1 Kings 19:5 (ASV)

Passage

And he lay down and slept under a juniper-tree; and, behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 19:3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

1 Kings 19:4 But he himself went a day`s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper-tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Jehovah, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

1 Kings 19:5 And he lay down and slept under a juniper-tree; and, behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

1 Kings 19:6 And he looked, and, behold, there was at his head a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

1 Kings 19:7 And the angel of Jehovah came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "down", "slept", "under", "juniper-tree", "behold", "angel", "touched", and "said". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "down" and "slept", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "But he himself went a day s..." into verse 6's "And he looked and behold there was...", so "down" and "slept" 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 "down" and "slept" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.