Then he lay down and fell asleep under a broom tree; but behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat!”
Parallel translations
- WEB He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!”
- KJV And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
- BSB Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
- NKJV Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
- NLT Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!”
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
Elijah sleeps under the tree, and an angel wakes him with food. God meets his physical needs before addressing his despair.
Overview
Instead of rebuke, God sends an angel to provide rest and nourishment for His exhausted prophet. The Lord's first response to Elijah's burnout is gentle, practical care. This tender provision shows that God understands our frailty and ministers to body as well as soul, a kindness ultimately fulfilled in Christ's compassion for the weary.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Heb 13:5Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”
- Acts 12:7And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off from his hands.
- Ps 34:7Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
- Heb 1:14Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
- Dan 9:21yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.
- Gen 28:11–15He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.
- Dan 10:9–10Yet heard I the voice of his words; and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I fallen into a deep sleep on my face, with my face toward the ground.
- Ps 34:10The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
- Dan 8:19He said, Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.
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 19:5 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.