1 Kings 19:9

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?

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?

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 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? ¹⁰ And he answered: With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they have thrown down thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away. ¹¹ And he said to him: Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord: and behold the Lord passeth, and a great and strong wind before the Lord, overthrowing the mountains, and breaking the rocks in pieces: but the Lord is not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: but the Lord is not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake, a fire: but the Lord is not in the fire. And after the fire, a whistling of a gentle air. ¹³ And when Elias heard it, he covered his face with his mantle, and coming forth, stood in the entering in of the cave, and behold a voice unto him, saying: What dost thou here, Elias? And he answered: ¹⁴ With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they have destroyed thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away. ¹⁵ And the Lord said to him: Go, and return on thy way, through the desert, to Damascus: and when thou art come thither, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; ¹⁶ And thou shalt anoint Jehu, the son of Namsi, to be king over Israel: and Eliseus, the son of Saphat, of Abelmeula, thou shalt anoint to be prophet in thy room. ¹⁷ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall escape the sword of Hazael, shall be slain by Jehu: and whosoever shall escape the sword of Jehu, shall be slain by Eliseus. ¹⁸ And I will leave me seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees have not been bowed before Baal, and every mouth that hath not worshipped him, kissing the hands.

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 he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed.

Genesis 13:12
Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan: and Lot abode in the towns, that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

Genesis 19:7
Do not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.

Genesis 19:8
I have two daughters who, as yet, have not known man; I will bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the shadow of my roof.

Genesis 19:19
Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I die.

Genesis 19:22
Make haste, and be saved there: because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.

Genesis 19:26
And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt.

Genesis 19:28
He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.

Exodus 2:14
But he answered: Who hath appointed thee prince and judge over us? wilt thou kill me, as thou didst yesterday kill the Egyptian? Moses feared, and said: How is this come to be known?

1 Samuel 2:16
And he that sacrificed said to him: Let the fat first be burnt to day, according to the custom, and then take to thee as much as thy soul desireth. But he answered, and said to him: Not so: but thou shalt give it me now, or else 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?