17:6 - General Mark 15:19 - and bowing Ephesians 3:14 - I Revelation 3:4 - even

Cross-References

Genesis 19:6
Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him,

Genesis 19:6
And Lot went out the door to them, and shut the door after him.

Genesis 19:6
Lot went outside to them, closing the door behind him.

Genesis 19:6
Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him.

Genesis 19:6
And Lot went out at the door to them, and shut the door after him,

Genesis 19:6
Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him.

Genesis 19:6
But Lot went out of the doorway to the men, and shut the door after him,

Genesis 19:6
And Loth yede out to hem `bihynde the bak, and closide the dore,

Genesis 19:6
And Lot goeth out unto them, to the opening, and the door hath shut behind him,

Genesis 19:6
Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel,.... From perishing by the sword of either of them:

all the knees which have not bowed to Baal; that is, had not worshipped him, which was signified by this gesture:

and every mouth which hath not kissed him; either the image of Baal itself, or the hand, in reverence of him; which rites, one or other, or both, were used by his worshippers; :-. This either refers, as some think, to the present time, and so is an answer to Elijah, who thought he was the only worshipper left with which seems to agree Romans 11:2, or to the times to come, when destruction should be made by the above persons, and when God would have some faithful worshippers, and would take care of them; so some render the words, "I will reserve", c. y.

y והשארתי "reservabo vel servabo", Vatablus so V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Yet I have left me ... - Rather, as in the margin. “Seven thousand” faithful Israelites shall survive all the persecutions of Ahab and Jezebel, and carry down the worship of Yahweh to another generation. Elijah is mistaken in supposing that he only is left. The number is manifestly a “round” number, not an exact estimate. Perhaps it is, moreover, a mystical or symbolic number. Compare Revelation 7:5-8. Of all the symbolic numbers used in Scripture, seven is the most common.

Every mouth which hath not kissed him - Idolaters sometimes kissed the hand to the object of their worship Job 31:26-27; at other times they kissed the actual image (marginal reference).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 19:18. Seven thousand in Israel — That is, many thousands; for seven is a number of perfection, as we have often seen: so, The barren has borne seven - has had a numerous off-spring; Gold seven times purified-purified till all the dross is perfectly separated from it. The court and multitudes of the people had gone after Baal; but perhaps the majority of the common people still worshipped in secret the God of their fathers.

Every mouth which hath not kissed him. — Idolaters often kissed their hand in honour of their idols; and hence the origin of adoration - bringing the hand to the mouth after touching the idol, if it were within reach; and if not, kissing the right hand in token of respect and subjection. The word is compounded of ad, to, and os, oris, the mouth. Dextera manu deum contingentes, ori admovebant: "Touching the god with their right hand, they applied it to their mouth." So kissing the hand, and adoration, mean the same thing -

thus Pliny,

Inter adorandum, dexteram ad osculum referimus, totum corpus circumagimus: Nat. Hist. lib. xxviii., cap. 2. -

"In the act of adoration we kiss the right hand, and turn about the whole body."

Cicero mentions a statue of Hercules, the chin and lips of which were considerably worn by the frequent kissing of his worshippers:

Ut rictus ejus, et mentum paulo sit attritius, quod in precibus et gratulationibus, non solum id venerari, sed etiam osculari solent. - Orat. in VERREM.

I have seen several instances of this, especially in the paintings of old saints: the lips and mouth of beautiful paintings literally worn away by the unmerciful osculations of devotees.