1 Kings 19:2-3 KJV,ASV

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 19:2

" Then Jezebel sent a messenger ." Not, as we might have expected, to sue for forgiveness, but to threaten reprisals. "She swears and stamps at that whereat she should have trembled" (Hall). There is no hate like's woman's, no wickedness like hers. They never do things by halves. "Men differ at most as heaven and earth, But women, best and worst, as heaven and hell." This woman will not be persuaded though one rose from the dead ( Luke 16:1 ). The fiery sign was lost upon her... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 19:3

And when he saw that [Heb. and he saw and arose, etc. But the LXX . has καὶ ἐφοβήθη , and the Vulgate timuit, and it is to be observed that this meaning, " and he feared, " can be extracted from this word וירא without any change of radicals, for the full form יִירָא is occasionally abbreviated into יִרָא ; see 1 Samuel 18:12 ; 1 Samuel 21:13 ; 2 Kings 17:28 . A few MSS . have here וייּרא and it certainly suits the context better. Bähr, who interprets, "he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 19:3

" He arose and went for his life ." Elijah, the intrepid apostle of Carmel, who had met the king without fear and faced the four hundred Baal prophets, and stood alone contra mundum, is seized with panic fear. The champion of the morning becomes the coward of the evening. We may well exclaim here, Quantum mutatus ab illo! well ask, "Lord, what is man?" Some have called man a demigod; have seen in him "the peer of the angels." "What a piece of work," says Hamlet, "is man! how noble in... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Kings 19:2

The prophet had not long to wait before learning the intentions of the queen. A priest’s daughter herself, she would avenge the slaughtered priests; a king’s wife and a king’s child, she would not quail before a subject. That very night a messenger declared her determination to compass the prophet’s death within the space of a day.So let the gods ... - A common oath about this time (marginal references). The Greek Version prefixes to this another clause, which makes the oath even more forcible,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Kings 19:3

The rapid movement of the original is very striking. “And he saw (or, “feared,” as some read), and he rose, and he went, etc.” The fear and flight of Elijah are very remarkable. Jezebel’s threat alone, had not, in all probability, produced the extraordinary change but, partly, physical reaction from the over-excitement of the preceding day; and, partly, internal disquietude and doubt as to the wisdom of the course which he had adopted.Beer-sheba is about 95 miles from Jezreel, on the very... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Kings 19:2

1 Kings 19:2. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah She gives him notice of her designs beforehand; partly from her high and haughty spirit, as scorning to kill him secretly; partly out of impatience till she had given vent to her rage; and partly from God’s gracious and overruling providence, that hereby Elijah might have an opportunity of escaping. This shows the great folly of outrageous anger; which transported her unthinkingly, but effectually, to counteract and obstruct her own... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Kings 19:3

1 Kings 19:3. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life That is, to save his life: whereby may be intimated, that he did not flee from Jezreel by the hand or direction of the Lord, by which he had come thither; but because of his own fear and apprehension of danger. One would have expected, after such a public and sensible manifestation of the glory of God, and such a clear decision of the controversy depending between him and Baal, to the honour of Elijah, the confusion of... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 19:1-21

God reassures Elijah (19:1-21)When Jezebel heard that Elijah had killed her prophets, she threatened to do the same to him. She still had great power over the people, who, despite Elijah’s victory at Mt Carmel, soon returned to their idolatrous ways (19:1-2; cf. v. 10). Elijah fled south through the barren regions of Judah where, overcome with despair, he wanted only to die. But God sustained him, enabling him to keep moving south till he reached Mt Sinai, the place where God had made his... read more

E.W. Bullinger