1 Kings 19:10

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

very jealous: Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:14, Numbers 25:11, Numbers 25:13, Psalms 69:9, Psalms 119:139, John 2:17

thrown down: 1 Kings 19:14, 1 Kings 18:4, 1 Kings 18:30, Jeremiah 2:30, Hosea 5:11, Micah 6:16, Micah 7:2

I only: 1 Kings 18:4, 1 Kings 18:20, 1 Kings 18:22, 1 Kings 20:13, 1 Kings 20:22, 1 Kings 20:35, 1 Kings 20:41, 1 Kings 20:42, 1 Kings 22:8, Romans 11:2-4

they seek my life: 1 Kings 19:2, 1 Kings 18:10, 1 Kings 18:17

Reciprocal: Exodus 5:22 - why is it Exodus 23:2 - follow Deuteronomy 29:25 - they have forsaken Judges 5:3 - even I 2 Kings 10:16 - Come with me 2 Chronicles 18:7 - one man Nehemiah 9:26 - slew Psalms 35:4 - that Psalms 44:22 - killed Jeremiah 5:1 - if ye can Jeremiah 36:26 - to take Jeremiah 50:5 - that shall Hosea 12:10 - have also Matthew 5:12 - for so Matthew 21:35 - General Mark 12:3 - they Luke 6:23 - for in Acts 7:52 - Which of Acts 12:2 - with Acts 17:16 - his spirit Romans 11:3 - Lord Hebrews 11:37 - were slain 2 Peter 2:15 - forsaken

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said, I have been jealous for the Lord God of hosts,.... Through zeal for the glory of God he had slain four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and this had stirred up the malice and revenge of Jezebel against him, who sought his life, and which had obliged him to flee, and come to this place for shelter; this is the first part of his answer, others follow:

for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant; the law, especially the two first commandments delivered in this very place; and therefore he could hope for no protection from them, but was forced to leave his country:

thrown down thy altars: which had been built in times past for the worship of God, to sacrifice thereon to him, but were now demolished, that those that would not bow the knee to Baal, and could not go to Jerusalem, might make no use of them:

and slain thy prophets with the sword; which was done by Jezebel, the Israelites conniving at it, and consenting to it, and not daring to oppose her; slain all she had knowledge of, or even were known by the prophet: hence it follows,

and I, [even] I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away: all this Elijah said, as it seems, not only to excuse himself for fleeing, and taking up his abode where he was, but to stir up the indignation of God against Israel for their idolatries and murders, and to put him upon inflicting his judgments on them for the same.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I, even I only, am left - The same statement as in 1 Kings 18:22, but the sense is different. There Elijah merely said that he alone remained to execute the prophet’s office, which was true; here he implies that he is the only prophet left alive, whereas a hundred had been saved by Obadiah 1 Kings 18:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 19:10. I have been very jealous for the Lord — The picture which he draws here of apostate Israel is very affecting:-

1. They have forsaken thy covenant — They have now cleaved to and worshipped other gods.

2. Thrown down thine altars — Endeavoured, as much as they possibly could, to abolish thy worship, and destroy its remembrance from the land.

3. And slain thy prophets — That there might be none to reprove their iniquity, or teach the truth; so that the restoration of the true worship might be impossible.

4. I only, am left — They have succeeded in destroying all the rest of the prophets, and they are determined not to rest till they slay me.