Bible Strands
1 Kings 18:33
Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, placed it on the wood,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elijah acts before the assembled people and the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, positioning the sacrificial bull on the altar he just constructed.
The words — The text foregrounds וַֽ/יַּעֲרֹ֖ךְ (va/i.ya.'a.Rokh), literally "and he arranged," which records the deliberate layering of the wood to receive the sacrifice.
The thread — This ritual preparation parallels Abraham’s ordering of wood in Genesis 22:9 and follows the butchering command in Leviticus 1:6.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to recognize that worship demands concrete, orderly preparation before any appeal to divine power can occur.
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 he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
Cross-references
- Genesis 22:9 When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood.
- Leviticus 1:6 Next, he is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.
- Judges 6:20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
- Daniel 3:19 At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,
- Daniel 3:25 “Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”
- John 11:39 “Take away the stone,” Jesus said. “Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.”
- John 19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.