1 Kings 19:11

1Ki 19:11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake 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:

Ver. 11. And a great and strong wind.] These first terrible apparitions might well be to humble the prophet, and to prepare him to hearken more heedfully to the still voice, and to whatsoever God should say unto him, who could have confounded him, but is content to deal more gently with him: accounting the execution of "judgment" - set forth here by these dreadful representations - "his work, his strange work." {Isa 28:21}

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_19:11-21

And He said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.

Elijahs vision

I. The man himself. A great craggy soul that towers above the men of his age--his head wreathed in the glories of heaven. But though standing out from the age in which he lives as one of Gods Elect--yet a man with a human heart capable of rejoicing and despondency even as others.

II. His dread mission. To be the agent of Divine judgments. He was filled with righteous indignation at seeing the old worship of his country--the trust in the one living God--superseded by a religion which was but a form of paganism. And the God of Israel, who was a jealous God--jealous of the affections of His people being turned aside to another--empowered the prophet to do the terrible work of destruction.

III. The vision of God. When Elijah had done the terrible deed of blood, the reaction of spirit was so great, the dejection so overwhelming, that he was glad to get away from all society into a desert place to pray that he might die. Elijahs anger had been the flaming forth of deep passionate love. The love of God sometimes flames forth in flashes of anger which make the very earth to reel and stagger. What is Gods justice but His love flashing out in angry retribution? Never argue, as so many do, that because God is love, therefore He will not punish sin. Learn--

1. That in terrible crises of life the faithful man may look for some special vision of God.

2. To distinguish between blind zeal which destroys, and intelligent zeal which edifies.

3. That while the might of Jehovah is used to crush wrong, the voice of love is needful to build up men in righteousness. (R. Thomas, M. A.)

Upon the mount

1. The Lord came to him there with a searching question. Every word went home to him with rebuke. What doest thou here, Elijah? This is a time for action, the work of reformation is only begun; the elders of Israel must be encouraged and led in their protest against the State idolatry. Thou art a man of action; what doest thou, the champion of Mount Carmel, the protagonist in this holy war, thou Elijah, whose name declares that the Lord is thy Strength? What doest thou here, hiding in this gloomy cave far away from the scattered flock who sorely need thy watchful care? Elijah shrinks from a direct reply. Self is still uppermost in his thoughts, lie almost boasts of his loyalty to God. He deeply laments the infidelity and apostasy of the nation, and he complains that his own life is in danger. His eyes are still on himself. But Elijah is concerned for himself, and thinks his valiant championship of Gods cause should have received different recognition. Child of God, never pity yourself; pity others. All heaven cares for thee; it is wrong to have any care for yourself.

2. After the searching question came a solemn command. God said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.

3. After the solemn command came a Divine manifestation, a marvellous display of the majesty and power of God. And in the pains God took with His moody servant, moving all creation, as it were, to teach him lessons, we learn how very dear to God Elijah was. The barrier of resentment and self-justification was swept away. Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle, and stood before the Lord. It was a parable, surely, of the variety of Divine operations. And just as hurricane and earthquake prepared the way, making the still small voice the more impressive and subduing, so Elijahs ministry had done its work. He had been sent with famine and fire and sword; and now all Israel was awakened, and the more ready to hearken to the still small voice.

4. But after the Divine manifestation came the Divine commission. God had more work for Elijah to do. He was not to be cast aside or superseded. He was to be strengthened and cheered by the companionship of Elisha; but Elijah was still to be Gods honoured servant, Gods chosen messenger. It would, indeed, have been a grievous thing if a sudden failure of faith should have disqualified him for future service. God still had confidence in Elijah. (F. S. Webster, M. A.)

Some mistakes regarding the earthquake

The earthquake has shaken the Queen City of the South, and given Charleston ashes for her beauty.

1. As a scientific fact, there is no more of God, His wisdom, power, or purpose, displayed in an earthquake than there is in the quiet growth of the grass in our door-yard; no more of God in the cyclone than in the perfumed breath of the flowers; no more of God in the conflagration kindled by the lightning or the volcano than in the glow of animal heat in our bodies. The steady, hardly audible, ticking of a watch reveals as much of the intelligence and purpose of its artificer as does the striking of the clock upon the steeple bell; and these alarming things in nature are but the louder striking of the mechanism of the universe. Great minds show their greatness by recognising the great in little things, recognising God in the commonplace things of daily observation. Sir David Brewster raised his hands and cried: Great God! how marvellous are Thy works! when he studied a tiny bit of animated matter. A distinguished naturalist wrote over his study door: Be reverent, for God is here. Jesus illustrated the Divine Providence, not by world-shaking events, but by the clothing of the lily and the floating wing of the sparrow.

2. It is a mistake to imagine that there are any deeper lessons of mans impotence and dependence to be learned from these astounding things than ought to be learned from everyday occurrences. Fifty men were killed by the earthquake; but as many die every night in this city without the slightest tremor being observed in the earths surface until their survivors dig their graves. Some millions of dollars worth of property was shaken down by the mysterious visitant; but the common law of decay is all the time shaking our habitations back again to original dust.

3. It is a mistake to imagine that men will lay these lessons more to heart, and seek more persistently the favour of God, because His more astounding judgments are abroad in the land. The inhabitants of Naples are not the less worldly and thoughtless because Vesuvius keeps its flag of smoke all the time flying over the city, and so frequently awakens them by the lava-burst flashing its glare through their windows. Though she sits on the quivering edge of destruction, and her children play on the mounds of buried Pompeii and Herculaneum, Naples is one of the most godless haunts on the face of the earth. The Eastern Mediterranean is on the great earthquake belt. Its islands and shores are torn by convulsions, many of them having occurred within historic times, and not a few of them within the memory of the present generation. Yet this has always been the belt of human corruption. Antioch and Cyprus, earthquake centres, were the seats of the most abominable paganism and immorality. There is an Eastern proverb: God comes to us without bell. The deepest Divine impressions are those which are made silently upon the heart, not by wind, nor earthquake, nor fire, but by the still small voice of His spirit. These startling events can do no more than arrest our attention momentarily. They are like a hand touching us to awaken, but whether we are bettered or not depends upon our laying the lesson to heart, hearing within the soul the spiritual voice. Do you remember how beautifully St. Augustine speaks of Gods talking with the human soul--an exquisite description of the still small voice? He and Monica were communing together about spiritual things--We were saying to ourselves then: If the tumult of the flesh were hushed, hushed the images of earth, and waters and air, hushed also the poles of heaven, yea, the very soul hushed to herself . . . hushed all dreams and imaginary revelations, every tongue and every sign . . . and He alone should speak . . . if we might hear His word, not through any tongue of flesh, nor angels voice, nor sound of thunder, nor in dark riddle of similitude . . . but might hear His very self . . . were not this to enter into the joy of the Lord? (Homiletic Review.)

The disclosure on the mount

We may learn from this incident:

I. That men are not brought to acknowledge God merely by outward manifestations of power or greatness. Elijah needed this lesson. He looked to the appearance on Carmel to bring the Israelites to renounce their idolatry, and to bow to the authority of Jehovah; and because they did not he was disappointed, and his heart failed him. By what he saw at Horeb he would be convinced that outward demonstrations of power or glory were not sufficient to lead men to repentance. Our Lord, in the days of His flesh, constantly met with those who sought signs and wonders as the only means of producing faith. And the same feeling is still shown by men in the importance they attach to some outward circumstances for producing repentance--calamity, bereavement, affliction.

II. That outward circumstances may be helpful in bringing men to acknowledge God. While some depend too much upon the outward and circumstantial, others go to the opposite extreme, and ignore them altogether in the work of God, whereas they have a place in that work. Calamity or affliction may not produce repentance, but they tend to subdue the spirit, and make it more susceptible to the work of God. They break up the fallow ground, and prepare it for the seed of truth.

III. That true repentance is produced by the voice of God. It was when Elijah heard the still small voice that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave.

IV. That Christian work is needful to spiritual health. Elijah was commanded to return to the wilderness of Damascus, and to do the work assigned him. He obeyed, and we never read of him wandering away again. Many Christians get low-spirited, and wander into forbidden paths, because of inactivity. Earnest work for God would restore and preserve them. (The Study and the Pulpit.)

Elijah at Horeb

I. The truest revelation of God to man is a simple one. Whirlwind, earthquake, and fire did not seem to greatly move the prophet. The solitary voice, still and small, with nothing bewildering about it, invited attention to the speaker and the message. It is a mistake which men often make that they look more confidently for revelations of God in large things than in small. For illustrations of the workings of the Divine Providence, they take whole epochs of history. They use a system of numeration in which dynasties and nations are the digits. They trace the slow processes by which some monstrous wrong is at last brought to extinction, or some great truth is finally established in sovereignty, and they say, see how evidently God directs the affairs of the world. To our Lord, a dead sparrow by the roadside meant quite as milch, for He said: Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them falleth to the ground without your Father. It is not possible for all men to be profound students; but all men profoundly need that God should stand revealed to them, not after protracted investigation, and once or twice in a lifetime, but every day, and in each new emergency of experience; and just that is possible to them, because, to rightseeing men, God is discernible in items as well as aggregates.

II. The truest revelation of God to man is an intelligible one. The prophet on Horeb might have been in doubt as to the full significance of the wonders with which God prefaced His presence: the still small voice, speaking in intelligible phrase, could not be misunderstood. It was entirely reasonable that, when the revelation assumed that form, the prophet should bow in reverence and recognise the true presence of God. That there is a manifestation of God in the physical universe is true, but the revelation of Him is largely incidental. There is no evidence that God built this fine frame of nature simply or mostly to instruct men as to His character and will. It has other uses. A house incidentally expresses the tastes and wishes of its builder; but it was not built for that purpose, but to provide a family with a home. And therefore, and further, the teachings of nature in regard to God are vague and general. The truest revelation of God in regard to His character and will, is His purposed revelation--the intelligible Scriptures, given for the sole end of making men wise spiritually.

III. The truest revelation of God to man is often, if not always, a personal one. The whirlwind and earthquake and fire did not seem charged with any special message to the prophet; but the voice said, What doest thou here, Elijah? It was personality addressing personality, and the prophet recognised the words as proceeding out of the mouth of God.

IV. The truest revelation of God to man is a practical one. What doest thou here, Elijah? was the burden of the still small voice. It was a charge that the prophet was away from duty, and an urgency for him to resume his deserted place. There is something of instruction in the Gospel, but more of incitement. It comes to sinful men, and says, Repent; to doubting men, and says, Believe; to serving men, and says, Run, strive, fight. There are no bowers of ease for idle men in this book; no cradles of inaction where they may rock and dream; no empty chambers where they may spin their gossamer webs of speculation. To every man, this Scripture comes with its call to immediate and earnest action. (Monday Club.)

Gods manifestation to Elijah at Horeb

We learn here--

I. That the divine working in nature is intended by God to prepare men for a higher revelation. This was the intention of the miracles of Christ.

II. When men reverentially listen to the lower forms of teaching, God gives them the higher revelation. Nicodemus allowed the teaching of Christ in His miracles to bring conviction of His Divine mission to his heart (Joh_3:2); how willingly the Saviour led him into the deeper mysteries of His kingdom (1Ki_19:16).

III. That although the physical power of God is strong enough to terrify men into submission, He will have them brought to obedience by moral suasion. The prophet longed for the eternal overthrow of the forces of evil, by what we may call Gods physical omnipotence. (Outlines from Sermons by a London Minister.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 19:11. Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord — Elijah came hither to meet with God, and God graciously condescended to give him the meeting. And the manner of his manifesting himself seems evidently to refer to the discoveries God formerly made of himself at this place to Moses. Then there was a tempest, an earthquake, and fire, (Heb 12:18,) but when God would show Moses his glory, he proclaimed his name before him, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, &c. So here: Elijah heard a strong wind, and saw the terrible effects of it; for it rent the mountains, and tore the rocks: he felt the shock of an earthquake, and saw an eruption of fire. These effects, no doubt, were all produced by the ministration of angels, the harbingers of the divine Majesty, and were to usher in the intended manifestation of Jehovah’s glory. By these Elijah was prepared to receive this discovery of God with the greatest humility, reverence, and godly fear: and by these God signified his almighty and irresistible power, to break the hardest hearts of the Israelites, and to bear down all opposition that was or should be made against his prophet in the discharge of his office. The Lord was not in the wind, &c. — The Lord did not vouchsafe his special and gracious presence to Elijah in that wind, earthquake, or fire, which possibly was to teach him not to wonder, if God did not accompany his terrible administration at mount Carmel with the presence of his grace, to turn the hearts of the Israelites to himself, as he desired; but which, for wise reasons, God saw fit to deny. Hereby also it was intimated, that “miraculous judgments, and terrifying displays of the Lord’s power and indignation, though proper for the destruction or intimidation of his enemies, or to excite attention, were only preparatives for that real good intended for Israel;” which must be effected by the convincing and persuasive instructions of his word, accompanied by the influences of his Spirit.

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

19:11-12 The powerful physical phenomena that sometimes signal God’s presence (Exod 3:2; 19:18; Pss 68:7-8; 114:4; Heb 3:6-7) did not herald God’s approach on this occasion. Instead, Elijah sensed God’s presence when he heard the sound of a gentle whisper.

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

For the nature of man is not able to come near unto God, if he should appear in his strength and full majesty, and therefore of his mercy he submitteth himself to our capacity.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 11. Stand upon the mount before the Lord.] God was now treating Elijah nearly in the same way that he treated Moses; and it is not unlikely that Elijah was now standing on the same place where Moses stood, when God revealed himself to him in the giving of the law. See Ex 19:9; Ex 19:16.

The Lord passed by] It appears that the passing by of the Lord occasioned the strong wind, the earthquake, and the fire; but in none of these was God to make a discovery of himself unto the prophet; yet these, in some sort, prepared his way, and prepared Elijah to hear the still small voice. The apparatus, indicating the presence of the Divine Majesty, is nearly the same as that employed to minister the law to Moses; and many have supposed that God intended these things to be understood thus: that God intended to display himself to mankind not in judgment, but in mercy; and that as the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, were only the forerunners of the still small voice, which proclaimed the benignity of the Father of spirits; so the law, and all its terrors, were only intended to introduce that mild spirit of the Gospel of Jesus, proclaiming glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will unto men. Others think that all this was merely natural; and that a real earthquake, and its accompaniments, are described.

1. Previously to earthquakes the atmosphere becomes greatly disturbed, mighty winds and tempests taking place.

2. This is followed by the actual agitation of the earth.

3. In this agitation fire frequently escapes, or a burning lava is poured out, often accompanied with thunder and lightning.

4. After these the air becomes serene, the thunder ceases to roll, the forked lightnings no longer play, and nothing remains but a gentle breeze.

However correct all this may be, it seems most probably evident that what took place at this time was out of the ordinary course of nature; and although the things, as mentioned here, may often be the accompaniments of an earthquake that has nothing supernatural in it; yet here, though every thing is produced in its natural order, yet the exciting cause of the whole is supernatural. Thus the Chaldee understands the whole passage: "And behold the Lord was revealed; and before him was a host of the angels of the wind, tearing the mountains, and breaking the rocks before the Lord, but the Majesty (Shechinah) of the Lord was not in the host of the angels of the wind. And after the host of the angels of the wind, there was a host of the angels of commotion; but the Majesty of the Lord was not in the host of the angels of commotion. And after the host of the angels of commotion, a fire; but the Majesty of the Lord was not in the host of the angels of fire. And after the host of the angels of fire, a voice singing in silence," c. that is, a sound with which no other sound was mingled. Perhaps the whole of this is intended to give an emblematical representation of the various displays of Divine providence and grace.

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

(11) And, behold.—In the LXX., the whole of this verse, couched in the future, is made part of the “word of the Lord.” But our version is probably correct.

The whole of the vision, which is left to speak for itself, without any explanation or even allusion in the subsequent message to Elijah, is best understood by comparison with two former manifestations at Horeb, to the people and to Moses (Exo_19:16-18; Exo_34:5-8). To the people the Lord had then, been manifested in the signs of visible power, the whirlwind, the earthquake, and the fire—first, because these were the natural clothing of the terrors of the Law, which is the will of God visibly enforced; next, because for such visible manifestations of God, and perhaps for these alone, the hearts of Israel were then prepared. To Moses, in answer to his craving for the impossible vision of the glory of the Lord face to face, the manifestation granted was not of the Divine majesty, but of the “Name of the Lord,” “the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth;” for this higher conception of the majesty of God, as shown in righteousness and mercy, Moses, as being the greatest of prophets, could well understand. The vision of Elijah stands out in contrast with the one and in harmony with the other. It disclaims the visible manifestation in power and vengeance, for which he had by implication craved; it implies in “the still small voice”—“the voice (as the LXX. has it) of a light breath”—a manifestation like that expressed plainly to Moses, of the higher power of the Spirit, penetrating to the inmost soul, which the terrors of external power cannot reach. The lesson is simply, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts” (Zec_4:6). The prophet so far reads it that he acknowledges, by veiled face of reverence, the presence of the Lord in “the still small voice,” yet, with singular truth to nature, he is recorded as repeating, perhaps mechanically, his old complaint.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Go forth] The LXX. here adds αὓριον, to-morrow, and the narrative in Josephus (Ant. VIII. 13. 7) represents the prophet’s going forth as taking place on the day following the divine questioning. But these variations from the text may be, and probably are, due to a desire to assimilate the narrative to Exo_34:2, where Moses is told to ‘be ready in the morning.’

stand upon the mount before the Lord] Elijah does not go forth (see 1Ki_19:13) until he recognises the presence of the Lord in the still small voice. The violence of the wind and the earthquake and the devouring rage of the fire, he was made to feel, were not the proper manifestations of Jehovah, were not those tokens by which He would be known to His people, and consequently he abode still in the cave while they were raging. The Lord had not yet appeared.

And behold, the Lord passed by] The participial form of the verb עֹבֵר (literally is passing by) seems to require a modification of the translation. What appears to be meant is ‘the Lord is about to pass by and you shall be able at that time to recognise something of His true character, and to gain the instruction which you need from this revelation.’ The LXX. gives this sense, ἰδοὺ παρελεύσεται κύριος, ‘Behold the Lord will pass by.’ In that case these words belong to the preceding clause, and must be connected with the command to go forth, which the prophet obeyed when he found in which manifestation it pleased the Lord to be present. Thus the narrative of what occurred will commence at ‘And a great and strong wind, &c.’

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 he said, go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord,.... Who would appear there as he had to Moses formerly, though not in the same manner:

and, behold, the Lord passed by; or was about to pass, for as yet he had not; his messengers first went before him:

and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; strong enough to do all this, and so it might:

but the Lord was not in the wind; as he sometimes is, Nah 1:3, he spake to Job out of a whirlwind, Job 38:1,

and after the wind an earthquake; that shook the earth all around, and the mountain also, as it did when the law was given on it, Psa 68:8.

but the Lord was not in the earthquake; as he was when it trembled in the times of Moses, Exo 19:18.

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

And behold, the Lord passed by - The remainder of this verse and the whole of the next are placed by the Septuagint, and by the Arabic translator, in the mouth of the Angel. But it seems best to regard the vision as ending with the words “before the Lord” - and the writer as then assuming that this was done, and proceeding to describe what followed.

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

Lord; the angel, his representative. (Menochius) --- God had formerly granted the like favour to Moses, in the same place, Exodus xxxiii. 21.

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).

The Lord passed by; either, first, by his harbingers; for, as it follows, the Lord was not yet there; or, secondly, himself. And so this is a brief and general description of the thing, after which the manner of it is particularly explained.

Rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks; whereby be both prepares Elijah to receive this discovery of God with greatest humility, reverence, and godly fear; and signifies his almighty and irresistible power to break the hardest hearts of the Israelites, and to bear down all opposition that was or should be made against him in the discharge of his office.

The Lord was not in the wind; the Lord did not vouchsafe his special and gracious presence to Elijah in that wind, where he confidently expected him; which possibly was, either, first, To qualify the excessive fervour and passion of Elijah, which mixed itself with his zeal for God, and to make him more mild in his censures, and more meek and patient in waiting for the conversion of Israel; wherein he might sooner expect God’s presence and blessed success, than in the storm of anger or impatience. Or, secondly, To teach him not to wonder if God did not accompany his terrible administration at Mount Carmel with the presence of his grace, to turn the hearts of the Israelites to himself, as he desired, but God for wise and just reasons saw fit to deny.

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

11. Go forth, and stand upon the mount — In order that, by impressive signs and symbols, I may teach thee a truer lesson of my nature and government, and send thee back to Israel a wiser man, a profounder prophet of my word, to finish the work I have for thee to do.

The Lord passed by — As he did by Moses in these same solitudes. Compare Exo_33:21-23; Exo_34:6. This whole scene that follows is largely a reproduction of what occurred to Moses, perhaps in the cleft of this same rocky cave, and the two ought to be compared together. When Moses saw the calf-worship his “anger waxed hot,” and he broke the tables of the law, and ground the golden calf to powder, and, as Elijah slew the Baal prophets, he slew three thousand men that day. Exo_32:19-28. Then in his anguish and discouragement he prayed, “Forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me out of thy book,” (Exo_32:32,) and Jehovah condescended to make his glory and his goodness pass before him. He first awes Elijah by a fearful display of force.

A great and strong wind — A tremendous hurricane.

Rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks — Literally, tearing up the mountains and shivering the rocks. This is sometimes partially done by an ordinary wind storm among the awful crags of the Sinaitic mountains, and even then the spectacle is fearfully sublime.

The Lord was not in the wind — He was neither in the wind, the earthquake, nor the fire, in the sense in which he was in the “still small voice.” There was a sense in which he was in them all. They came and shook the mountains at his command; they were symbols of his mighty power. But there was a revelation of the Divine nature which God would now give to Elijah which these symbols could not convey, and in this sense Jehovah was not in them.

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

And he said, Go forth The LXX inserts aurion, which, however, is destitute of authority, and was probably inserted from, Exo_34:2, to explain the difficulty which the prophet"s apparent disregard of this command creates and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed, by Heb. passeth by. Only used here and in Exo_33:22 Exo_34:6 of the Divine Being. The beatific vision must be transient. An abiding presence, a kevo, was more than man could bear. So Bahr. As Elijah does not seem to have gone forth from the cave until he heard the still small voice (ver. 13), some would take the participle rbe which is probably employed as more graphic, as a future, i.e. , "the Lord will pass by," and this is the interpretation of the LXX; ijdousitai kuriov kai ijdouga k.t.l. The effect of this rearrangement of the text would be that the words, "And behold the Lord passing by," must be taken as a part of the message, "Go forth," etc., and not as a statement of what happened. That statement would then begin with the next words, "And a great and strong wind," etc. But in that case we might have expected For behold," etc., or the "And behold" would have come before "a great and strong wind," etc. It is also to be considered and this seems to me decisive that the words "rent," "break," etc., are also participles, which it would be unnatural to divorce from the participle preceding, and a great and strong wind Such as was net uncommon in that region. The approach to Sinai from the west is known as Nukb-Hawy, "the pass of the winds." Elsewhere we find the Wady-el-Burk, or "valley of lightning." These phenomena the tempest, fire, etc. would be all the more awful and impressive because of the surrounding desolation and the utter solitude rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind Heb. not in the wind Jehovah: and after the wind an earthquake Once before (Exo_19:18) an earthquake accompanied the descent of God upon the same mountain. The desert of Sinai, with the exception of the Hammam Pharoun and other hot springs, affords no traces of volcanic action. "Everywhere there are signs of the action of water, nowhere of fire" (Stanley). But v"r" properly means (compare rauschen, rush) a crashing noise (Job_39:24; Isa_9:4) and the mysterious sounds of Jebel Musa have often been remarked (see Stanley, S. and P. pp. 13, 14); but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

Stand before the Lord." Only thus can we know ourselves, and self-knowledge must be our first aim. E caelo descendit, gnwqi seauton." "In thy light shall we see light." We compare ourselves with pigmies when we compare ourselves with others. (2Co_10:12) It is only in the presence of our Maker that we learn our nothingness and sinfulness. "Now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes". (Job_42:6, Job_42:6) "Beholding the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image". (2Co_3:18)

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

And behold - This is a general description of the thing, after which the manner of it is particularly explained. Strong wind - Whereby he both prepares Elijah to receive this discovery of God with greatest humility, reverence, and godly fear; and signifies his irresistible power, to break the hardest hearts of the Israelites, and to bear down all opposition that was or should be made against him in the discharge of his office. The Lord was not - The Lord did not vouchsafe his special and gracious presence to Elijah in that wind, which possibly was to teach him not to wonder if God did not accompany his terrible administration at mount Carmel with the presence of his grace, to turn the hearts of the Israelites to himself.

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

on the mountain before me

"Before me" here is an idiom for standing in front of someone. AT: "on the mountain in my presence" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

fire

voice

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

And a great wind. [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “a camp of angels of the wind.”

In the earthquake. [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “a camp of angels of earthquake.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.