ג your servant עֶבֶד ‘eḇeḏ; Ahab kill מוּת mûṯ [1K 18:9]
In this brief section, we will cover:
• 1 Kings 18:7-9 ESV 7 And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Eliyahu met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell (h5307. נָפַל nâp̱al) on his face (h6440. פָּניִם p̱âniym) and said, “Is it you, my lord Eliyahu?” 8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Eliyahu is here.’” 9 And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?
The heading for this section is to reflect its mirror image in the Chiastic structure. Note from the end of the last chapter, Obadiah is on his “way” (the way of YHWH) and meets Eliyahu, whom he recognizes. He falls, i.e. prostrated himself, עַל־פָּנָ֔יו , which can be on his face or can be toward the presence of Eliyahu, either way it is a position of obeisance, respect. And note he calls Eliyahu “lord” or “master” h0113. אָדוֹן ’âḏôn. See the Word Patterns slide to look at the repetitions of this word. In verse 8 is one of the repeated statements to “Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Eliyahu is here.” (h0113. אָדוֹן ’âḏôn again). Obadiah questions what he has done wrong that he would be the intermediary to be killed? [“Don’t shoot the messenger,” per American idiom.] Notice he calls himself Eliyahu’s servant, h5650. עֶבֶד ‘eḇeḏ. And the word for “kill” here is h4191. מוּת mûṯ. Here the themes are continued that have been discussed before, furthering the focus on the central section, in the different structures that have been shown.
ד Center of the chiasm – Obadiah ” no place Ahab has not sought you.” Obadiah to “go tell your lord אָדוֹן ’âḏôn, ‘Behold, Elijah!’ [YAH is God]” [1K 18:10-11]
• 1 Kings 18:10-11 ESV 10 As YHWH your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Eliyahu is here.”’
Obadiah takes the oath regarding the living God, YHWH. Interesting to note he says “your God” to Eliyahu, making certain that Eliyahu knows that he is swearing the oath on the God YHWH, Eliyahu’s God. Compare with the covenant between Laban and Jacob, (Gn 31:48-50) Laban makes his covenant with Jacob, on YHWH אֱלֹהִים ’elôhîym; however, he also follows it up with “another:”
• Genesis 31:53 NASB 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”
So Ya’akov swore by the fear of his father Isaac. There seemed to be some lack of trust of one-another’s gods, and apparently to appease Laban’s concern, Ya’akov swore on his own father Isaac. Perhaps Obadiah is reinforcing here what he has said elsewhere that he fears YHWH.
The next phrase, “no nation or kingdom where my lord (once again h0113. אָדוֹן ’âḏôn) has not sent to seek you,” is our way of saying, “We have searched far and wide.” Eliyahu has been a major focus for Ahab, just as David was for Saul, once again tying to the times David spared Saul’s life. And once again, the oath comes up [frequently repeated thought in this narrative]. And once again the word אָדוֹן ’âḏôn is used in Obadiah’s quoting Eliyahu’s instruction to Obadiah, indicating Ahab is his master. Regarding the instruction, though it is perfectly reasonable English to translate הִנֵּ֥ה אֵלִיָּהֽוּ as “Behold, Eliyahu is here,” what the Hebrew truly says is “Behold Eliyahu!”
And one could just leave it as the meaning of Eliyahu’s name means Yah is God, or one could even consider that saying it in the original Hebrew, it sounds like Eliyahu is telling Obadiah literally to go tell Ahab, “Behold, YAH is God!” Either way, it is much more powerful than adding “is here.” And, being repeated three times (1K 8, 11 and 14) adds to the emphasis. And this, of course, is what Eliyahu is about to demonstrate on Mt. Carmel, as the people clearly pick up on, saying exactly (1K 18:39) ” יְהוָה֙ ה֣וּא הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהוָ֖ה ה֥וּא הָאֱלֹהִֽים ,” YHWH he is the God, YHWH he is the God,” while falling on their faces, prostrating themselves.
It would appear, then, that the central themes are about who is lord/master, who is God. It is a very important part of the message also that the word Baal means “lord.” Who does Obadiah serve? Who is his “lord?” It is clear whom Ahab serves and whom Eliyahu serves. Obadiah is in a position of choosing, h6437. פָּנָה p̱ânâ, as are the Israelites and as we so often are. Is this not what Yochanan the baptizer was saying, in his message to repent? Choose whom you will serve. This is the message for us.
• Deuteronomy 30:17-20 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land (h0127. אֲדָמָה ’ăḏâmâ) that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving YHWH your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land (h0127. אֲדָמָה ’ăḏâmâ) that YHWH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
ר your servant עֶבֶד ‘eḇeḏ, Ahab murder הָרַג hârag̱ [1K 18:12, 14]
• 1 Kings 18:12 ESV 12 And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of YHWH will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared YHWH from my youth.
Verse twelve is transitional and is included in this step of the chiasm and the next [ שׁ], including elements reflecting both ג and ב. The “fear of the YHWH” will be noted in שׁ. Neither the word for kill h4191. מוּת mûṯ, in verse 9, nor h2026. הָרַג hârag̱ in verses 12 and 14 are the word for murder in the “Ten Words,” which is h7523. רָצַח râṣaḥ. One could speculate all day about the choice of words here. Suffice it to say they are different, and there must be a purpose, but the purpose is not clear at this time. [A look at the Hebrew does not show any suggestion of alliteration or obvious word play to this writer.]
The other element not previously discussed includes these two phrases: “the Spirit of YHWH will carry you I know not where” and “he [Ahab] cannot find you.” Eliyahu must have had a reputation for “disappearing.” First, we have already covered his going to the Cherith and staying with the widow of Zarephath. We don’t know if this is idiomatic speech, as we might say “she goes wherever the wind blows her,” or “he does as the spirit moves him,” or if this is more literal in its meaning [or of course Hebrew can always be both, as it also is sometimes in English]. There are some Scriptural references that can witness to a more literal understanding.
First, it could be a foreshadowing of Eliyahu’s fate: Eliyahu “went up by a whirlwind into heaven,” (2 Kings 2:9-18) and Elisha “saw him no more.” But the sons of the prophets seemed to think he had merely been transported elsewhere, thus fifty men searched for three days for him. [fifty, yet again] Then we have a picture of Eliyahu moving very swiftly:
• 1 Kings 18:45-46 ESV 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46 And the hand of YHWH was on Eliyahu, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Looking at other people in Scripture, There is the example of Enoch,
• Genesis 5:24 ESV 24 “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”
There is also Philip ministering to the Ethiopian eunuch: (Context Acts 8:26-40)
• Acts 8:39-40 NASB 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of κύριος kúrios snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.
In Acts, Peter (Cephas, Kefa – read context Acts 12:1-19) was imprisoned by King Herod,
• Acts 12:7-8 NASB 7 And behold, an angel of κύριος kúrios suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”
And, of course there are numerous instances of miraculous physical phenomena with Yeshua, even before the resurrection. (e.g. Mt 14:26; Mk 6:49; Lk 4:29-30; John 10:39)
שׁ Obadiah fears יֵָרא yârê’ YHWH, hid and fed YHWH’s prophets [1K 18:12-14]
• 1 Kings 18:12-14 ESV 12 And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of YHWH will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared YHWH from my youth. 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of YHWH, how I hid a hundred men of YHWH’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; and he will kill me.”
There is little new information here, most is repetition, tying into the Chiastic structure. The points will not be belabored further. There is noted a tie-in to the discussion about the fear of Ahab murdering h2026. הָרַג hârag̱ Obadiah in the previous section. Whereas in verse 18:4, we are told that Yezebel “cut off” h3772. כָּרַת ḵâraṯ the prophets of YHWH, which leaves it a little ambiguous, in 18:13, we have the verb h2026. הָרַג hârag̱ , which leaves no ambiguity. And, therefore this word הָרַג hârag̱ appears three times, in consecutive verses, reinforcing the witness that Obadiah has plenty of reason to fear for his life. It does help us to focus on the oft-quoted GS passage:
• John 15:13 ESV 13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (also in John 10:15, 10:17, 13:37, 13:38; 1 John 3:16)
ת I will surely show myself רָאָה râ’â to him today [1K 18:15]
• 1 Kings 18:15-20 ESV 15 And Elijah said, “As YHWH of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of YHWH and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
The chiasm’s symmetry is between verse 1 and verse 15, where once again the reader can see specific wording reflecting that Eliyahu does precisely what YHWH tells him to do, h7200. רָאָה râ’â, to “show himself to Ahab,” and he is both doing it promptly [today], and at the same time reassuring Obadiah, “surely,” and taking the oath, once again. Here we see Obadiah’s obedience to God’s word from Eliyahu: he goes to tell Ahab. And then six small but interesting words: “And Ahab went to meet Eliyahu.” Eliyahu does not go to Ahab; Ahab goes to Eliyahu. There are many potential ways to look at that short sentence. One could be that Eliyahu was afraid to go to the palace [understandable]. One could be that Eliyahu was demanding that Ahab come to him as respect for the importance of God over the importance of kingship. And there certainly could be an element of both of these, in those circumstances. Perhaps the focus that fits in best with the theme here discussed is the one-on-one, face-to-face meeting of the two “intermediaries,” the representatives of YHWH and Baal, good and evil. These two must meet alone, with no other influence. Yezebel clouds the picture.
This is an issue of Ahab’s lack of Godly leadership for Israel. The sheep are following the shepherd. Mt. Carmel is to be a wake-up call to the people that their shepherd has led them astray, and hopefully to Ahab [the current shepherd] that indeed, Yah is God! They have been led astray by moving toward Yezebel’s gods. There has been much discussion about the thought of “Who is lord?” Notice here Eliyahu says to Ahab, “You have followed the Baals הַבְּעָלִיֽם . This is indeed plural, and baal meaning lord or master, following multiple lords. [Although this is somewhat confusing, as there is switching back and forth in this passage between the singular and plural forms of בַּ֖עַל , thus not always clear whether this may be the plural form of ‘importance’ or truly plural. Many of the English translations slide easily back and forth between the plural form being translated as singular and plural. It may be an area of further study.]
Remember from the Shema, יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה אֶחָֽד , YHWH Elohenu, YHWH Echad, YHWH our God, YHWH is One. Ahab is the troubler as Achan was the troubler. We focus on idols of different sorts. God is One.
There is a very interesting play on words in Ahab’s name that may help round out the picture. The meaning of the king’s name was already discussed. Briefly, he was introduced as “Ahab, son of Omri,” h0256. אַחְאָב ’aḥ’âḇ; from h0001. אָב ’âḇ plus h0251. אָח ’âḥ; brother is given by ESD as meaning “father’s brother,” meaning of a similar nature as his father. His father’s nature was already mentioned as doing “more evil than all who were before him.” And the name Omri: h6018. עָמְרִי ‘omrîy; from h6014. עָמַר ‘āmar: A verb meaning to treat as a slave, to bind. It means to treat a person harshly, without humane consideration, without compassion [CWSBD]. But Ahab אַחְאָב also sounds almost the same as אַהַב which means “love,” leading one to focus on the relationship with Yezebel. There is a strong caution against taking foreign wives, which was also Solomon’s downfall. (1K 11:1-8; Ex 34:12-15; entire chapter Ezra 10)
h0158. אַהַב ’ahaḇ: A masculine noun meaning love or lover. Both occurrences of this noun are in the plural. In Proverbs 5:19, it refers to marital love, while in Hosea 8:9, the word refers to Israel’s trust in foreign alliances rather than in God. The foreign nations are Israel’s hired lovers [CWSBD].
Eliyahu, as servant of YHWH takes charge of the situation and Ahab is obedient to the instructions of the man of God. In verse 19 Eliyahu tells Ahab to send and gather Israel and prophets of false gods. In verse 20, Ahab sends to all the people of Israel and gathers the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Ahab thus recognizes the authority of Eliyahu in this situation [as representative of YHWH].
There is a good bit more of the narrative, but this completes this particular Chiastic structure. We will definitely need to cover more in order to complete the message. A logical move would be to step back one level to Dorsey’s Chiastic structure on Eliyahu and the drought, After the central focus of that chiasm, the encounter at Carmel is seen.
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