1 Kings 19:9

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?"

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?"

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?

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

⁹And 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?"¹⁰And he says, "I have been very zealous for YHWH, God of Hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant—they have thrown down Your altars, and they have slain Your prophets by the sword, and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my life—to take it." ¹¹And He says, "Go out, and you have stood on the mountain before YHWH." And behold, YHWH is passing by, and a wind—great and strong—is tearing mountains, and shattering rocks before YHWH, [but] YHWH [is] not in the wind; and after the wind [is] a shaking, [but] YHWH [is] not in the shaking; ¹²and after the shaking [is] a fire, [but] YHWH [is] not in the fire; and after the fire [is] a voice [like] a small whisper; ¹³and it comes to pass, at Elijah's hearing [it], that he wraps his face in his robe, and goes out, and stands at the opening of the cave, and behold, a voice [speaks] to him, and it says, "What are you [doing] here, Elijah?" ¹⁴And he says, "I have been very zealous for YHWH, God of Hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, they have thrown down Your altars, and they have slain Your prophets by the sword, and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my life—to take it." ¹⁵And YHWH says to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and you have gone in, and anointed Hazael for king over Aram, ¹⁶and you anoint Jehu son of Nimshi for king over Israel, and you anoint Elisha son of Shaphat, of Abel-Meholah, for prophet in your stead. ¹⁷And it has been, he who has escaped from the sword of Hazael, Jehu puts to death, and he who has escaped from the sword of Jehu, Elisha puts to death; ¹⁸and I have left in Israel seven thousand—all the knees that have not bowed to Ba‘al, and every mouth that has 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 YHWH says, "Behold, the people [is] one, and one language [is] to them all, and this it has dreamed of doing; and now, nothing is restrained from them of that which they have purposed to do.

Genesis 13:12
Abram has dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot has dwelt in the cities of the circuit, and moves [his] tent to Sodom;

Genesis 19:7
and says, "Please, my brothers, do not do evil;

Genesis 19:8
now behold, I have two daughters who have not known anyone; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them as [is] good in your eyes; only do nothing to these men, for therefore they have come in within the shadow of my roof."

Genesis 19:19
now behold, your servant has found grace in your eyes, and you make great your kindness which you have done with me by saving my life, and I am unable to escape to the mountain, lest the evil cleave [to] me and I have died;

Genesis 19:22
hurry, escape there, for I am not able to do anything until your entering there"; therefore he calls the name of the city Zoar.

Genesis 19:26
And his wife looks from behind him, and she becomes a pillar of salt!

Genesis 19:28
and he looks on the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and on all the face of the land of the circuit, and sees, and behold, the smoke of the land went up as smoke of the furnace.

Exodus 2:14
And he says, "Who set you for a head and judge over us? Are you saying [it] to slay me as you have slain the Egyptian?" And Moses fears and says, "Surely the thing has been known."

1 Samuel 2:16
and the man says to him, "Let them surely make incense with the fat according to the [custom] today, then take to yourself as your soul desires"; and he has said to him, "Surely you give now; and if not—I have taken by strength."

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?