1 Kings 18:42 (DBY)

Passage

And Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed down on the earth, and put his face between his knees.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:40 And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape! And they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the torrent of Kishon, and slaughtered them there.

1 Kings 18:41 And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

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

1 Kings 18:43 And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

1 Kings 18:44 And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Harness and go down, that the pour of rain stop thee not.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ahab", "went", "drink", "elijah", "carmel", "bowed", and "down". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ahab" and "went", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 41's "And Elijah said to Ahab Go up..." into verse 43's "And he said to his servant Go...", so "ahab" and "went" 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 "ahab" and "went" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.