Bible Strands
1 Kings 18:36
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elijah the prophet speaks to Yahweh at the time of the evening sacrifice, immediately after the altar was drenched with water and in direct contrast to the prophets of Baal who raved all day without response (1 Kings 18:29, 35).
The words — גשׁ (gash, H5066) means "he drew near," a physical approach to the altar; נָבוֹא (nāḇîʾ, H5030) is the title "prophet" attached to Elijah here, setting him against the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.
The thread — The formula "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel" echoes Exodus 3:6, where God identifies Himself to Moses as the God of the patriarchs; 2 Kings 19:19 carries the same underlying request — that the nations may know Yahweh alone is God.
Why it lands — Elijah does not ask for a sign for himself but for the people's recognition: "let it be known this day that You are God in Israel." The servant-claim ("I am Your servant") is subordinate to the divine claim, and the whole prayer is a request for the audience to see correctly, not for spectacle.
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 it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 18:29 Midday passed, and they kept on raving until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered, no one paid attention.
- Exodus 3:6 Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
- 2 Kings 19:19 And now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
- 1 Kings 8:43 then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and they will know that this house I have built is called by Your Name.
- Matthew 22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
- Psalms 83:18 May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
- Exodus 3:15 God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.
- Numbers 16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing:
- Ezekiel 36:23 I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.
- Daniel 8:13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long until the fulfillment of the vision of the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?”