1 Kings 18:40 (ASV)

Passage

and Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

1 Kings 18:39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God.

1 Kings 18:40 and Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

1 Kings 18:41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.

1 Kings 18:42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "elijah", "said", "take", "prophets", "baal", "escape", and "took". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "elijah" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 39's "And when all the people saw it..." into verse 41's "And Elijah said unto Ahab Get thee...", so "elijah" and "said" belong inside that flow. In 1 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "elijah" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.