1 Kings 18:38 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Kings 18:38
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
fell
וַתִּפֹּ֣לva.ti.Pol
H5307
to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
consumed
וַתֹּ֤אכַלva.To.khal
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
sacrifice
הָֽעֹלָה֙ha.'o.Lah
H5930
a step or (collectively · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
wood
הָ֣עֵצִ֔יםha.'e.Tzim
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
stones
הָאֲבָנִ֖יםha.'a.va.Nim
H68
a stone · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
dust
הֶעָפָ֑רhe.'a.Far
H6083
dust (as powdered or gray) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up
לִחֵֽכָהli.Che.khah
H3897
to lick · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
water
הַמַּ֥יִםha.Ma.yim
H4325
water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
trench
בַּתְּעָלָ֖הba.te.'a.Lah
H8585
a channel (into which water is raised for irrigation) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
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 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, t…
1 Chronicles 21:26 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him…
2 Chronicles 7:1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glo…
Judges 6:21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there ro…
1 Kings 18:24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all t…
Leviticus 10:2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
2 Kings 1:12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire o…
Job 1:16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the s…
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…
Then the fire of the Lord fell - It did not burst out from the altar; this might still, notwithstanding the water, have afforded some ground for suspicion that fire had been concealed, after the manner of the heathens, under the altar.
Pindar's account of the Rhodians' settling is the isle of Rhodes, and their first sacrifice there, bears a near affinity to the account here given: the shower of gold descending on the sacrifice offered up without fire, to show the approbation of their god, is little more than a poetic account of the above transactions.
Καιτοι γαρ αιθουσας εχοντες
Σπερμ' ανεβαν φλογος ου
Τευξαν δ' απυροις ἱεροις
Αλσος εν ακροπολει· κεινοισι μεν ξαν -
θαν αγαγων νεφελαι·
Πολυ…
The Church Fathers
Elijah, who on mount Carmel abolished the sacrifices of the pagan priests, ministers of vanity, through the burnt offering which he offered to the living God, gives us a living image of the burnt offering that the Emmanuel made on Mount Golgotha, bringing to an end through his own sacrifice which was offered only once, all the sacrifices prescribed by Moses, as well as the burnt offerings which the pagans offered to their infamous gods. "Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench." You acted justly, Elijah, and quite wisely! Your fire will consume the stones, and the worshipers of the stones will blush for their shame. It will consume the wood, and those who make their gods out of carved wood will be upset and will turn away from their madness. It will consume the bull, so that nobody may ever worship the bull.
In the time of Elijah, also, fire came down when he challenged the prophets of the heathen to light up the altar without fire. When they could not do so, he poured water three times over his victim, so that the water ran around about the altar; then he cried out, and the fire fell from the Lord from heaven and consumed the burnt offering. You are that victim. Contemplate in silence each single point. The breath of the Holy Spirit descends on you; he seems to burn you when he consumes your sins. The sacrifice that was consumed in the time of Moses was a sacrifice for sin, wherefore Moses said, as is written in the book of the Maccabees: "Because the sacrifice for sin was not to be eaten, it was consumed." Does it not seem to be consumed for you when in the sacrament of baptism the whole outer person perishes? "Our old self is crucified," the apostle exclaims. Herein, as the example of the Fathers teaches us, the Egyptian is swallowed up—the Hebrew arises renewed by the Holy Spirit, as he also crossed the Red Sea dry shod—where our fathers were baptized in the cloud and in the sea.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
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…
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…
Fire — (1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Lev. 6:9, 13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the…
Ahab · .Reproved by Elijah; assembles the prophets of Baal — .Reproved by Elijah; assembles the prophets of Baal
Carmel · prophets — prophets
Fire · .Elijah’s sacrifice — .Elijah’s sacrifice
High Places · A term used to — A term used to
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Elijah: Sacrifice consumed by fire — Elijah: Sacrifice consumed by fire
Prayer · .Prayer test proposed by Elijah — .Prayer test proposed by Elijah
Prayer, Answers To · Exemplified: Elijah — Exemplified: Elijah
Revivals · .Elijah — .Elijah
Sacrifices · Different kinds of: Burnt offering wholly consumed by fire — Different kinds of: Burnt offering wholly consumed by fire
Then the fire of the Lord fell,.... An extraordinary fire from God out of heaven, as the effects of it show:
and consumed the burnt sacrifice; as it had done in former instances, Leviticus 9:24, and besides this, which is still more extraordinary,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; of the altar, thereby signifying that even such were not to be used any more:
and licked up the water that was in the trench; around the altar, see 1 Kings 18:32.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 18:20–end
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…
Whether by lightning strike or more supernatural means, the Lord sent fire to consume everything, including all the water in the trench. This was convincing proof that the Lord is God. The continuing story demonstrates conclusively that the Lord, not Baal, has control over fire, water, and the weather.
Rashi on 1 Kings 18:37
Answer me, Adonoy, answer me. Answer me with fire, answer me with rain.20Rashi is explaining why he said “ענני” twi ce. So did [Targum] Yonoson render this. But our Rabbis said, “Answer me with fire, (and water) answer me so that they do not say that this deed was accomplished by sorcery.”21Maseches Berachos 9b. 22Alternatively, it is not unusual for one who prays to repeat his request.—Radak
[And this people] will know that You are Adonoy. And I am Your servant, and when You will send me to bring them tidings [of the redemption] that is forthcoming, they will believe me, if You will answer me today.
And You have turned their hearts away. You gave them an opportunity to turn away from foll…
Water · Miracles connected with: Consumed by fire from heaven — Miracles connected with: Consumed by fire from heaven
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).
