Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 19:9-18
Here is, I. Elijah housed in a cave at Mount Horeb, which is called the mount of God, because on it God had formerly manifested his glory. And perhaps this was the same cave, or cleft of a rock, in which Moses was hidden when the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed his name, Exo 33:22. What Elijah proposed to himself in coming to lodge here, I cannot conceive, unless it was to indulge his melancholy, or to satisfy his curiosity and assist his faith and devotion with the sight of that famous place where the law was given and where so many great things were done, and hoping to meet with God himself there, where Moses met with him, or in token of his abandoning his people Israel, who hated…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 19:16
Abel-meholah--that is, "the meadow of dancing," in the valley of the Jordan.
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 19:17
Shall Elisha slay - We do not find that Elisha either used the sword, or commissioned it to be used, though he delivered solemn prophecies against this disobedient people: and this is probably the sense in which this should be understood, as Elisha was prophet before Hazael was king, and Hazael was king before Jehu; and the heavy famine which he brought on the land took place before the reign either of Jehu or Hazael. The meaning of the prophecy may be this: Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha, shall be the ministers of my vengeance against this disobedient and rebellious people. The order of time, here, is not to be regarded.
John Gill on 1 Kings 19:17
And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay,.... Which suggests that many should be slain in Israel by them both, as were by Hazael, 2 Kings 10:32 and by Jehu, 2 Kings 9:24,
and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay; which may be understood either literally of the forty two children cursed by him, in consequence of which they were destroyed by bears, 2 Kings 2:24 or rather figuratively by his prophecies, see Hosea 6:5 who foretold the slaughters made by Hazael and Jehu, as well as others, see 2 Kings 8:12, these several things were not done in the order in which they are here put; for what Elisha did was before Hazael and Jehu,…
