Commentary on 1-2 Kings by Keith Bodner

Author:Keith Bodner [Burge, Gary M. and Andrew E. Hill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bible Commentary/Old Testament, REL006050, REL006060
ISBN: 9781493424481
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2019-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

The Muhraqa Monastery, built to commemorate Elijah’s victory over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18), is located up the hill from the traditional site of the contest.

The confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (18:16–40) is a dramatic and well-known episode, and three aspects of Elijah’s words should be highlighted. First, the prophet’s accusation (literally, he asks the people, “how long will you hobble on two sticks?”) encapsulates the vacillating tendencies of the general population. Ahab and the prophets of Baal are not Elijah’s only opponents in this contest: also on trial is the spiritual paralysis that stems from a lack of real conviction. Obadiah at least shows that it is possible to have some faithfulness even in a brutal regime. By agreeing to the test of fire, the people tacitly agree that they have not been entirely loyal to God. Second, the mocking voice of Elijah (including pejorative remarks about Baal, such as “maybe he is sleeping”) is met with complete silence from the rival deity. This contest is about the power of speech, yet Baal has no voice here. When Elijah rebuilds the altar, the reader may think about the latter part of the book of Isaiah (e.g., chap. 44), where a satirical invective launched at various deities and competing worldviews is followed by a rebuilding of the faith of Israel. Third, the turning point of the episode is the intercessory prayer of the prophet, and for a community in exile, this surely speaks of the possibility of restoration. The final scene (18:41–46) features a slight ridicule in the warning to Ahab: the king needs to hurry up, because the long-awaited rain will cause his chariot to get stuck in the mud!

19:1–21. When Ahab’s chariot returns home, he reports the news (19:1–2) to his wife Jezebel, whose murderous threats reveal her destructive tendencies. After taking on Ahab, hundreds of false prophets, and the general population, why is Elijah so scared of Jezebel’s threat? Perhaps Jezebel is more scary than anything else Elijah has faced, or her intimidating message is the last straw. Either way, Elijah crosses the southern border (19:3–7) with an apparent case of prophetic depression, exclaiming to God, “Enough!” After the pyrotechnics of Mount Carmel, there is a movement from the prophet’s external conflict to an internal struggle, where he has become like the widow of Sidon and needs to be revived like the widow’s son in chapter 17. Some intriguing parallels begin here (and continue throughout the rest of the chapter) with the desert narratives and the career of Moses in Exodus and Numbers, with a constellation of shared images and words: forty days, the mountain of Horeb, visions, provisions of food by God, and a successor—suggesting that even great leaders need periodic renewal.

Once more Elijah is sustained by a meal, then sent on a journey (19:8–18) deep into the wilderness of Israel’s history. As a spatial setting, the mountain of Horeb was a site of revelation, evoking memories of God’s consuming presence.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.