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 19:12 And after the earthquake, a fire: Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a soft gentle voice.
1 Kings 19:13 And it came to pass, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice [came] to him and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
1 Kings 19:14 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 19:15 And Jehovah said to him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when thou comest, anoint Hazael king over Syria;
1 Kings 19:16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint prophet in thy stead.
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 13's "And it came to pass when Elijah..." into verse 15's "And Jehovah said to him Go return...", 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.