Bible Strands
1 Kings 19:5
Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elijah has fled into the wilderness and collapsed under a broom tree after praying for death. An angel speaks to the exhausted prophet, commanding him to rise and eat.
The words — The text records וַ/יִּשְׁכַּב (va/i.yish.Kav), meaning "and he lay down," and מַלְאָךְ (mal.'oKh), meaning "an angel," to document the prophet’s physical exhaustion and the messenger’s direct intervention.
The thread — This sequence of angelic presence and provision runs through Psalms 34:7, where the angel encamps around those who fear the Lord, and Acts 12:7, where the angel physically rouses Peter for deliverance.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that bodily sustenance is the necessary prerequisite for continued obedience, demanding acceptance of divine provision without requiring immediate emotional or spiritual resolution.
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 as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
Cross-references
- Psalms 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.
- Acts 12:7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.
- Genesis 28:11 On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
- Psalms 34:10 Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
- Daniel 8:19 and said, “Behold, I will make known to you what will happen in the latter time of wrath, because it concerns the appointed time of the end.
- Daniel 9:21 while I was still praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
- Daniel 10:9 I heard the sound of his words, and as I listened, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.
- Hebrews 1:14 Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
- Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”