I Kings 18, Battle of the Gods

The prophet Elijah, introduced to us in the last chapter, is trying to survive an intense drought.

1 Kings 18:1-6, A search for grass

After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."

So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD. While Jezebel was killing off the LORD's prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.)
 

Ahab had said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals." So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.

Elijah is finally told to present himself to Ahab. This will occur while Ahab and Obadiah are searching for green grass for the horses.

Obadiah means "Servant of YAH". Commentators Patterson and Austel argue that this is too early in Israel's history for the prophet Obadiah, who wrote his own short Old Testament book.

Verse 4 mentions a hundred prophets and we will see, in 1 & 2 Kings, from time to time, a school of prophets. Little is known about them but Elijah, Obadiah and Elisha all had contacts with them. They appear again in 2 Kings 4:1 and 2 Kings 4:38-44.

1 Kings 18:7-14, "Why me?"

As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, "Is it really you, my lord Elijah?"

"Yes," he replied. "Go tell your master, `Elijah is here.'"

"What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. But now you tell me to go to my master and say, `Elijah is here.'  I don't know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth. Haven't you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred of the LORD's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, `Elijah is here.' He will kill me!"

 

Obadiah knows that meeting Elijah is very dangerous and fears for his own life. Since Ahab has been hunting for Elijah, Obadiah would be especially in danger if he told Ahab that Elijah was in a certain place and then Ahab did not find Elijah there.

1 Kings 18:15-19, Bring the prophets of Baal to me

Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today."

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"

"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

Elijah reassures Obadiah and then presents himself to Ahab. Ahab calls Elijah a "troublemaker" of Israel, an accusation that Elijah turns on its head, accusing Ahab of gross idolatry.

In the ancient Canaanite godhead, Asherah was often a consort of Baal. While Ahab follows Baal, his wife worships Asherah.

1 Kings 18:20-24, Challenge

So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." 

But the people said nothing.

Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire--he is God." 

Then all the people said, "What you say is good."

Elijah challenges the king and all the prophets of Baal. The prophets arrive (450 of them!) and Elijah sets up a contest. Commentators Patterson and Austel write that Baal's stronghold was Mount Carmel and so Elijah is essentially going into the devil's den!

1 Kings 18:25-28, The prophets of Baal call out

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire."

So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 

So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.

The challenge to the prophets of Baal is to have Baal light the fire. But Baal does not respond. Elijah taunts the prophets, suggesting that Baal is "asleep" or "indisposed". ("Busy" may be a euphemism for "using the toilet.") In attempts to get Baal's attention, the prophets of Baal, in ecstatic dancing, begin cutting themselves. This was apparently a common activity in idol worship and in Leviticus 19:26-29, the Israelites were prohibited from a number of these religious rituals, including "cutting oneself for the dead."

1 Kings 18:29-35, Soaking an altar.

Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." 

They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. 

Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."

"Do it again," he said, and they did it again. 

"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

The prophets of Baal call out to their god all day. As the day is ending, Elijah gathers everyone and rebuilds an altar apparently previously devoted to YHWH. He then has the altar repeatedly soaked, so much so that the water floods the trenches around the altar. (Note that this is done in a time of intense drought.)

Elijah's choice of twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel, is an implicit statement on the culture of the day. Instead of ten tribes worshiping Baal at Mount Carmel, Israel should be a united nation worshiping YHWH in Jerusalem.

1 Kings 18:36-40, Fire from heaven

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."

Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!"

Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

Once the altar is soaked, Elijah prays. Fire falls and burns up the sacrifice and everything around it, even evaporating the water in the trench. This dramatic event is the end of the prophets of Baal, who are now killed for their obvious idolatry.

1 Kings 18:41-46, Rain

And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." 

So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. 

And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. 

Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."

The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." 

So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, `Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"

Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.

The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Elijah has won. He has defeated the prophets of Baal and then, as implied earlier, ends the drought. Beautiful rain arrives. Elijah races Ahab back to Ahab's palace in Jezreel, a distance (say Patterson and Austel) of seventeen miles.

First published December 2, 2023, updated October 14, 2026

I Kings 17, Elijah

The date is around 870 BC., a century after the death of David. Ahab, son of Omri, has become king in Israel. Ahab's reign is marked by evil and so a new prophet is about to appear. Our narrator's story, which hurried through the century after David's reign, will now slow down to focus on the reign of Ahab and his conflicts with this prophet.

1 Kings 17:1-7, Extreme drought

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."

Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."

So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

 

The dry desert land of Canaan is always susceptible to droughts; this one, forecast by a man named Elijah, is severe. Eventually even the brook, on which Elijah relies, runs out of water.

The name Elijah apparently means "Yah is my God." The word "Tishbite" is unclear. Gilead is a region east of the Jordan, just southeast of the Sea of Galilee.

Throughout the desert lands of the Old Testament, rain is always a good thing! Here it is being withheld.

1 Kings 17:8-16, Widow of Zarephath

Then the word of the LORD came to him: "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food."

So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink? As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."

"As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it--and die."

Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.'"

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

 

Elijah is told to go to Zarephath and rely on a widow there. When he meets the starving widow, Elijah asks for things she cannot really provide, a little water and some bread. Despite her poverty, the widow attempts to serve the prophet and as a reward for her hospitality, she miraculously receives food every day. 

Sidon is now a town on the Mediterranean coast in modern Lebanon, northwest of Israel. Jezebel, Ahab's wife, was from nearby Tyre.

1 Kings 17:17-24, Son revived

Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.

She said to Elijah, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?"

"Give me your son," Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?"

Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!"

The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive!"

Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth."

One day the widow's son becomes ill and eventually stops breathing. Elijah spreads his body across the boy's body and cries to YHWH, begging that the young boy's life return. Elijah does this three times and finally his prayer is answered.

Elijah is now identified as an important man of God, one who reflects YHWH's plans.

First published December one, 2023, updated October 13, 2026

I Kings 16, Brief Kingdoms of Israel

Baasha is king of the Israel, the northern kingdom. He became king by killing the former king, Nadab, son of Jeroboam.

1 Kings 16:1-4, Baasha's house to be consumed

Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha: "I lifted you up from the dust and made you leader of my people Israel, but you walked in the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to provoke me to anger by their sins.  So I am about to consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat. Dogs will eat those belonging to Baasha who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country."

As Baasha killed Nadab, Baasha's kingdom will also perish.

Jehu recorded the details of the reign of Jehoshaphat (according to 2 Chronicles 20:34.) More details about the reign of Baasha are recorded by Josephus in his Antiquites of the Jews, Book VIII.

1 Kings 16:5-7, Elah

As for the other events of Baasha's reign, what he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. 

And Elah his son succeeded him as king. Moreover, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger by the things he did, and becoming like the house of Jeroboam--and also because he destroyed it.

Elah, son of Baasha becomes king.  At this time, another prophet, Jehu, speaks out against Baasha. Hubbard argues that this book of Kings, along with recording the various dynasties, emphasizes the important role of prophets.

1 Kings 16:8-14, Zimri

In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years. Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of half his chariots, plotted against him. Elah was in Tirzah at the time, getting drunk in the home of Arza, the man in charge of the palace at Tirzah. Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king.

As soon as he began to reign and was seated on the throne, he killed off Baasha's whole family. He did not spare a single male, whether relative or friend. So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu-- because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols. As for the other events of Elah's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Zimri kills Elah while Elah is drunk and partying.  Zimri then destroys Baasha's family, as foretold earlier by the prophet Jehu.

1 Kings 16:15-20, Omri defeats Zimri

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days. The army was encamped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town. When the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp. Then Omri and all the Israelites with him withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. 

When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died, because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD and walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in the sin he had committed and had caused Israel to commit.

As for the other events of Zimri's reign, and the rebellion he carried out, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

The reigns of the kings of the northern kingdom are getting shorter and shorter. Zimri only lasts seven days before Omri besieges Tirzah and Zimri kills himself by setting the palace on fire around him.

We are promised more details about Zimri's reign in "the book of the annals of the kings of Israel", but the reign is so short that this promise seems to be more of a mantra at the end of each short biography of a king.

1 Kings 16:21-28, Omri builds Samaria

Then the people of Israel were split into two factions; half supported Tibni son of Ginath for king, and the other half supported Omri. But Omri's followers proved stronger than those of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king.

In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria, after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill.

But Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD and sinned more than all those before him.  He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols.

As for the other events of Omri's reign, what he did and the things he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son succeeded him as king.

Omri defeats another pretender, Tibni. Then Omri builds a capitol city, Samaria. The northern kingdom will now be centered on Samaria. Omri manages to reign twelve years.

Few archaeological details of ancient Israelite history have survived the almost three millennia since that time. But Omri is named in the Moabite Stone (often called the Mesha Stele) in which a Moabite king brags about defeating a son of Omri in several battles. The Stele describes Omri as having "oppressed Moab for many days", but eventually, according to the Stele, the Moabites fight back.

1 Kings 16:29-33,  Ahab and Jezebel

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.

He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.

Omri's reign is followed by the reign of his son, Ahab. Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, will be the center of our story for a time.

1 Kings 16:34, Jericho rebuilt

In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

We have a tangential statement that updates us on the reconstruction of Jericho. The prophecy by Joshua is in Joshua 6:26.

After Jeroboam created the northern kingdom, there have been, in Israel, six kings: Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab. The reigns of Jeroboam and Baasha are over twenty years in length; the reign of Omri was twelve. The others only reigned for a short time. Ahab will reign twenty-two years.  (A nice summary of the kings of Judah and Israel is given on this Wikipedia page.)

Stories from the notorious reign of Ahab and his queen will begin in the next chapter.

First published November 30, 2023, updated October 12, 2026

Baal and Ashera, Idols of the Ancient Near East

A colorful battle occurs in 1 Kings 18:16-45 when Elijah takes on 450 priests of Baal. He challenges them to a test by fiery sacrifice and in a dramatic daylong drama, the sacrifices to Baal are ignored while Elijah's sacrifice to YHWH is answered by fire from heaven. The god Baal shows up throughout the Old Testament but most notoriously in the books of 1 & 2 Kings. In addition to Baal, a secondary character is Asherah, often worshiped with "Asherah poles". The passage in 1 Kings, above, states that there were 400 prophets of Asherah, "who ate at Jezebel's table" (1 Kings 18:19.)

The uses of the ancient Hebrew word Ba'al is not clear. In the ancient Near East, in the Northwest Semitic languages, it often meant "lord" or "master". In the first chapter of Esther (see Esther 1:16-18) it is the word used by the king's court that is translated "husband" -- apparently "husband", "lord" or "master" were, in that culture, synonymous! In the Old Testament writings, the word Ba'al was often used to represent gods that Canaanites worshiped, as part of their pantheon. This was to distinguish this god or gods from the One God YHWH, as the Elijah episode demonstrates. As the Israelites moved into Canaan during the time of the judges, Ba'al was most likely the main fertility god of the local people. As the Israelites learned the seasonal rhythm of farming, they were introduced to a variety of fertility rites that went with planting and harvesting, rites that surely centered around worship of Ba'al.

Ba'al Zebub (literally "Lord of the flies"), the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, is briefly mentioned in 2 Kings 1:2. Over time, the Israelites adopted that name for the ruler of the demons and so in the New Testament, when Jesus healed a demon-possessed man (Matthew 12:22-24), he was accused of doing the healing in cohort with Ba'al Zebub.

El and Dagon

In some cultures, Ba'al was the son of the god El; "El" is another Semitic word that was a generic word for "god": Elijah's name, "Jah" is "El, simply means "YHWH is God"; the site "Bethel" is "House (Beth) of El". The word "El" probably had the same role in the ancient Near East as "Allah" has today in Arabic communities -- "Allah" is the Arabic word for "God" and so both Muslims and Arabic Christians use the word that way.) 

If El was the father of Ba'al in one culture, Dagon was the father of El in another culture. In 1 Samuel, early in Saul's reign, we see Dagon as a god of the Philistines. In Joshua 19:24-31, the region of Asher has a town called Beth Dagon ("house of Dagon".) In Judges 16:23-30, Samson's last act is to bring down a temple to Dagon. In 1 Samuel 5, the ark is carried into a temple of Dagon, leading to damage to the temple and the community.

Asherah

A female fertility goddess of the ancient Near East was Asherah. She is worshiped along with Ba'al in Judges 3:7; worship of Asherah often involved sacred trees ("Asherah poles") and are described at various times in 1 & 2 Kings. Ba'al and Asherah were especially associated with the reign of Israel's king Ahab and his wife Jezebel, during the time of Elijah. One of the many sins of Manasseh, several centuries later, was to put an Asherah pole even in the temple of Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:7.)

In the agricultural world of the ancient Near East, fertility (fertile lands, fertile animals, fertile wives) was an important characteristic of a land, flock, tribe.  Fertility was obviously associated with females (human or animal) and their ability to reproduce and so it was natural to assume a fertility idol would portray a female. Asherah was sometimes portrayed as pregnant with large breasts. In that male dominated world, it was natural to include sex as part of fertility worship and so some altars to Asherah or other fertility goddesses included temple prostitutes. When patriarch Judah had sex with Tamar, he apparently assumed she was a prostitute at such a shrine (see Genesis 38:21.) In Numbers 25, Israelite men were having sex with Moabite women as part of a fertility cult.

During the times of the divided kingdom, worship of gods and goddesses, other than YHWH, was metaphorically identified with adultery and prostitution. At times the comparison was not just metaphorical; at times worship of fertility goddesses involved literal prostitution.

Resources

Here are a few external links I looked at as I wrote this essay:

• The Fertility Cults of Canaan is an online article by Ray Vander Laan.
• On the worship of Baal and Asherah at GotQuestions.com
• On Asherah/Ashteroth from CompellingTruth.org
• On the Israelite struggle with Baal and Asherah  from CompellingTruth.org
• An Encyclopedia Britannica article on Asherah.

First published December 17, 2023; updated October 11, 2026

I Kings 15, Abijah, Asa, and Nadab, Baasha

Rehoboam and Jeroboam, kings of the southern and northern kingdoms, respectively, have died. The date is about 910 BC. 

1 Kings 15:1-5, Abijah

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.

Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD's commands all the days of his life--except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

Abijah of Judah only lasts three years. David is given as an example of one who did right in the eyes of YHWH... with the one obvious exception.

Does the mother of Abijah differ in chapter 14? Some ancient manuscripts give Abijam in place of Abijah. Abijah's reign is described more fully in 2 Chronicles 13.

Abishalom is a variant of Absalom. The phrase translated "daughter of Absalom" could also mean "granddaughter of Absalom". According to 2 Samuel 14:27 , Absalom has one daughter, Tamar, and according to 2 Chronicles 13: 2, Maacah is a daughter (or granddaughter) of Uriel who probably married Tamar. Maacah's appearance several times in Old Testament scripture is due to the fact that she was the favorite wife of Rehoboam (see 2 Chronicles 11:21.)

1 Kings 15:6-8, Death of Abijah

There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout [Abijah's] lifetime. As for the other events of Abijah's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. And Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king.

Asa succeeds Abijah in Judah.

Most ancient Hebrew manuscripts give Rehoboam in verse 6 but some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac manuscripts give Abijam/Abijah.

1 Kings 15:9-15, Asa

In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done. He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made. He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life.  He brought into the temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

After Rehoboam and Abijah, there is Asa in Judah. Asa is described as following YHWH. He attempts to root out the idols and he returns the precious medals to the temple in Jerusalem.

Maacah shows up again. Hubbard argues that the adjective "repulsive", describing the Asherah pole built by Macaah, probably indicates a sexually suggestive idol. (The ancients had their own pornography.)

1 Kings 15:16-19, Blockade by Baasha

There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.

Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah. Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the LORD's temple and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.

"Let there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me."

Baasha becomes king of Israel and fortifies the important city of Ramah to prevent the people of the southern kingdom from easily trading with the people of Israel. (Ramah was only about five miles north of Jerusalem.) Meanwhile, Asa, in the southern kingdom, makes a treaty with Ben-Hadad in Damascus. Ben-Hadad's territory is east and northeast of the northern kingdom and provides a threat to Baasha's reign.

1 Kings 15:20-24, Aid of Ben-Hadad

Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah and all Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali.

When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah.

Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah--no one was exempt--and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and also Mizpah.

As for all the other events of Asa's reign, all his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? In his old age, however, his feet became diseased. Then Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king.
 

Ben-Hadad, to the northeast of Judah, is an important ally, as he can attack the northern kingdom.  He forces Baasha to back off of his blockage of Israel.

We are briefly told that Jehoshaphat follows Asa.  We will return to the story of Jehoshaphat in I Kings 22. Before we do this, we will cover the reign of a number of kings of the northern kingdom.

1 Kings 15:25-28, Nadab

Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it. Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king.

In Israel, Nadab follows Jeroboam and then is murdered by Baasha. This paragraph seems to be a flashback to explain the occurrence of Baasha.

1 Kings 15:29-31, Massacre of Jeroboam's family

As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam's whole family. He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the LORD given through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite-- because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.

As for the other events of Nadab's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

In taking the crown, Baasha massacres Jeroboam's family.

1 Kings 15:32-34, Asa and Baasha at war

There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.

The kings of Judah after Rehoboam are Asa and the Jehoshaphat. 

The kings of Israel after Jeroboam are Abijah and Baasha, with a brief interlude of Nadab.

First published November 29, 2023, updated October 10, 2026

I Kings 14, Reigns of Rehoboam and Jeroboam

A prophet has confronted Jeroboam. Yet Jeroboam, king of the ten northern tribes of Israel, continues to do evil.

1 Kings 14:1-3, King's son is ill

At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, and Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go, disguise yourself, so you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there--the one who told me I would be king over this people. Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy."

Abijah sends his wife to see Abijah to ask about the future of her son. (Abijah is the prophet who first told Jeroboam the kingdom would be his in 1 Kings 11:29-39.)

Commentators Patterson and Austel argue that the Hebrew word for jar, baqbuq (בַּקְבֻּק), is onomatopoeic, representing the gurgling sound of liquid being poured from a jar.

1 Kings 14:4-6, Visit to Ahijah

So Jeroboam's wife did what he said and went to Ahijah's house in Shiloh. Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age.

But the LORD had told Ahijah, "Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else."

So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news.

 

Ahijah is blind but still, guided by YHWH, outs the queen.

1 Kings 14:7-11, Disaster to the house of Jeroboam

Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `I raised you up from among the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have provoked me to anger and thrust me behind your back.

"`Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel--slave or free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone. Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country. The LORD has spoken!'

Ahijah's prophecy is destruction of the house of Jeroboam, because of the idolatry of the king of Israel.

The Hebrew phrase in verse 10, translated "every last male" by the NIV, involves a crude phrase that appeared earlier in 1 Samuel 25:22.  The word for male is literally "one who pisseth against the wall", as translated in the King James Version. This expression appears six times in the Old Testament: here and in 1 Samuel 25: 22, also in 1 Samuel 25:34, 1 Kings 16:11, 1 Kings 21:21,and 2 Kings 9:8. In each case, it describes males who are about to be killed. (The website gotquestions.org has this article on the phrase.) Since dogs also urinate against the side of a building, this phrase may suggest that the men about to be killed are dogs, not real humans. We note that the phrase here is followed by a statement about dogs eating the corpses.

1 Kings 14:12-16, Son to die

"As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the LORD, the God of Israel, has found anything good.

"The LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Yes, even now. And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their forefathers and scatter them beyond the River, because they provoked the LORD to anger by making Asherah poles. And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit."

The poor mother is to go home, being told that her son will die. But the son will be the only one to be buried. Destruction will come to the northern tribes and they will be scattered east of the Euphrates River. One of the reasons for this coming destruction is the worship of the fertility goddess, Asherah.

1 Kings 14:17-18, Death of son

Then Jeroboam's wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the LORD had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

All happens as has been prophesied.

Tirzah will soon be the capital of the northern kingdom, explicitly described that way in 1 Kings 16:8 during the short reign of Elah, son of Baasha.

1 Kings 14: 19-20, End of Jeroboam's reign

The other events of Jeroboam's reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his fathers. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.

Jeroboam, king of Israel, dies. One of his sons, Nadab, succeeds him as king of the ten tribes. The "annals of the kings of Israel" supposedly contains further information about Jeroboam's reign, but that work has been lost to time.

We now move on to the history of the southern kingdom.

1 Kings 14:21-24, Rehoboam and idols

Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.

Judah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than their fathers had done. They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree.

There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

Even Solomon's son does not follow YHWH. Instead, he follows other gods, possibly influenced by his pagan mother. The goddess Asherah is mentioned again, along with a new accusation: shrine prostitutes. (Hubbard says that the Hebrew translated "male shrine prostitutes" probably referred to both male and female prostitutes.)

1 Kings 14:25-28, Jerusalem sacked

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.

So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

Jerusalem is sacked by a king of Egypt. The marvelous riches of Solomon's palace and temple, described in earlier chapters, are gone within five years of Solomon's death.

Both the commentary by Patterson and Austel, and the commentary by Hubbard, identify the king, Shishak, as Shoshenq 1, founder of the Twenty-Second Dynasty in Egypt, and the successor to the pharaoh of 1 Kings 3:1, whose daughter Solomon married.

1 Kings 14:29-31, Rehoboam then Abijah

As for the other events of Rehoboam's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.

When Rehoboam finally dies, his son, Abijah becomes king. One notices that both Rehoboam and Jeroboam have sons named Abijah. 

First published November 28, 2023, updated October 9, 2026

I Kings 13, A Prophet Confronts Jeroboam

Rehoboam rules the southern kingdom of Judah and Benjamin while Jeroboam rules the northern kingdom of ten tribes. The author of the scroll of Kings will now guides us through the reigns of various kings, alternating back and forth between the kingdoms, covering one king's full reign before picking up the story of the king of the other kingdom.

1 Kings 13:1-3, "O altar, altar!"

By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: `A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'"

That same day the man of God gave a sign: "This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out."

A prophet confronts Jeroboam and his idolatry. The prophet comes from the southern kingdom, which still has the temple and ark of the covenant.

The prophet announces that a later king, a Josiah, will kill the priests of this alternate worship site and burn their bodies on that same altar. But first, the altar will be split and, at that time, all the uncleaned ashes will be poured out. Commentators Hubbard, Patterson and Austel, all argue that the point of the ashes spilling onto the ground is that such an event invalidates the sacrifice (see, for example, Leviticus 6:10-11.)

1 Kings 13:4-5, Shriveled hand

When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, "Seize him!" But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD.

Jeroboam wants the man of God seized (and presumably killed) but the king's hand is suddenly shriveled up and the altar splits into pieces.

1 Kings 13: 6-10, Repentance

Then the king said to the man of God, "Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored." So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king's hand was restored and became as it was before.

The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift."

But the man of God answered the king, "Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: `You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.'"

So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

 

Jeroboam is undone by the result of his shriveled hand and broken altar and so begs forgiveness and healing. This is done, but the prophet refuses to eat with the king. The prophet returns home in a way that is different than expected.

1 Kings 13:11-17, Betrayed by an old prophet 

Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king.

Their father asked them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 

So he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" 

"I am," he replied.

So the prophet said to him, "Come home with me and eat."

The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. I have been told by the word of the LORD: `You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.'"

The old prophet goes after the young one and attempts to get the young one to return to Bethel and stay with him. (No motives are given for this.)

1 Kings 13:18-23, Lie

The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: `Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (But he was lying to him.)

So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house. While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "This is what the LORD says: `You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.'"

When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him.

The old prophet lies and seduces the younger man into eating and drinking with him. (Again, we are given no motives.) At first the older prophet seemed to want to honor the younger man but now he deceives him. And then has a prophetic decree against the younger man. (That one's body is not buried in the family tomb indicates that one suffers a violent death away from home.)

1 Kings 13:24-26, Lion attack

As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.

Some people who passed by saw the body thrown down there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived. When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, "It is the man of God who defied the word of the LORD. The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him."

 

The younger prophet is killed by a lion. This is apparently because he ate with the old man. Everyone seems to understand that the young prophet had disobeyed YHWH.

1 Kings 13:27-32, His own tomb

The prophet said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me," and they did so.

Then he went out and found the body thrown down on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him.

Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, "Oh, my brother!"

After burying him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true."

Despite his part in the death of the younger man, the older man buries the body of the younger man in his own tomb and mourns over him. He then asks that his children bury him next to the prophet. 

This is a strange story of confusion and remorse. The prophecy about Josiah is fulfilled almost three centuries later in 2 Kings 23. In 2 Kings 23:15-18, we are told that the bones of both prophets are treated with respect.

The commentary by Patterson and Austel claims that the term "Samaria", as a city or a region, did not exist until the reign of Omri, c. 880 BC, and so the older prophet's statement about towns of Samaria represents the narrator's update of the prophet's statement.

1 Kings 13: 33-34, Continuation in evil

Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.

A quick summary -- Jeroboam continues to do evil. The chapter began with Jeroboam sacrificing to idols at Bethel and ends with a reminder that much can be blamed on Jeroboam's idolatry.

First published November 27, 2023, updated October 8, 2026