Bible Strands
1 Kings 18:31
And Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come and said, “Israel shall be your name.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elijah addresses the assembled people and physically restores the torn-down altar of the LORD at the moment of prophetic confrontation. The text records him taking twelve stones to rebuild the structure after calling the crowd to approach him.
The words — וַ/יִּקַּ֣ח (va/i.yi.Kach) translates literally as "and he took," marking the initiated action of gathering materials. אֲבָנִ֔ים ('a.va.Nim) means "stones," the specific physical objects used for the reconstruction.
The thread — The twelve stones correspond to the tribes of Jacob, echoing the divine renaming in Genesis 32:28 and Genesis 35:10 where Jacob becomes Israel. This tribal structure contrasts with the syncretistic worship condemned in 2 Kings 17:34.
Why it lands — The text states that covenant identity is tied to a physical restoration matching the original tribal count. It asks the reader to align communal practice with established scriptural boundaries rather than inherited customs.
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 took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 17:34 To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel.
- Genesis 32:28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
- Genesis 35:10 And God said to him, “Though your name is Jacob, you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel.” So God named him Israel.
- Joshua 4:3 and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”
- Joshua 4:20 And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.
- Genesis 33:20 There he set up an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
- Exodus 24:4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Ezra 6:17 For the dedication of the house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and a sin offering for all Israel of twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel.
- Isaiah 48:1 “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—
- Jeremiah 31:1 “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”