9 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.[a]
13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your stead.
17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him.
20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”
21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
[12] Or a sound, a thin silence
[15] KJV “in your room”; ESV “in your place”
<html><b>So may the gods do.</b> As you have done to the prophets of the Baal.</html>
<html><b>Juniper.</b> <i>Genevrier</i>, in O.F. <b>And he said, “It is enough.”</b> [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “My long life is enough,1<i class=“footnote”>According to the opinion that Eliyahu is Pinchos, Aharon’s grandson, he was over 500 years old at this time.</i> until when will I be confused like this?”</html>
<html><b>Hot coals.</b> Hot coals, and similarly, “and in his hand was a hot coal [רצפה].”2<i class=“footnote”>Yeshayahu 6:6.</i></html>
<html><b>To the cave.</b> That is the cleft of the rock where Moshe stood.3<i class=“footnote”>Shemos 33:22. The cave that Eliyahu entered is “the cleft of the rock” in which Moshe stood while God’s Divine Presence passed.</i>4<i class=“footnote”>See Maseches Megillah 19b and Rashi there.</i></html>
<html><b>They have demolished Your Altars.</b> [I.e.,] the private altars that were built in the Name of Heaven,5<i class=“footnote”>See above 18:30 and Rashi there.</i> for the altar of the Beis [Hamikdosh] was in Yerusholayim.6<i class=“footnote”>Eliyahu intimated that God should take vengeance against the Bnei Yisroel.—Ralbag</i></html>
<html><b>And a great wind.</b> [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “a camp of angels of the wind.” <b>In the earthquake.</b> [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “a camp of angels of earthquake.</html>
<html><b>Fire.</b> [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “a camp of angels of fire.” <b>A calm quiet.</b> [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “a voice of those praising quietly,” but regarding the prophets of the [other] nations, it states, “Silence and a voice I heard,”7<i class=“footnote”>Iyov 4:16.</i> there was silence to the praising. But I heard, it is a voice coming out of the silence, <i>rentesment</i>, in O.F., but the voice itself is not heard.</html>
<html><b>He wrapped his face.</b> [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “and he wrapped his face,”8<i class=“footnote”>In the same manner that Moshe covered his face at the “burning bush” in Shemos 3:6.</i> and so it states, “wrapped up [לוטה] in a cloth.”9<i class=“footnote”>I Shmuel 21:10.</i></html>
<html><b>You should anoint as prophet in your place.</b> [God said,] “I do not want your prophecy, because you plead for the prosecution of My children.10<i class=“footnote”>Alternatively, “you should appoint another prophet in your place because you had asked to die, and for God to take your soul,” in v. 4 above.—Radak</i></html>
<html><b>Elisha will kill.</b> We do not find that Elisha killed anyone but the forty-two children through the bears in Yericho.11<i class=“footnote”>See II Melochim 2:24. Alternatively, the hunger in Shomron was initiated by Elisha’s curse, as implied in II Melochim 6:31.—Ralbag</i></html>
<html><b>Go back.</b> From following me.12<i class=“footnote”>Eliyahu was testing Elisha’s resolve.—Radak </i> <b>For what have I done to you.</b> That you should follow me.</html>
<html><b>He cooked the meat for them.</b> He cooked for them the meat, so do Dunash and Menachem explain, and so did [Targum] Yonoson render [בשלם] as two words [בשיל להון]. But I say, that it is unnecessary to divide it into two words, and what is the meaning of “בשלם הבשר”? He cooked the two oxen, their flesh, for צמד is a minimum of two. <b>And he gave it the people.</b> He made a feast out of great joy.</html>