1 Kings 18:10

As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Obadiah speaks to Elijah in response to the prophet’s command to report his whereabouts to King Ahab. He states that Ahab has dispatched search parties to every nation and kingdom, forcing each to swear they could not locate the prophet.

The words — חַי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ (chai Yahweh 'e.loheka) literally translates to “by the life of Yahweh your God.” This oath formula anchors Obadiah’s testimony in divine certainty rather than personal opinion.

The thread — The same sworn invocation appears in 1 Kings 17:1, 1 Samuel 29:6, and 1 Kings 1:29. Each instance deploys the formula to validate a speaker’s claim by invoking God’s existence as an unbreakable guarantee.

Why it lands — The text establishes that Ahab’s pursuit is exhaustive and legally enforced, not merely a royal threat. It asks the reader to confront the practical danger of obedience when state power mobilizes to silence a prophet.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.

Cross-references

1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
1 Samuel 29:6 So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and it seems right in my sight that you should march in and out with me in the army, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until this day. But you are not good in the sight of the leaders.
1 Kings 1:29 And the king swore an oath, saying, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,
1 Kings 2:24 And now, as surely as the LORD lives—the One who established me, who set me on the throne of my father David, and who founded for me a dynasty as He promised—surely Adonijah shall be put to death today!”
1 Kings 17:5 So Elijah did what the LORD had told him, and he went and lived by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan.
1 Kings 17:9 “Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
1 Kings 17:12 But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”
1 Kings 18:15 Then Elijah said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will present myself to Ahab today.”
Psalms 10:2 In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
Psalms 12:7 You, O LORD, will keep us; You will forever guard us from this generation.