1 Kings 19:9

The Darby Translation

And 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?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He entered a cave there and spent the night.

Hebrew Names Version
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, Eliyah?

King James 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?

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?"

New Century Version
There Elijah went into a cave and stayed all night. Then the Lord spoke his word to him: "Elijah! Why are you here?"

New English Translation
He went into a cave there and spent the night. All of a sudden the Lord spoke to him, "Why are you 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?"

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?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And there he entred into a caue, & lodged there: and beholde, the Lorde spake to him, and said vnto him, What doest thou here, Eliiah?

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?"

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?"

Complete Jewish Bible
There he went into a cave and spent the night. Then the word of Adonai came to him; he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?"

Easy-to-Read Version
There Elijah went into a cave and spent the night. Then the Lord said to him, "Elijah, why are you here?"

George Lamsa Translation
And he entered into 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?

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?"

Lexham English Bible
He came to the cave there and spent the night there. Suddenly the word of Yahweh came to him and asked him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"

Literal Translation
And he came there to the cave, and lodged there; and behold, the Word of Jehovah came to him, and said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and there he came to a caue, and abode there all nighte. And beholde the worde of the LORDE came to him, and sayde vnto him: What doest thou here Elias?

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?

Bible in Basic English
And 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?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
When he came thyther vnto a caue, he lodged therein al night: And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and sayd vnto him: What doest thou here Elias?

JPS Old Testament (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?'

King James Version (1611)
And he came thither vnto a caue, and lodged there, and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said vnto him, What doest thou here, Eliiah?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
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?

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?

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?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne he hadde come thidur, he dwellide in a denne; and lo! the word of the Lord `was maad to him, and seide to hym, Elie, what doist thou here?

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?'

Update Bible Version
And he came there to a cave, and lodged there; and, look, the word of Yahweh 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 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?

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 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?"

New Life Bible
He came to a cave, and stayed there. The word of the Lord came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

New Revised Standard
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?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he entered, there, into a cave, and lodged there, - and lo! the word of Yahweh came unto him, and said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

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?

Revised Standard Version
And there he came 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, Eli'jah?"

New American Standard Bible (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?"

Contextual Overview

⁹ And 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? ¹⁰ And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the 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 am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away. ¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Jehovah. And behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Jehovah: Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: Jehovah was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake, a fire: Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a soft gentle voice. ¹³ And it came to pass, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice [came] to him and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? ¹⁴ And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the 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 am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away. ¹⁵ And Jehovah said to him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael king over Syria; ¹⁶ and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint prophet in thy stead. ¹⁷ And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. ¹⁸ Yet I have left [myself] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

unto a cave: Exodus 33:21, Exodus 33:22, Jeremiah 9:2, Hebrews 11:38

What doest thou: 1 Kings 19:13, Genesis 3:9, Genesis 16:8, Jeremiah 2:18, Jonah 1:3, Jonah 1:4

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 17:5 - did according 1 Kings 19:14 - I have been Proverbs 27:8 - man Jeremiah 37:12 - went Jonah 4:5 - Jonah Matthew 26:69 - Peter Mark 14:54 - and he John 18:18 - Peter

Cross-References

Genesis 11:6
And Jehovah said, Behold, the people is one, and have all one language; and this have they begun to do. And now will they be hindered in nothing that they meditate doing.

Genesis 13:12
Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan; and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched tents as far as Sodom.

Genesis 19:7
and said, I pray you, my brethren, do not wickedly!

Genesis 19:8
Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man: let me now bring them out to you; and do to them as is good in your sight: only, to these men do nothing; for therefore have they come under the shadow of my roof.

Genesis 19:19
behold now, thy servant has found favour in thine eyes, and thou hast magnified thy goodness, which thou hast shewn to me in preserving my soul alive; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest calamity lay hold on me, that I die.

Genesis 19:22
Haste, escape thither; for I cannot do anything until thou art come there. Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.

Genesis 19:26
And his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:28
and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, a smoke went up from the land as the smoke of a furnace.

Exodus 2:14
And he said, Who made thee ruler and judge over us? dost thou intend to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? Then Moses feared, and said, Surely the matter is known.

1 Samuel 2:16
If the man said to him, They will immediately burn the fat entire, then take as thy soul desires; he would say [to him], No, but thou shalt give [it] now; and if not, I will take [it] by force.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there,.... This cave, some travellers say u, is to be seen at this day, not far from a church dedicated to the prophet Elijah, and that the cave itself has the appearance of a chapel; but a more particular account of it is given in a journal w lately published, which says, this cave exists to this very day, and is situated at the foot of Mount Sinai, and is now enclosed in a church built of red and white granite marble, the entrance into which is from the west; the dimensions of this cave are in length five feet, in depth four feet, and in height four and a half. The Jewish writers are of opinion that this was the cleft of the rock in which Moses was put, when the Lord passed before him; but, if so, there would have been no need of Elijah to have gone forth to and stand upon the mount when the Lord passed by, 1 Kings 19:11,

and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him; an articulate voice was heard by him:

and he said unto him, what dost thou here, Elijah? this is not a proper place for a prophet to be in, in a wilderness, in a mountain, in a cave in it: what work could he do for God? or what service to his people? in the land of Israel he might bear his testimony against idolatry, and so be a means of reclaiming backsliders, and of establishing those that were in the true religion; but of what usefulness could he be here? Abarbinel takes it to be a reproof of Elijah, for going into a place so holy as it was, and in which Moses, the chief of the prophets, had been, and that it did not become such a man as he was to be in such a place.

u Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 2. p. 166. w Journal from Cairo to Mount Sinai in 1722, p. 26. Ed. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A cave - Rather, “the cave.” Some well-known cave must be intended - perhaps the “cliff of the rock” Exodus 33:22. The traditional “cave of Elijah” which is shown in the secluded plain immediately below the highest summit of the Jebel Mousa, cannot, from its small size, be the real cavern.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 19:9. 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 Exodus 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?