1 Kings 18:6 (ASV)

Passage

So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:4 for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

1 Kings 18:5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go through the land, unto all the fountains of water, and unto all the brooks: peradventure we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

1 Kings 18:6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

1 Kings 18:7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it thou, my lord Elijah?

1 Kings 18:8 And he answered him, It is I: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah [is here].

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "divided", "land", "between", "pass", "throughout", "ahab", "went", and "himself". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "divided" and "land", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And Ahab said unto Obadiah Go through..." into verse 7's "And as Obadiah was in the way...", so "divided" and "land" 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 "divided" and "land" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.