Bible Strands
1 Kings 18:21
Then Elijah approached all 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 did not answer a word.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elijah addresses the assembled Israelites and prophets at Mount Carmel immediately after Ahab gathers them for a confrontation. He stands before the crowd to demand a decisive religious allegiance.
The words — The phrase עַד־ מָתַי (‘ad- māṯay) literally translates to “until when?” and marks the opening challenge to the crowd’s prolonged hesitation. וַיִּגַּשׁ (wayyiḡgaš), “and he drew near,” describes Elijah’s physical approach to the people before speaking.
The thread — This demand for exclusive loyalty echoes Joshua 24:15, where Israel must choose whom to serve, and Matthew 6:24, which states no one can serve two masters. Paul reinforces the same boundary in 1 Corinthians 10:21 by contrasting the Lord’s cup with the cup of demons.
Why it lands — The text presents a direct choice between following the LORD or Baal and records that the people did not answer a word. It requires the reader to recognize that prolonged indecision is itself a refusal and demands a clear, unambiguous commitment to one authority.
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
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Cross-references
- Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
- Joshua 24:15 But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
- 1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- 1 Samuel 7:3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
- 2 Kings 17:41 So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.
- Revelation 3:15 I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other!
- Zephaniah 1:5 those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,
- Deuteronomy 4:35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.
- Psalms 100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.