translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “the word of the Lord came to Elijah.”


text: For location see Map2-B1 ; Map4-D3 ; Map5-E2 ; Map6-A4 ; Map7-C1 .


text: Heb “now Obadiah greatly feared the Lord .” “Fear” refers here to obedience and allegiance, the products of healthy respect for the Lord ’s authority.


text: Heb “cutting off.”


text: Heb “grass.”


text: Heb “to cut off.”


text: Heb “look, Elijah [came] to meet him.”


text: Heb “[It is] I.”


text: Heb “Look, Elijah”; or “Elijah is here.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Obadiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “to kill me.”


text: Heb “he makes the kingdom or the nation swear an oath.”


text: Heb “to [a place] which I do not know.”


text: Heb “and I will go to inform Ahab and he will not find you and he will kill me.”


text: The words “that would not be fair” are added to clarify the logic of Obadiah’s argument.


text: Heb “has feared the Lord ” (also see the note at 1 Kgs 18:3 ).


text: Heb “Has it not been told to my master what I did…?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “Of course it has!”


text: Traditionally, “the Lord of Hosts.”


text: Heb “(before whom I stand).”


text: Heb “Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.”


text: Heb “Ahab.”


text: Or “trouble.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The word “messengers” is supplied in the translation both here and in v. 20 for clarification.


text: Heb “who eat at the table of Jezebel.”


text: Heb “How long are you going to limp around on two crutches?” (see HALOT 762 s.v. סְעִפִּים ). In context this idiomatic expression refers to indecision rather than physical disability.


text: Heb “the God.”


text: Heb “to the people.”


text: Elijah now directly addresses the prophets.


text: Heb “The matter [i.e., proposal] is good [i.e., acceptable].”


label: NET textual note

text: The last sentence of v. 25 is absent in the Syriac Peshitta.


text: Heb “and they took the bull which he allowed them.”


text: Heb “limped” (the same verb is used in v. 21 ).


text: The MT has “which he made,” but some medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions have the plural form of the verb.


text: Or “as was their custom.”


text: Heb “until blood poured out on them.” sn mutilated…covered with blood . This self-mutilation was a mourning rite designed to facilitate Baal’s return from the underworld.


text: Heb “when noon passed they prophesied until the offering up of the offering.”


text: The Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta include the following words here: “When it was time to offer the sacrifice, Elijah the Tishbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations: ‘Stand aside for the time being, and I will offer my burnt offering.’ So they stood aside and departed.” sn In 2 Kgs 4:31 the words “there was no sound and there was no response” are used to describe a dead boy. Similar words are used here to describe the god Baal as dead and therefore unresponsive.


text: The word “new” is implied but not actually present in the Hebrew text.


text: Heb “and he built the stones into an altar in the name of the Lord. ”


text: A seah was a dry measure equivalent to about seven quarts.


text: The words “when they had done so” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “at the offering up of the offering.”


text: The words “the altar” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “let it be known.”


text: Heb “the God.”


text: Heb “that you are turning their heart[s] back.”


text: The words “from the sky” are added for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “the God” (the phrase occurs twice in this verse).


text: Or “slaughtered.”


text: Heb “for [there is] the sound of the roar of the rain.”


text: Heb “He said, ‘Return,’ seven times.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (the servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “so that the rain won’t restrain you.”


text: Heb “rode and went to.”


text: Heb “and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah.”


text: Heb “and girded up his loins.” The idea is that of gathering up the robes and tucking them into the sash or belt so that they do not get in the way of the legs when running (or working or fighting).