Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Yahweh’s word came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”
Parallel Translations
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Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Yahweh’s word came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”
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And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
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And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying: 'Israel shall be thy name.'
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 18:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 17:34 To this day they do what they did before. They don’t fear Yahweh, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandment which Yahweh commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
- Genesis 32:28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
- Genesis 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel.” He named him Israel.
- Joshua 4:3-4 and command them, saying, ‘Take from out of the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you’ll camp tonight.’ ” Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, a man out of every tribe.
- Joshua 4:20 Joshua set up those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, in Gilgal.
- Genesis 33:20 He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.
- Exodus 24:4 Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Ezra 6:17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
- Isaiah 48:1 “Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah. You swear by Yahweh’s name, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness—
- Jeremiah 31:1 “At that time,” says Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”
- Ezekiel 37:16-22 “You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions.’ Then take another stick, and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.’ Then join them for yourself to one another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. “When the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Won’t you show us what you mean by these?’ tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand. The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.” ’ Say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. One king will be king to them all. They will no longer be two nations. They won’t be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.
- Ezekiel 47:13 The Lord Yahweh says: “This shall be the border, by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.
- Ephesians 2:20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;
- Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in us all.
- Revelation 7:4-8 I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel: of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed, of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
- Revelation 21:12 having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 18:31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to…
1Ki 18:31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
Ver. 31. According to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob.] To immind them that there ought to have been a common consent of the twelve tribes in the true service of God, and what a shame it was that it should be otherwise.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This he did, partly, to renew the covenant between…
This he did, partly, to renew the covenant between God and all the tribes, as Moses did, Exo 24:4; partly, to show that he prayed and acted in the name and for the service of the God of all the patriarchs, and of all the tribes of Israel, and for their good; and partly, to teach the people, that though the tribes were divided as to their civil government, they ought all to be united in the worship of the same God, and in the same religion.
Unto whom the word of the Lord came; which Jacob was graciously answered by God when he prayed to him, and was honoured with the glorious title of Israel, which noted his prevalency with God and men. And I, calling upon the same God, doubt not of a like gracious answer; and if ever you mean to have your prayers granted, you must not seek to Baal for it, who, as you now see, neither hears nor regards his most devout worshippers; but unto the God of Jacob; and if you would recover the honour which was once conferred upon Jacob, and continued a long time to his posterity, you must return to that God from whom you are revolted.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he put the wood in order, and cut…
And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood,.... Just in such manner as sacrifices usually were:
and said, fill four barrels with water; either from the brook Kishon, or, if that was dried up, from the sea; for both were near this mountain, and so to be had, though a time of drought:
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and pour it on the burnt sacrifice; that which was intended to be one:
and upon the wood: wherewith it was to be burnt, and so made unfit for it; and which would make the miracle appear the greater, when fire came down and consumed it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Twelve stones - This he did, to renew the…
Twelve stones - This he did, to renew the covenant between God and all the tribes, as Moses did, Exod. xxiv, 4, to shew, that he prayed and acted in the name, and for the service of the God of all the Patriarchs, and of all the tribes of Israel, and for their good: and, to teach the people, that though the tribes were divided as to their civil government, they ought all to be united in the worship of the same God. Israel - Jacob was graciously answered by God when he prayed to him, and was honoured with the glorious title of Israel, which noted his prevalency with God and men. And I, calling upon the same God, doubt not of a like gracious answer; and if ever you mean to have your prayers granted, you must seek to the God of Jacob.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 31. Took twelve stones] He did this to…
Verse 31. Took twelve stones] He did this to show that all the twelve tribes of Israel should be joined in the worship of Jehovah.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Ki 18:31. Elijah took twelve stones — This he…
1Ki 18:31. Elijah took twelve stones — This he did, with a view to renew the covenant between God and all the tribes, as Moses did, Exo 24:4; to show, that he prayed and acted in the name and for the service of the God of all the patriarchs, and of all the tribes of Israel, and for their good: and to teach the people, that though the tribes were divided as to their civil government, they ought all to be united in the worship of the same God, and in the same religion. Israel shall be thy name — Jacob was graciously answered by God when he prayed to him, and was honoured with the glorious title of Israel, which noted his prevalency with God and men. And I, calling upon the same God, doubt not of a gracious answer; and if ever you mean to have your prayers granted, you must seek to the God of Jacob. And if you would recover the honour which was once conferred on Jacob, and continued a long time to his posterity, you must return to that God from whom you are revolted.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Twelve stones, (as [in] Exodus xxiv., &c.) intimating that…
Twelve stones, (as [in] Exodus xxiv., &c.) intimating that he acted in the name of all; (Menochius) and in order that all Israel might return with one heart to the service of God. (Haydock) --- The prophet did not follow his own spirit in erecting this altar. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 31. Twelve stones — Indicative of the twelve tribes;…
31. Twelve stones — Indicative of the twelve tribes; and like those which were taken out of the midst of Jordan and set up at Gilgal, (Jos_4:3; Jos_4:20,) a memorial of the national unity and Divine election of Israel.
Israel shall be thy name — Perhaps Elijah, while building the altar, audibly repeated these words in the ears of all the people, and would thus teach by word as well as symbol that the whole twelve tribes, not ten merely, were named Israel. The division of Israel into two kingdoms was the result of sin.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 31. Elijah took twelve stones] On a similar preparation…
31. Elijah took twelve stones] On a similar preparation for an altar, compare the command of Joshua (Jos_4:5) where the stones are also taken ‘according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel.’ In this way the unity of worship of the same one God was signified. Elijah’s prayer also recalls the still earlier memories of Abraham, Isaac and Israel.
of the sons of Jacob] The LXX. reads τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, thus making the expression more nearly to accord with the passage of Joshua just quoted. Also instead of ‘he built an altar’ the LXX. has ‘he built the stones,’ in the next verse.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (31) Twelve stones.—The emphatic notice of these, as emblematic…
(31) Twelve stones.—The emphatic notice of these, as emblematic of the twelve tribes, is significant. In spite of political division, and even religious separation, the tribes were still united in the covenant of God.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Elijah took twelve stones This number, too, was…
And Elijah took twelve stones This number, too, was full of significance. Not only would it carry back their thoughts to the giving of the law, (Exo_24:4 Exo_28:21) and to their fathers" entrance into the promised land, (Jos_4:3, Jos_4:9) but it would remind them of the essential unity of the people, notwithstanding the division of the kingdom. The act was thus a protest against the schism. We cannot hold with Keil, Wordsworth, al. that it was "a practical declaration on the part of the prophet that the division of the nation into two kingdoms was at variance with the will of God," because we are distinctly told that that division was "from the Lord". (1Ki_12:15) But it was certainly a witness against a divided Church, and a reminder of the unity of the race, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, (Gen_32:28) saying, Israel shall be thy name. He thus protests against the exclusive assumption of the name of Israel, and the exception of the southern kingdom from the glorious heritage and calling of Israel, by the ten tribes. But we cannot follow Bahr in the belief that Jacob received "from Jehovah the name of Israel," i.e., the "soldier of God," because he commanded his house to "put away the strange gods", (Gen_35:2, 10 sqq.) or that Elijah would teach that "only those who did as Jacob did had a claim to his name." The great idea is that the people are one, and are the Lord"s.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:31-32 The twelve stones that Elijah used to rebuild…
18:31-32 The twelve stones that Elijah used to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord should have reminded the people that God had a prior claim as the redeemer of all Israel (cp. Josh 4:1-11; see Isa 41:14; 49:26).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.