to call out to (i.e. properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
aloud
בְּק֣וֹלbe.Kol
H6963
a voice or sound · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
cut
וַיִּתְגֹּֽדְדוּ֙vai.yit.go.de.Du
H1413
to crowd · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
manner
כְּמִשְׁפָּטָ֔םke.mish.pa.Tam
H4941
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
knives
בַּחֲרָב֖וֹתba.cha.ra.Vot
H2719
drought · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
lancets
וּבָֽרְמָחִ֑יםu.va.re.ma.Chim
H7420
a lance (as thrown) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
blood
דָּ֖םdam
H1818
blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or… · noun, common masculine singular absolute
out
שְׁפָךְshe.fokh-
H8210
to spill forth (blood · verb, qal infinitive construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
Deuteronomy 14:1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
Mark 5:5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
Micah 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the…
Mark 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 18:21-40
Ahab and the people expected that Elijah would, in this solemn assembly, bless the land, and pray for rain; but he had other work to do first. The people must be brought to repent and reform, and then they may look for the removal of the judgment, but not till then. This is the right method. God will first prepare our heart, and then cause his ear to hear, will first turn us to him, and then turn to us, Psa 10:17; Psa 80:3. Deserters must not look for God's favour till they return to their allegiance. Elijah might have looked for rain seventy times seven times, and not have seen it, if he had not thus begun his work at the right end. Three years and a half's famine would not bring them back…
Elijah said unto all the people, How long halt ye?--They had long been attempting to conjoin the service of God with that of Baal. It was an impracticable union and the people were so struck with a sense of their own folly, or dread of the king's displeasure, that they "answered not a word." Elijah proposed to decide for them the controversy between God and Baal by an appeal, not to the authority of the law, for that would have no weight, but by a visible token from Heaven. As fire was the element over which Baal was supposed to preside, Elijah proposed that two bullocks should be slain and placed on separate altars of wood, the one for Baal, and the other for God. On whichever the fire shou…
They cried aloud - The poor fools acted as they were bidden.
And cut themselves after their manner - This was done according to the rites of that barbarous religion; if the blood of the bullock would not move him they thought their own blood might; and with it they smeared themselves and their sacrifice. This was not only the custom of the idolatrous Israelites, but of the Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Indians, and in short of all the heathen world.
John Gill
Dictionary and topics
Arms, Armor — The subject naturally divides itself into— I. Offensive weapons: Arms. II. Defensive weapons: Armor. I. Offensive weapons.—
Baal — Lord. (1.) The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM (Judg. 2:11; 10:10; 1 Kings 18:18; Jer. 2:23; Hos. 2:17). Baal is…
Carmel — A park; generally with the article, “the park.” (1.) A prominent headland of Central Palestine, consisting of several connected hills extending from the plain of Esdraelon to the sea, a distance of…
Cutting — The flesh in various ways was an idolatrous practice, a part of idol-worship (Deut. 14:1; 1 Kings 18:28). The Israelites were commanded not to imitate this practice (Lev. 19:28; 21:5; Deut. 14:1).…
Cuttings [in The Flesh] — Cuttings in the flesh, or the laceration of one’s body for the “propitiation of their gods,” (1 Kings 18:28) constituted a prominent feature of idolatrous worship, especially among the Syrians. The…
Elijah — Whose God is Jehovah. (1.) “The Tishbite,” the “Elias” of the New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings 17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is mention made…
Knife — (1.) Heb. hereb, “the waster,” a sharp instrument for circumcision (Josh. 5:2, 3, lit. “knives of flint;” comp. Ex. 4:25); a razor (Ezek. 5:1); a graving tool (Ex. 20:25); an axe (Ezek. 26:9). (2.)…
Lancet — This word is found in (1 Kings 18:28) only. The Hebrew term is romach, which is elsewhere rendered, and appears to mean a javelin or light spear. In the original edition of the Authorized Version…
Ahab · .Reproved by Elijah; assembles the prophets of Baal — .Reproved by Elijah; assembles the prophets of Baal
Carmel · prophets — prophets
Elijah
on 1 Kings 18:28
And they cried aloud,.... Trying to make him hear, if possible:
and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them; so the priests of Heathen deities used to slash themselves on their shoulders, arms, and thighs, in their devotions to them, as many writers observe (z), fancying their gods were delighted with human blood; particularly the priests of Bellona (a), and the worshippers of the Syrian goddess (b), and of the Egyptian Isis (c).
(z) Vid. Kipping. Antiqu. Roman. l. 1. c. 10. p. 202. (a) Tertul Apolog. c. 9. Lactant. Institut. l. 1. c. 21. (b) Apulei Metamorph. l. 8. (c) Herodot. Euterpe, c. 61. Manetho. Apotelesm. l. 1. ver. 243, 244.…
Elijah's contest with the prophets of Baal. - Ahab sent through all Israel and gathered the prophets (of Baal) together upon Mount Carmel. According to Kg1 18:21, Kg1 18:22, and Kg1 18:39, a number of the people ("all the people") had also come with them. On the other hand, not only is there no further reference in what follows to the 400 prophets of Asherah (cf. Kg1 18:25 and Kg1 18:40), but in Kg1 18:22 it is very obvious that the presence of the 450 prophets of Baal alone is supposed. We must therefore assume that the Asherah prophets, foreboding nothing good, had found a way of evading the command of Ahab and securing the protection of Jezebel.
(Note: It is true that in Kg1 18:22 the lxx…
shouted . . . cut themselves . . . raved: The prophets of Baal demonstrated ecstatic behavior common in ancient pagan religions, but their efforts produced no response. Of course, there is only one true God (Deut 4:35; 6:4; Isa 44:8); all other hopes are doomed to failure (Isa 45:22).
Rashi on 1 Kings 18:28
And they gashed themselves. An expression of tearing the flesh with an instrument, for such was their custom.
Idol · Prayer to, unanswered — Prayer to, unanswered
Idolatry · .Cutting the flesh — .Cutting the flesh
Knife · Self-flagellation with, in idolatrous worship — Self-flagellation with, in idolatrous worship
Prayer · .Prayer test proposed by Elijah — .Prayer test proposed by Elijah
Revivals · .Elijah — .Elijah
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
