Melakhim I Chapter 19 | Eliyahu at Chorev

Eliyahu demonstrated with great signs and wonders that God is the Almighty. The entire nation declared that Eliyahu was right. Achav returns home and tells his wife, Izevel, about the events on Mount Carmel. In response, Izevel acts on her own, without even consulting Achav. She sends a messenger to Eliyahu, swearing that she will avenge the deaths of the prophets of Baal by killing Eliyahu and completing the destruction of God’s prophets. Two critical points emerge at the opening of this story:
1. Achav’s extreme passivity. At Mount Carmel, he did not oppose Eliyahu’s actions and appeared to accept their outcome. Now, he does not oppose Izevel’s actions. In fact, we see that Izevel is the one managing affairs in the kingdom of Israel.
2. The impressive scene at Mount Carmel did not achieve the results Eliyahu had hoped for.

At this point, Eliyahu breaks. The charismatic and powerful prophet we have come to know rises and flees for his life. He leaves his servant in Be’er Sheva and continues alone into the desert and wilderness. His retreat into the desert, leaving his servant behind, reflects his despair and his desire to abandon his role as a prophet. Indeed, he soon sits "under a solitary broom tree" and prays for death. This situation is very reminiscent of Yona, who rejects his prophetic role and says, "Death would be better than my life" (Yona 4:3). Eliyahu’s lament is: "I am no better than my ancestors" (19:4) — I have failed as a prophet, and there is no longer any point in continuing my mission on earth. However, the angel of God does not give up on Eliyahu. The verses show how, step by step, the angel restores Eliyahu to life (through food and drink) and later to a sense of mission ("The long journey will prove too much for you").

Eliyahu embarks on a forty-day journey, during which he does not eat or drink, and he arrives at the mountain of God, Chorev. These two simple facts are enough to immediately evoke in our minds the image of Moshe Rabbeinu, to whom this upcoming scene draws many parallels. God asks Eliyahu: “What are you doing here?” In Eliyahu’s response (which echoes expressions from the Mount Carmel episode), two key points stand out:
1. A sharp accusation against Israel and Eliyahu’s zeal for God’s name.
2. A focus on Eliyahu himself: "And they seek to take my life."

Chazal noted these two points as the basis for the disagreement between Eliyahu and God:

“He said: I have been zealous for the Lord, God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘My covenant; is it perhaps your covenant?’ ‘They have destroyed Your altars,’ He said to him: ‘My altars; are they perhaps your altars?’ ‘And killed Your prophets by sword,’ He said to him: ‘My prophets; why do you care?’ ‘I alone remain and they have sought my life, to take it.’… ‘And behold, near his head, a cake baked on coals [retzafim]’. What are retzafim? Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Ritzpa, rotz peh, smash the mouth of anyone who slandered My children” (Shir HaShirim Rabba 1:6).

God’s criticism of Eliyahu becomes clearer when comparing him to Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe, even in the gravest sins of the people, stood before God and pleaded for mercy on their behalf. In contrast, Eliyahu does the opposite — he emphasizes to God the need to punish the people and expresses despair over their spiritual state. After the revelation in which God teaches Eliyahu that He is not found in the noise (a reminder of the overwhelming grandeur of Mount Carmel and Eliyahu’s insistence on zeal) but rather in the still, small voice, Eliyahu repeats his claims, word for word, demonstrating that he has not learned the message. From here, it is a short path to the intended replacement of Eliyahu with Elisha later in the chapter. On the other hand, God seems to accept the essence of Eliyahu’s arguments, as the series of appointments Eliyahu is tasked with will bring a harsh punishment to Israel.

When Eliyahu goes to appoint Elisha, Elisha leaves his father and mother and runs after Eliyahu with enthusiasm. This closes the circle from the beginning of the chapter — Eliyahu, who had despaired of his prophetic role and declared, "I am no better than my fathers,” now returns to fulfill his mission with a charisma that inspires others to leave their fathers and follow him. Perhaps this is the arena in which the prophet can still operate, even in a time when most of the people worship idols: not through an all-encompassing, forceful correction of reality, but by finding the right people to work with and developing the next generation of prophets.