1 Kings 19:9
New International Version
There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

New Living Translation
There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the LORD said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

English Standard Version
There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Berean Standard Bible
There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

King James Bible
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

New King James Version
And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

New American Standard Bible
Then he came there to a cave and spent the night there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

NASB 1995
Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

NASB 1977
Then he came there to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Amplified Bible
There he came to a cave and spent the night in it; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Christian Standard Bible
He entered a cave there and spent the night. Suddenly, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He entered a cave there and spent the night. Then the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

American Standard Version
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he entered there a cave, and he spent the night there, and the word of LORD JEHOVAH came upon him, and he said to him: “What are you doing here, Elyah?”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he entered there into a cave, and rested there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said, What doest thou here, Eliu?

Contemporary English Version
and he spent the night there in a cave. While Elijah was on Mount Sinai, the LORD asked, "Elijah, why are you here?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when he was come thither, he abode in a cave: and behold the word of the Lord came unto him, and he said to him: What dost thou here, Elias?

English Revised Version
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
There he went into a cave and spent the night. Then the LORD spoke his word to Elijah. He asked, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Good News Translation
There he went into a cave to spend the night. Suddenly the LORD spoke to him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"

International Standard Version
Elijah arrived at a cave and stayed there. All of a sudden this message came from the LORD: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said unto him: 'What doest thou here, Elijah?'

Literal Standard Version
And he comes in there, to the cave, and lodges there, and behold, the word of YHWH [is] to him, and says to him, “What are you [doing] here, Elijah?”

Majority Standard Bible
There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

New American Bible
There he came to a cave, where he took shelter. But the word of the LORD came to him: Why are you here, Elijah?

NET Bible
He went into a cave there and spent the night. All of a sudden the LORD spoke to him, "Why are you here, Elijah?"

New Revised Standard Version
At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

New Heart English Bible
And there he came to a cave and lodged there; and look, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And he came thither to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

World English Bible
He came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Young's Literal Translation
And he cometh in there, unto the cave, and lodgeth there, and lo, the word of Jehovah is unto him, and saith to him, 'What -- to thee, here, Elijah?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The LORD Speaks to Elijah at Horeb
9There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”…

Cross References
Hebrews 11:38
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.

Genesis 16:8
"Hagar, servant of Sarai," he said, "where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I am running away from my mistress Sarai," she replied.

Exodus 33:21
The LORD continued, "There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock,

Exodus 33:22
and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

1 Kings 19:13
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Jonah 4:5
Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.


Treasury of Scripture

And he came thither to a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, What do you here, Elijah?

unto a cave

Exodus 33:21,22
And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: …

Jeremiah 9:2
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

Hebrews 11:38
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

What does thou

1 Kings 19:13
And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

Genesis 3:9
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Genesis 16:8
And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

Jump to Previous
Cave Elijah Eli'jah Hole Lodged Night Rock Spent Thither Word
Jump to Next
Cave Elijah Eli'jah Hole Lodged Night Rock Spent Thither Word
1 Kings 19
1. Elijah, threatened by Jezebel, flees to Beersheba
4. In the desert, being weary of his life, he is comforted by an angel
9. At Horeb God appears unto him, sending him to anoint Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha
19. Elisha, taking leave of his friends, follows Elijah














(9) A cave.--This is properly, "the cave"--perhaps a reference to some cave already well known, as connected with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, or perhaps only an anticipatory reference to the cave which Elijah's sojourn was to make famous.

The word of the Lord came to him.--The connection suggests that this message came to him in vision or dream at night. The LXX. implies this distinctly by inserting in 1Kings 19:11 the word "to-morrow," which is also found in the rather vague and prosaic paraphrase of the passage in Josephus. What Elijah replies in imagination in the vision, he repeats next day in actual words.

Verse 9. - And he came thither unto a cave [Heb. the cave. LXX. τὸ σπήλαιον. Many commentators identify this with "the cliff of the rock" where Moses was concealed while the Lord "passed by" (Exodus 33:22), and the use of the same word, עבֵר in ver. 11 certainly favours this view. But is it clear that the clift (נִקְרָה fissure) was a cave? Ewald understands "the cave in which at that time travellers to Sinai commonly rested." It is perhaps worth remembering that a part of the desert, though at some distance from Horeb; boars at this day the name of Magharah, or cave. But there is a "narrow fret" pointed out by tradition as the abode of Elijah, on the side of Jebol Muss. "There is nothing to confirm, but there is nothing to contradict, the belief that it may have been in that secluded basin, which has long been pointed out as the spot No scene could be more suitable for the vision which follows" (Stanley). There is, however, one formidable difficulty in the way of this identification, viz., that the cave is only just large enough for a man's body, which does not agree with ver. 18], and lodged [לוּן means strictly to pass the night. It is possibly connected radically with לַיְלָה] there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him [Not "in vision as he slept" (Rawlinson). He could not "go forth" in his sleep. That he was to go forth "on the morrow" is equally unlikely see ver. 11, note], and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? [Many writers, Bahr and Keil among them, will not allow that there is aught of reproof in this question, or that Elijah had in any way erred in his hasty flight. The former asks how it comes to pass that the angel, instead of reproving him, succoured and strengthened him (vers. 6, 7), if he was acting in faithlessness or disobedience. But surely it does not follow that God denies all grace and sustenance to His elect servants even if they do, in a moment of despair, forget or distrust Him. Elijah may have been strengthened for this very journey, Because God would meet with him and teach him the lessons of patience and trust he needed to learn, at the "mount of God" itself. And his answer, especially when contrasted with that of ver. 14 (where see note), certainly betrays, not only irritation and despair, but a "carnal zeal which would gladly have called down the vengeance of the Almighty upon all idolaters" (Keil). The question in itself, it is true, does not necessarily impart censure - it might merely mean, "What wouldst thou learn of me?" But when it is remembered that the prophet had been sent to every other destination by the "word of the Lord," and that he had left Jezreel without any such word - left it in terror and bitter disappointment and sheer distrust of God - it does look as if the words conveyed a gentle reminder that he had deserted the post of duty, and had no right to be there. So Clerieus, "Quasi Deus diceret nihil esse Eliae negotii in solitudine, sed potius in locis habitatis, ut illic homies ad veri Dei cultum adduceret."]

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
There
שָׁ֑ם (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

Elijah entered
וַיָּבֹא־ (way·yā·ḇō-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

a cave
הַמְּעָרָ֖ה (ham·mə·‘ā·rāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4631: A cavern

and spent the night.
וַיָּ֣לֶן (way·yā·len)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3885: To stop, to stay permanently, to be obstinate

And the word
דְבַר־ (ḏə·ḇar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

of the LORD
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

came to him,
אֵלָ֔יו (’ê·lāw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

saying,
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“What
מַה־ (mah-)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

are you doing here,
פֹ֖ה (p̄ōh)
Adverb
Strong's 6311: This place, here

Elijah?”
אֵלִיָּֽהוּ׃ (’ê·lî·yā·hū)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 452: Elijah -- 'Yah is God', a well-known prophet of Israel, also three other Israelites


Links
1 Kings 19:9 NIV
1 Kings 19:9 NLT
1 Kings 19:9 ESV
1 Kings 19:9 NASB
1 Kings 19:9 KJV

1 Kings 19:9 BibleApps.com
1 Kings 19:9 Biblia Paralela
1 Kings 19:9 Chinese Bible
1 Kings 19:9 French Bible
1 Kings 19:9 Catholic Bible

OT History: 1 Kings 19:9 He came there to a cave (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg)
1 Kings 19:8
Top of Page
Top of Page