1 Kings 18:25

1 Kings 18:25

And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

a. ASV: And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under.

b. YLT: And Elijah saith to the prophets of Baal, 'Choose for you the one bullock, and prepare first, for ye are the multitude, and call ye in the name of your god, and place no fire.'

c. Amplified Bible Classic: Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bull for yourselves and dress it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.

d. Septuagint: And Eliu said to the prophets of shame, Choose to yourselves one calf, and dress it first, for ye [are] many; and call ye on the name of your god; but apply no fire.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Elijah said to the prophets of the Baal, “Choose for yourselves theone bull and prepare it first, for you are the many, and call out in the name of your god, but do not apply fire.

1. “And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal…”

a. “[And] Elijah [Strong: 452 ʼÊlîyâh, ay-lee yaw'; or prolonged אֵלִיָּהוּ ʼÊlîyâhûw; from H410 and H3050; God of Jehovah; Elijah, the name of the famous prophet and of two other Israelites:—Elijah, Eliah.]

b. said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, ×expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

c. [to the] prophets [Strong: 5030 nâbîyʼ, naw-bee'; from H5012; a prophet or (generally) inspired man:—prophecy, that prophesy, prophet.]

d. [of] Baal [Strong: 1168 Baʻal, bah'-al; the same as H1167; Baal, a Phoenician deity:—Baal, (plural) Baalim.]

2. “...Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first…”

a. Choose [Strong: 977 bâchar, baw-khar'; a primitive root; properly, to try, i.e. (by implication) select:—acceptable, appoint, choose (choice), excellent, join, be rather, require.

b. [you] one [Strong: 259 ʼechâd, ekh-awd'; a numeral from H258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first:—a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-) ly, each (one), eleven, every, few, first, highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together,]

c. bullock [for yourselves] [Strong: 6499 par, par; or פָּר pâr; from H6565; + a bullock (apparently as breaking forth in wild strength, or perhaps as dividing the hoof):—(+ young) bull(-ock), calf, ox.]

d. [and] dress it [Strong: 6213 ʻâsâh, aw-saw'; a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application:—accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, ×sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

e. first [Strong: 7223 riʼshôwn, ree-shone'; or רִאשֹׁן riʼshôn; from H7221; first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun):—ancestor, (that were) before(-time), beginning, eldest, first, fore(-father) (-most), former (thing), of old time, past.]

3. “...for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.”

a. for [Strong: 3588 kiy kee a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:--and, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-)as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al- )though, + till, truly, + until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

b. you [Strong: 859 'attah at-taw' or (shortened); aatta {at-taw'}; or wath {ath}; feminine (irregular) sometimes nattiy {at-tee'}; plural masculine attem {at- tem'}; feminine atten {at-ten'}; or oattenah {at-tay'naw}; or fattennah {at-tane'-naw}; a primitive pronoun of the second person; thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you:--thee, thou, ye, you.]

c. [are] many [Strong: 7227 rab, rab; by contracted from H7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality):—(in) abound(-undance, -ant, -antly), captain, elder, enough, exceedingly, full, great(-ly, man, one), increase, long (enough, (time)), (do, have) many(-ifold, things, a time), (ship-)master, mighty, more, (too, very) much, multiply(-tude), officer, often(-times), plenteous, populous, prince, process (of time), suffice(-lent).]

d. [and] call [Strong: 7121 qârâʼ, kaw-raw'; a primitive root (rather identical with H7122 through the idea of accosting a person met); to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications):—bewray (self), that are bidden, call (for, forth, self, upon), cry (unto), (be) famous, guest, invite, mention, (give) name, preach, (make) proclaim(-ation), pronounce, publish, read, renowned, say.]

e. [on the] name [Strong: 8034 shêm, shame; a primitive word [perhaps rather from H7760 through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; compare H8064]; an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character:—+ base, (in-) fame(-ous), named(-d), renown, report.]

f. [of your] gods [Strong: 430 ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.]

g. [but] put [Strong: 7760 sûwm, soom; or שִׂים sîym; a primitive root; to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically):—× any wise, appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, name, × on, ordain, order, paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), regard, rehearse, reward, (cause to) set (on, up), shew, stedfastly, take, × tell, tread down, (over-)turn, × wholly, work.]

h. no [Strong: 3808 lo' lo or lowi {lo}; or loh (Deut. 3:11) {lo}; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

i. fire [under] [784 ʼêsh, aysh; a primitive word; fire (literally or figuratively):—burning, fiery, fire, flaming, hot.]

1). The challenge was directed by God.

a). a). 1 Kings 18:36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.