1 Kings 19 · Verse 9

1 Kings 19:9

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?
1 Kings 19:9, King James Version

1 Kings 19:9 in other translations

BSBThere Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
WEBHe came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, the LORD’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
ASVAnd 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?
YLTAnd 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?'
DARBYAnd there he went into a cave, and lodged there. And behold, the word of Jehovah came to him, and he said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
BBEAnd there he went into a hole in the rock for the night; then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, What are you doing here, Elijah?
WebsterAnd 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?

What does 1 Kings 19:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 19:4-18

4-18. went a day's journey into the wilderness--on the way from Beer-sheba to Horeb--a wide expanse of sand hills, covered with the retem (not juniper, but broom shrubs), whose tall and spreading branches, with their white leaves, afford a very cheering and refreshing shade. His gracious God did not lose sight of His fugitive servant, but watched over him, and, miraculously ministering to his wants, enabled him, in…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 19:4-18 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 He came thither unto a cave - Conjectured by some to be the same cave in which God put Moses that he might give him a glimpse of his glory. See Exo 33:22. What doest thou here, Elijah? - Is this a reproach for having fled from the face of Jezebel, through what some call unbelieving fears, that God would abandon him to her rage?

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Kings 19:9-13
The question God put, What doest thou here, Elijah? is a reproof. It concerns us often to ask whether we are in our place, and in the way of our duty. Am I where I should be? whither God calls me, where my business lies, and where I may be useful? He complained of the people, and their obstinacy in sin; I only am left. Despair of success hinders many a good enterprise. Did Elijah come hither to meet with God? he shall find that God will meet him. The wind, and earthquake, and fire, did not make him cover his face, but the still voice did. Gracious souls are more affected by the tender mercies of the Lord, than by his terrors. The mild voice of Him who speaks from the cross, or the mercy-seat, is accompanied with peculiar power in taking possession of the heart.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

1 Kings 19:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיָּבֹא\־vai.ya.vo'-and he wentH935
שָׁ֥םshamthereH8033
אֶל\־'el-intoH413
הַמְּעָרָ֖הha.me.'a.Rahthe caveH4631
וַיָּ֣לֶןvai.Ya.lenand he spent [the] nightH3885
שָׁ֑םShamthereH8033
וְהִנֵּ֤הve.hi.Nehand there!H2009
דְבַר\־de.var-[the] word ofH1697
יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahwehH3068
אֵלָ֔יו'e.Lav[was] to himH413
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
ל֔וֹloto him
מַה\־mah-what?H4100
לְּךָ֥le.Kha[is] to you
פֹ֖הfohhereH6311
אֵלִיָּֽהוּ\׃'e.li.Ya.huO ElijahH452

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Kings 19:9

  • Genesis 3:9

    And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art 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?

  • Jeremiah 2:18

    And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

  • 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.

  • Exodus 33:21-22

    And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

  • 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.

  • Jonah 1:3-4

    But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

  • 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.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
unto a cave.
Ex 33:21,22; Jer 9:2; Heb 11:38
What doest thou.
13; Ge 3:9; 16:8; Jer 2:18; Jon 1:3,4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Kings 19:8

    And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

  • 1 Kings 19:9

    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?

  • 1 Kings 19:10

    And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Read all of 1 Kings 19

1 Kings 19:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y allí se metió en una cueva, donde tuvo la noche. Y fué á él palabra de Jehová, el cual le dijo: ¿Qué haces aquí, Elías?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et là, il entra dans la caverne, et y passa la nuit. Et voici, la parole de l’ Éternel vint à lui et lui dit: Que fais-tu ici, Élie?
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und er ging daselbst in die Höhle und übernachtete daselbst. Und siehe, das Wort Jehovas geschah zu ihm, und er sprach zu ihm: Was tust du hier, Elia?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Cumque venisset illuc, mansit in spelunca: et ecce sermo Domini ad eum, dixitque illi: Quid hic agis, Elia?