1 Kings 19:8

Elijah Flees from Jezebel · 1 Kings 19:1–8
Read 1 Kings 19

Translations

Modern
So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
Traditional
And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
Literal
And he arose and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, as far as the mountain of God—Horeb.
Latin
Qui cum surrexisset, comedit et bibit, et ambulavit in fortitudine cibi illius quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus usque ad montem Dei Horeb.

Original

Hebrew
English
So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

Notes

Elijah was determined to reach Mount Sinai, a journey of about 200 miles. This trip did not need to take forty days and nights. Elijah might have traveled at a symbolic pace, reflecting Israel's history. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai, and Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years (Numbers 14:33–34; Deuteronomy 1:2–3). The number forty sometimes symbolized a complete period of testing (Genesis 7:4; Psalm 95:10; Jonah 3:4; Matthew 4:1–2).

The prophet Elijah's work was closely tied to his spiritual growth. Elijah challenged Israel's interest in Baal, the Canaanite storm god. During this conflict, Elijah saw God's power and support, unlike Baal's weakness. This was shown in Elijah's contest with Baal's prophets on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:1–46). After fleeing from Jezebel, God renewed Elijah's mission at Mount Sinai (1 Kings 19:1–18). Elijah's mission was finished by his successor, Elisha (1 Kings 19:19–21).

Events

Places

Sinai: Mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments

Glossary

Ahab (King) Desert Earthquake John the Baptist Kings, Books of First and Second Miracle Mount Sinai Mount, Mountain Remnant

Topics

Angel (A Spirit): Ministrant to the Righteous Blessing: Temporal, from God by an Angel Christian Minister: God's Care of Christian Minister: Trials and Persecutions of Elijah: Fasts for Forty Days Escapes to the Wilderness from the Fierceness of Jezebel Fasting: Extraordinary Exemplified: Elijah Fasting: Prolonged: Elijah Forty: Days by Elijah God: Feeding Elijah and the Widow Horeb: A Range of Mountains of Which Mount Sinai is the Most Prominent Life: (Sacredness of, an Inference from What is Taught in the Law Concerning Murder): Elijah Miracles: Catalogue of Is Fed by an Angel Prophets: Often Led a Wandering and Unsettled Life Spiritual Food Trouble: Elijah, Under the Juniper Tree and in the Cave