1 Kings 18:10 (LSB)

Passage

As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and if they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:8 And he said to him, “It is I. Go, say to your master, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’”

1 Kings 18:9 And he said, “What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death?

1 Kings 18:10 As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and if they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.

1 Kings 18:11 And now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your master, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’

1 Kings 18:12 And it will be that when I leave you, the Spirit of Yahweh will carry you where I do not know; and I will come and tell Ahab, and he will not find you, and he will kill me, although I your servant have feared Yahweh from my youth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "yahweh", "lives", "nation", "kingdom", "where", "master", "sent", and "search". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "yahweh" and "lives", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "And he said What sin have I..." into verse 11's "And now you are saying Go say...", so "yahweh" and "lives" 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 "yahweh" and "lives" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.