1 Kings 18:10 (YLT)

Passage

Jehovah thy God liveth, if there is a nation and kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; and they said, He is not, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear, that it doth not find thee;

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:8 And he saith to him, `I <FI>am<Fi> ; go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah.'

1 Kings 18:9 And he saith, `What have I sinned, that thou art giving thy servant into the hand of Ahab--to put me to death?

1 Kings 18:10 Jehovah thy God liveth, if there is a nation and kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee; and they said, He is not, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear, that it doth not find thee;

1 Kings 18:11 and now, thou art saying, Go, say to thy lord, Lo, Elijah;

1 Kings 18:12 and it hath been, I go from thee, and the Spirit of Jehovah doth lift thee up, whither I know not, and I have come to declare to Ahab, and he doth not find thee, and he hath slain me; and thy servant is fearing Jehovah from my youth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "liveth", "nation", "kingdom", "whither", "lord", "hath", and "sent". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "liveth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "And he saith What have I sinned..." into verse 11's "and now thou art saying Go say...", so "jehovah" and "liveth" 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 "jehovah" and "liveth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.