1 Kings 19:17 (DRB)

Passage

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall escape the sword of Hazael, shall be slain by Jehu: and whosoever shall escape the sword of Jehu, shall be slain by Eliseus.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 19:15 And the Lord said to him: Go, and return on thy way, through the desert, to Damascus: and when thou art come thither, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;

1 Kings 19:16 And thou shalt anoint Jehu, the son of Namsi, to be king over Israel: and Eliseus, the son of Saphat, of Abelmeula, thou shalt anoint to be prophet in thy room.

1 Kings 19:17 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall escape the sword of Hazael, shall be slain by Jehu: and whosoever shall escape the sword of Jehu, shall be slain by Eliseus.

1 Kings 19:18 And I will leave me seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees have not been bowed before Baal, and every mouth that hath not worshipped him, kissing the hands.

1 Kings 19:19 And Elias departing from thence, found Eliseus, the son of Saphat, ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen: and he was one of them that were ploughing with, twelve yoke of oxen: and when Elias came up to him, he cast his mantle upon him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "come", "pass", "whosoever", "escape", "sword", and "hazael". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "come", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "And thou shalt anoint Jehu the son..." into verse 18's "And I will leave me seven thousand...", so "shall" and "come" 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 "shall" and "come" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.