Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 18:27
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he [is] a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, [or] peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
27. Elijah mocked them ] i.e. To make their folly more apparent to the people, he urged them on to greater exertions.
for he is a god ] As you deem him. Elijah attributed no power to Baal. He merely addresses the priests from their own level, and to make the object of their worship more contemptible attributes to him certain acts and necessities which proclaim him no more powerful than his worshippers.
either he is talking ] R.V. musing. The word and its cognates are more frequently used of meditation than of speech, and to picture Baal as so preoccupied by thought as not to hear the loud cries of these frantic prophets suits, better than the rendering of A.V., with the mockery which Elijah designed.
or he is pursuing ] R.V. gone aside. The word appears to be used here to express the idea that Baal had withdrawn himself for rest or some other physical necessity. Gesenius renders ‘recessit in conclavia interiora.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The object of Elijahs irony was two-fold;
(1) to stimulate the priests to greater exertions, and so to make their failure more complete, and
(2) to suggest to the people that such failure would prove absolutely that Baal was no God.
The force of the expressions seems to be, Cry on, only cry louder, and then you will make him hear, for surely he is a god; surely you are not mistaken in so regarding him. He is talking, or meditating; the word used has both senses, for the Hebrews regarded meditation as talking with oneself; or he is pursuing; rather, perhaps, he hath a withdrawing, i. e., he hath withdrawn himself into privacy for awhile, as a king does upon occasions. The drift of the whole passage is scornful ridicule of the anthropomorphic notions of God entertained by the Baal-priests and their followers (compare Psa 50:21). The pagan gods, as we know from the Greek and Latin classics, ate and drank, went on journeys, slept, conversed, quarrelled, fought. The explanations of many of these absurdities were unknown to the ordinary worshipper, and probably even the most enlightened, if his religion was not a mere vague Pantheism, had notions of the gods which were largely tainted with a false anthropomorphism.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. At noon – Elijah mocked them] Had not Elijah been conscious of the Divine protection, he certainly would not have used such freedom of speech while encompassed by his enemies.
Cry aloud] Make a great noise; oblige him by your vociferations to attend to your suit.
For he is a god] ki Elohim hu, he is the supreme God, you worship him as such, he must needs be such, and no doubt jealous of his own honour and the credit of his votaries! A strong irony.
He is talking] He may be giving audience to some others; let him know that he has other worshippers, and must not give too much of his attention to one. Perhaps the word siach should be interpreted as in the margin, he meditateth; he is in a profound revery; he is making some god-like projects; he is considering how he may best keep up his credit in the nation. Shout! let him know that all is now at stake.
He is pursuing] He may be taking his pleasure in hunting, and may continue to pursue the game in heaven, till he have lost all his credit and reverence on earth.
The original words, sig lo, are variously translated; He is in a hotel, in diversorio, VULGATE. Perhaps he is delivering oracles, , SEPTUAGINT. Or, he is on some special business. Therefore, cry aloud!
He is in a journey] He has left his audience chamber, and is making some excursions; call aloud to bring him back, as his all is at stake.
Peradventure he sleepeth] Rab. S. Jarchi gives this the most degrading meaning; I will give it in Latin, because it is too coarse to be put in English; Fortassis ad locum secretum abiit, ut ventrem ibi exomeret; “Perhaps he is gone to the ______.” This certainly reduces Baal to the lowest degree of contempt, and with it the ridicule and sarcasm are complete.
Among Asiatic idolaters their gods have different functions to fulfil, and require sleep and rest. Vishnoo sleeps four months in the year. Budhoo is represented in his temple as sleep, though his eyes are open. Vayoo manages the winds; Varoona, the waters; Indra, the clouds, c. and according to many fables in the Pooranas, the gods are often out on journeys, expeditions, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
At noon; when they had long tried all means in vain.
Elijah mocked them; derided them and their gods, which were indeed, and had now proved themselves to be, ridiculous and contemptible things. By this example we see that all jesting is not unlawful, but only that which intrencheth upon piety and good manners. See Poole “Eph 5:4“.
Either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey; he is employed about some other business, and hath not leisure to mind you; for being a god of a small and narrow understanding, he cannot mind two things at once, and you are immodest and unreasonable to expect it from him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And it came to pass at noon,…. When they had been from the time of the morning sacrifice until now invoking their deity to no purpose:
that Elijah mocked them; he jeered and bantered them:
and said, cry aloud; your god does not hear you; perhaps, if you raise your voice higher, he may;
for he is a god; according to your esteem of him, and, if so, he surely may hear you: unless
either he is talking; with others about matters of moment and importance, who are waiting on him with their applications to him; or he is in meditation; in a deep study upon some things difficult to be resolved:
or he is pursuing; his studies, or his pleasures, or his enemies, to overtake them; or he is employed on business t:
or he is in a journey; gone to visit his friends, or some parts of his dominions; so Homer u represents Jupiter gone to pay a visit to the Ethiopians, and as yesterday gone to a feast, and all the gods following him, from whence he would not return until twelve days; and in like manner Lucian w speaks of the gods, mocking at them:
or, peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked; with a loud crying to him: it being now noon, Abarbinel thinks this refers to a custom of sleeping after dinner; Homer x also speaks of the sleep of the gods, and which used to be at noon; and therefore the worshippers of Baal ceased then to call upon him; and it is said y, the Heathens feared to go into the temples of their gods at noon, lest they should disturb them; but such is not the true God, the God of Israel, he neither slumbers nor sleeps, Ps 121:4.
t David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 211. 1. u Iliad. ver. 1. 423. w Jupiter Tragoedus. x Ut supra, (Iliad. ver. 1. 423.) in fine, & Iliad. 2. ver. 1, 2. y Meurs. Auctuar. Philol. c. 6. apud Quistorp. in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(27) Elijah mocked them.The mockery of Elijahapparently even blunter and more scornful in the sense of the originalhas been with over-ingenuity explained as applying to various supposed actions of Baal. It is merely the bitter irony of sheer contempt, calling Baal a god only to heap upon him ideas most ungodlike; He is busy, or he is in retirement; he is far away, or in the noon-day heat he is asleep. Characteristic of the fierce indignation of Elijahs nature, in this crisis of conflict, it is yet not unlike the righteous scorn of the psalmists or the prophets (see Psa. 115:4-8; Psa. 135:15-18; Isa. 44:9-20; Isa. 46:1-7; Jer. 10:2-10, &c.) for the worship of the vanities of the heathen. There was no place for toleration of prejudice, or tender appreciation of a blind worship feeling after God, like that of St. Paul at Athens (Act. 17:22-23). The conflict here was between spiritual worship and a foul, cruel idolatry; and the case was not of heathen ignorance, but of Israels apostasy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. Mocked them A mockery consisting of the most biting ridicule, irony, and sarcasm imaginable.
Cry aloud Scream with a great voice. Your god cannot hear your low tones; he needs a mighty noise to call his attention to these parts, where his interests are sadly at stake!
For he is a god Rather, For God is he! He is, of course, the Supreme Divinity! He must be that, or nothing at all.
He is talking Talking with somebody else, and don’t know of the sore distress of his four hundred and fifty prophets here! Or may mean, as in the margin, He meditateth. He is all swallowed up in profound contemplation; in such a brown study that at present he knows nothing else!
He is pursuing This is an erroneous rendering of , which means a withdrawing, retirement. The idea here expressed euphemistically is, He has gone aside, that is, to do his need. “He covereth his feet in his summer chamber.” Jdg 3:24.
He is in a journey He has, perhaps, gone travelling, and ought to be called home again to take care of his worshippers, who are terribly annoyed by his absence!
He sleepeth And he sleeps so soundly that it doubtless needs a great voice to start him up!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 18:27. Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud, &c. Nothing can be imagined more poignant and sarcastic than these words of the prophet, in which he ridicules in the finest manner possible their wretched, false, and derogatory ideas of the Deity. The two last notions of being asleep, and not at home, how absurd soever they may be when applied to the Deity, were certainly such as several idolaters conceived of their gods, as appears from various passages in Homer, in one of which, Iliad i. ver. 423 the poet tells us, that Thetis could not meet with Jupiter, because “he was gone abroad, and would not return in less than twelve days;” and at the conclusion of that book he gives us an account of the manner in which the deities went to sleep:
“Then to their starry domes the gods depart, “The shining monuments of Vulcan’s art; “Jove on his couch reclin’d his awful head, “And Juno slumber’d on the golden bed.” POPE.
How debasing ideas these, compared with that awful intelligence which Revelation gives us of a Deity, who neither slumbereth nor sleepeth; but who, every where present, is, at all times, conscious even of the secrets of the heart; at all times ready to hear and able to grant the petitions of his people!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ki 18:27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he [is] a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, [or] peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
Ver. 27. That Elijah mocked them. ] All mocking therefore is not unlawful: not that which tendeth to the discountenancing of sin; but that which is to the unjust disgrace and just grief of another.
Or he is pursuing.
Or he is in a journey, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Cry aloud, &c. Figure of speech Eironeia. App-6.
pursuing. Occurs only here.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Elijah: 1Ki 22:15, 2Ch 25:8, Ecc 11:9, Isa 8:9, Isa 8:10, Isa 44:15-17, Eze 20:39, Amo 4:4, Amo 4:5, Mat 26:45, Mar 7:9, Mar 14:41
aloud: Heb. with a great voice
for he is a god: Isa 41:23
either: Such were the absurd and degrading notions which the heathens entertained of their gods. “Vishnoo sleeps four months in the year; and to each of the gods some particular business is assigned. Vayoo manages the winds; Vuroonu the waters, etc. According to a number of fables in the pooranus, the gods are often out on journeys or expeditions.” Ward’s Views of the Hindoos, vol. ii. p. 324.
he is talking: or, he meditateth
is pursuing: Heb. hath a pursuit
must be awaked: Psa 44:23, Psa 78:65, Psa 78:66, Psa 121:4, Isa 51:9, Mar 4:38, Mar 4:39
Reciprocal: Gen 11:6 – Behold Deu 18:20 – in the name Jdg 6:31 – if he be Jdg 10:14 – General 1Ki 8:36 – give rain 2Ki 4:33 – prayed 2Ch 18:14 – Go ye up Job 26:2 – How hast thou Psa 145:18 – nigh unto Joh 13:27 – That
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 18:27. And it came to pass at noon When they had long tried all means in vain. Elijah mocked them He derided them and their god, that he might awaken them out of their stupidity, and expose them to all the bystanders as deceivers of the people, in leading them to worship such senseless and contemptible things. Cry aloud, for he is a god As you suppose: but what a god, who cannot be made to hear without all this clamour! Either he is talking Or meditating, as the Hebrew is, thinking of something else, and not minding his own important concerns, when not only your credit, but all his honour lies at stake, and his interest in Israel. Or he is pursuing His enemies, or hunting and pursuing the prey. He is employed about some other business, and is not at leisure to mind you. For, being a god of a small and narrow understanding, he cannot mind two things at once; and you are unreasonable to expect it from him. Or he is in a journey, &c. The worship of idols being a most ridiculous thing, it is perfectly just to represent it so, and expose it to scorn. And nothing can be imagined more cutting and sarcastic than these words of the prophet, in which he ridicules, in the finest manner possible, their wretched, false, and derogatory ideas of the Deity. The two last notions of being asleep and not at home, how absurd soever they may be, when applied to the Deity, were certainly such as several idolaters conceived of their gods, as appears from various passages in Homer; in one of which, (Iliad 1. 18:423,) he tells us, that Thetis could not meet with Jupiter, because he was gone abroad, and would not return in less than twelve days; and at the conclusion of that book he gives us an account of the manner in which the gods went to sleep. How debasing ideas these compared with that awful intelligence which revelation gives us of the true God, who neither slumbereth nor sleepeth; but who, everywhere present, is, at all times, conscious even of the secrets of the heart; at all times ready to hear, and able to grant the petitions of his people! Dodd.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18:27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he [is] a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, [or] peradventure he sleepeth, and must be {l} awaked.
(l) He mocks their beastly madness, who think that by any instance or suit, the dead and vile idols can help their worshippers in their necessity.