1 Kings 18:22

1Ki 18:22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, [even] I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets [are] four hundred and fifty men.

Ver. 22. I, even I, only remain.] So Paphnutius in the Nicene Council carried it for the truth. So before him, did Nicodemus, {Joh 7:51; Joh 7:53} as after, Athanasius and Luther, qui totius orbis impetum soli sustinuerunt. God is the more seen in such cases.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 18:22. I only remain a prophet of the Lord — Namely, here present, publicly to own and plead the cause of God. As for the other prophets of the Lord, mentioned 1Ki 18:13, we can hardly imagine that they, in general, were men actually inspired and invested with the prophetic character; but such only as were disciples of the prophets, and candidates for the office of prophecy. But if they were even prophets, in the proper sense of the word, many of them doubtless had been slain by Ahab or Jezebel, and others banished, or hid in caves. Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men — He opposes himself only to these, because, it seems, these only were present; the prophets of the groves not being permitted by Jezebel, (through her pride and obstinacy, or care and kindness to them,) to go as far from the royal city as Carmel.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18:22 the only prophet of the Lord: Obadiah had previously hidden two groups of fifty prophets to protect them from Jezebel’s purge (18:4, 13). However, Elijah’s public stature must have left him feeling alone in his struggle against false religion (see 19:10, 14); certainly, he did stand alone in confronting the 450 prophets of Baal.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. I only, remain a prophet of the Lord] That is, I am the only prophet of God present, and can have but the influence of an individual; while the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men! It appears that the queen's prophets, amounting to four hundred, were not at this great assembly; and these are they whom we meet with 1Kg 22:6, and whom the king consulted relative to the battle at Ramoth-gilead.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. I, even I only, remain] R.V. am left. As in 1Ki_19:10 for the same word. Elijah means that he is the only one who now stands forward in Jehovah’s name. No doubt there were others of those saved by Obadiah and in other ways, but in such dangerous days they kept out of sight. The scene on Carmel is full of sublimity. Elijah alone against the host of Baal-priests, and with the calm dignity befitting so solemn a time, in the midst of them all, proceeding to repair the broken altar of the Lord.

The LXX. adds at the close of this verse ‘and the prophets of the grove four hundred.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And call ye on the name of your gods,.... The Baalim, the many lords and gods they served:

and I will call on the name of the Lord; the one true Jehovah and God of Israel, whom I serve:

and the God that answereth by fire; by causing fire to come down upon the sacrifice, and consume it:

let him be God; accounted, owned, and acknowledged as the true God, and so afterwards worshipped as such:

and all the people answered and said, it is well spoken; they thought it a very reasonable proposal, a very good method to determine the controversy, and come at the truth, and know who was the true God, and who not.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I, even I, only remain - He means, “I only remain in the exercise of the office of a prophet.” The others (Compare 1Ki 18:4) had been forced to fly and hide themselves in dens and caves of the earth; their voices were silenced; they had not ventured to come to Carmel. Elijah contrasts his solitary appearance on the side of Yahweh at the great gathering with the crowd of those opposed to him.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I. Hebrew repeats "I," to make the contrast more striking. Elias alone was present, in this assembly, as the prophet of the Lord. (Haydock) --- He knew that Abdias had preserved 100: but they were concealed. --- Men. The other 400 of Jezabel did not appear.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

I only remain, to wit, here present, publicly to own and plead the cause of God; for he opposeth himself only to Baal’s four’ hundred and fifty prophets, because they only were present; the prophets of the groves being, it seems, not permitted by Jezebel (through her pride, or obstinacy, or care and kindness to them) to go thither. See 1Ki 22:6. As for the other prophets of the Lord, many of them were slain by Ahab or Jezebel, others banished, or hid in caves.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. I only — Strange contrast, and, apparently, unequal contest! Other true prophets may have been hidden in caves, (1Ki_18:4,) but Elijah alone appeared for Jehovah on this occasion. On the one side stood the lone prophet with flowing beard and leathern girdle, (2Ki_1:8,) on the other, four hundred and fifty splendidly robed (2Ki_10:22) priests of Baal, and on the neighbouring slope were assembled thousands of Israelites to witness the memorable contest. It seems that for some reason the queen had kept her Asherah prophets away from the scene of conflict.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said Elijah unto the people, l, even I only, remain Heb. I, I am left alone. Cf. tatov Gen_32:24; monw a prophet of the Lord Thenius hence concludes that the "hundred prophets" of whom we read in vers. 4, 13 had been discovered in their hiding place and had been put to death. But this by no means follows from Elijah"s statement here or in ch. 19:10 (where see note); and we know that the schools of the prophets had not ceased to exist (2Ki_2:3, 2Ki_2:5, 2Ki_2:7; cf. 1Ki_22:8) All that Elijah says is that he stood that day alone as a prophet of Jehovah. "I only remain in the exercise of the office of a prophet" (Rawlinson). The rest might well hesitate, after me fierce persecution which they had undergone, to face the king and their bitter enemies, the Baal prophets. It must be remembered that Elijah had had no opportunity of communicating with them, and he may have been quite ignorant as to what number had remained steadfast and true. One thing he knew, that he alone was left to prophesy, and to confront the whole hierarchy of the false God; but Baal"s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. It is clear, not only from the silence of this verse and of ver. 25, respecting them, but still more from the fact that they escaped in the general slaughter (ver. 40), that the prophets of Astarte were not present, and the natural inference is that either Jezebel had forbidden their presence or that they shrank from the ordeal. The LXX inserts "and the prophets of the grove, four hundred," but the words are evidently added from ver. 19. The Baal prophets would doubtless have been only too glad to do the same, but they were under the immediate command of the king. It is not certain that they had any forebodings of evil, or dreaded reprisals on Elijah"s part, but they had had proof conclusive of his power and of their impo-fence. We must remember that all through the triennium prayers and sacrifices had, no doubt, been constantly offered with a view to procure rain. We learn from Menander Jos 8, 13:2 that even in Phoenicia supplication had been made for rain by Ethabaal.

Vers. 22-24.

The Test of Fire.

Elijah had appealed to the people on their inconsistency in hesitating between services so widely different and so utterly irreconcilable as those of Jehovah and Baal. He got no response. "The people answered him not a word." Then he proposed the test of fire to determine which was worthy. The conclusiveness of such an appeal could not be challenged; so the people with one voice answered, "It is well spoken.

I THE TEST WAS UNEXCEPTIONABLE.

1. For Baal was the fire god.

(1) His name designates him as the lord or ruler. It comes from the verb (lb) to own or possess, to be master of. But the sun, from its splendour and central position, accounted the visible lord in the material heavens, was their Baal. Sanchoniathon says the Phoenicians thought the sun to be the only lord of heaven, calling him Beelsamen, which in their language is lord of heaven. In "Beelsamen" we at once recognize the Hebrew lb.

(2) Baal was the fire or body of the sun, rather than its light. So in 2Ki_23:5 we find Baal (lb) distinguished from ( the solar light. (See Parkhurst under Parkhurst points out that the Runic or Islandic BAAL signifies fire, the Saxon BAEL, and BAEL-FYR, a burning pile, a pyre, a bonfire. Probably our bonfire is simply a corruption of Bael-fyr.

(3) The image of this idol was a bull. This animal was by the ancients regarded as the emblem of fire. The similitude seems to have been in its red colour, in the curled hair upon its forehead giving the idea of flame, in the horns budding from its head suggesting the darting of rays of light from the sun. In Tobit (1:5) we read of "the heifer called Baal." We have the name of this god still preserved in our English bull.

2. The controversy was whether Baal was independent of Jehovah.

(1) His worshippers claimed this for him.

(2) Elijah maintained the opposite. And with cogent reason, for during three years and six months Jehovah made Baal punish his votaries.

(3) Now the prophet proposes the further test of a sudden miracle. If Baal be god, if he be independent of Jehovah, let him come down and consume the sacrifice offered to him. If he cannot, then why should he be worshipped? If Jehovah can send fire on his sacrifice, then is He manifestly Lord of Baal, and should be so acknowledged.

(4) That suitable acknowledgment of God which such a miracle demands, implies

(a) Recognition of His almighty providence and lordship over the material and moral universe.

(b) The engagement of all our powers in His worship and service.

II SO WAS THE MANNER OF THE TEST.

1. The prophets of Baal had precedence.

(1) Not because Baal was entitled to it, for that would be a concession of the argument, but because they were many. Elijah stood alone the prophet of the Lord, while the idolatrous prophets were 850 men.

(2) They were to provide the sacrifices. They were wealthy. Elijah was poor. They could not object to the test when the sacrifices were of their own selection.

2. The experiment was to be fair.

(1) Not only might the priests of Baal choose their bullock, cut it in pieces after their approved method, lay it on the wood of the altar; but they must "put no fire under." Else where would be the proof of the ability of Baal? Under some heathen altars holes were dug in which fire was concealed, which communicating with the alter set the wood on fire to make the simple people believe that the sacrifice was consumed by miraculous fire. This Elijah would not permit.

(2) Ordinarily the sacrifices offered to Baal were offered in fire; and sometimes human sacrifices were so offered. "They built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire, for burnt offerings". (Jer_19:5) The Phoenician Baal seems to have been identical with the Ammonite Molech. "They built the high places of Baal which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech". (Jer_32:35)

(3) Ashtaroth also were virtually the same as "Baalim," under which plural term are included diversified Baals, as Baal Peor, etc.; and so in ver. 25 the prophets of Baal are said to have ( "gods," in the plural

(4) These had their various images, in some of which the man and bull came into union. The Assyrian man bull so conspicuous in the Nineveh marbles, is probably one of these.

Let us bless God for our Christianity. It is pure light. Compared with it other systems are dark with ignorance, superstition, and error. It is supreme benevolence. Happy is its contrast to the characteristic cruelties of idolatry. J.A.M.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I only - Here present, to own the cause of God. As far the other prophets of the Lord, many of them were slain, others banished, or hid in caves.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

I, I alone, am left

The word "I" is repeated for emphasis.

450 men

"four hundred and fifty men" (See: Numbers)

call on the name of your god ... call on the name of Yahweh

"Name" is metonymy for the reputation and honor of someone and "calling on" him represents an appeal. AT: "call to your god ... call to Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)

all the people answered and said, "This is good."

"all the people said, 'This is a good thing to do.'"

translationWords

Elijah

prophet

Baal

cow

fire

call

name

false god

God

good

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.