After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice.
Parallel translations
- KJV And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
- BSB After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice.
- NKJV and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
- NASB And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of a gentle blowing.
- NLT And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.
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
After the fire comes a still small voice, and there God meets Elijah. The Lord speaks in quietness rather than spectacle.
Overview
The "still small voice" (a low whisper) shows that God often works not in dramatic power but in quiet, personal communion. The contrast may correct Elijah's longing for another grand display and teach him that God's kingdom advances by His word as much as by mighty acts. It reassures the discouraged that God draws near in gentleness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Job 4:16It stood still, but I couldn’t discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,
- Zech 4:6Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, “This is Yahweh’s word to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says Yahweh of Armies.
- Deut 4:33Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
- Deut 4:11–12You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
- Exod 34:6Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,
- Job 33:7Behold, my terror shall not make you afraid, neither shall my pressure be heavy on you.
- Gen 15:17It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
- Exod 3:2Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
- Heb 12:29for our God is a consuming fire.
- Acts 2:2Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
- 2 Kgs 2:11As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
- Acts 2:36–37“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
- 2 Kgs 1:10Elijah answered to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty!” Then fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.
- 1 Kgs 18:38Then Yahweh’s fire fell, and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 19:12 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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