When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight.
- KJV And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.
- NKJV So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord:
- NASB Then Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, enemy of mine?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have given yourself over to do evil in the sight of the Lord.
- NLT “So, my enemy, you have found me!” Ahab exclaimed to Elijah. “Yes,” Elijah answered, “I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the Lord’s sight.
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
Ahab calls Elijah his enemy, and Elijah replies that Ahab has sold himself to do evil. The king resents the prophet rather than his own sin.
Overview
Ahab greets Elijah with hostility, naming him his enemy, while Elijah declares that Ahab has given himself over to evil in the Lord's sight. The phrase sold yourself pictures a man enslaved to wickedness, having surrendered his will to sin. Ahab's enmity toward the prophet reveals that he hates the truth more than he hates his guilt, a self-condemning posture before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 2 Kgs 17:17They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Rom 7:14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
- 1 Kgs 21:25(Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.
- 1 Kgs 18:17When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
- Isa 52:3For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.”
- Rev 11:10And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
- 1 Kgs 22:8The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
- 2 Kgs 21:2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
- Eph 4:19Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.
- Gal 4:16Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
- Isa 50:1This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
- 2 Chr 18:7The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
- 2 Chr 18:17Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he never prophesies good for me, but only bad?”
- 2 Chr 33:6He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- Mark 12:12At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away.
- 1 Kgs 16:30However, Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.
- Amos 5:10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
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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 21:20 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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