And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel.
Parallel translations
- WEB In a little while, the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
- KJV And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
- BSB Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
- NKJV Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
- NASB Meanwhile the sky became dark with clouds and wind came up, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The sky blackens, a great rain falls, and Ahab rides to Jezreel. The drought decisively ends with abundant rain.
Overview
The heavy rain confirms that Yahweh, not Baal, controls the rain and the harvest, the very domain Baal was thought to govern. God's mercy floods the land that had been parched under judgment. The complete reversal of the drought seals the lesson that life and provision come from the Lord alone.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Josh 19:18Their border was to Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,
- Josh 17:16The children of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. All the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth Shean and its towns, and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.”
- 1 Kgs 21:23Yahweh also spoke of Jezebel, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
- 1 Kgs 21:1After these things, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
- 2 Kgs 9:16So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.
- 2 Sam 21:14They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer for the land.
- 1 Kgs 18:39–40When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”
- Num 25:8He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
- 2 Sam 2:9and he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 18:45 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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