And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away.
1 Kings 19:8 And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
1 Kings 19:9 And there he went into a cave, and lodged there. And behold, the word of Jehovah [came] to him, and he said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
1 Kings 19:10 And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I am left, I alone, and they seek my life, to take it away.
1 Kings 19:11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before Jehovah. And behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Jehovah: Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: Jehovah was not in the earthquake.
1 Kings 19:12 And after the earthquake, a fire: Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a soft gentle voice.
The verse centers on "said", "been", "very", "jealous", "jehovah", "hosts", "children", and "israel". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "been", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 9's "And there he went into a cave..." into verse 11's "And he said Go forth and stand...", so "said" and "been" 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 "said" and "been" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.