But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough. Now, O Yahweh, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
Parallel Translations
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But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough. Now, O Yahweh, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
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But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
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But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom-tree; and he requested for himself that he might die; and said: 'It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.'
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 19:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jonah 4:3 Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”
- Numbers 11:15 If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
- Jonah 4:8 When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
- Jeremiah 20:14-18 Cursed is the day in which I was born. Don’t let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed. Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying, “A boy is born to you,” making him very glad. Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn’t repent. Let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime; because he didn’t kill me from the womb. So my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
- Philippians 1:21-24 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will bring fruit from my work; yet I don’t know what I will choose. But I am hard pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Yet to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
- Genesis 21:15-16 The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs. She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
- 1 Kings 13:14 He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.”
- 1 Kings 19:3 When he saw that, he arose, and ran for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
- 2 Kings 2:11 As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
- Job 3:20-22 “Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul, Who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?
- Amos 6:2 Go to Calneh, and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border?
- Nahum 3:8 Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?
- Matthew 6:26 See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?
- John 4:6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
- Romans 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain So hard a thing it is to bridle our…
So hard a thing it is to bridle our impatience in affliction, that the Saints could not overcome the same.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey…
1Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I [am] not better than my fathers.
Ver. 4. But he himself went a day’s journey in the wilderness.] As not holding himself sufficiently safe in the land of Judah, because of the great correspondency that was betwixt Ahab and Jehoshaphat. Kings have long hands, and can despatch at a distance.
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Came and sat under a juniper tree.] The shadow whereof driveth away serpents, saith Pliny, so that he might the more safely sleep there. The berries of this tree are hot, strong, and effectual to warm the stomach, &c. Talis est zelosus, saith one. Such is the true zealot, of whom that proverb of the Arabians is verified, Praestat granum piperis (vel iuniperi) decem peponibus, One corn of pepper is far beyond ten melons.
And he requested for himself that he might die.] He who so much feared to die by the hand of a woman, lest she and her chimney chaplains should triumph over him and the cause he defended, beggeth now to die by the hand of God, as having no longer joy of this mortal and miserable life. This showed that "Elias was a man subject to like passions" with others. {Jas 5:17} The holiest saint upon earth hath his qualms, his outbursts, as had Job, Jonah, Peter, Luther, &c. And how many such are there at this day that sit under Elias’s juniper, willing and wishing to lay down that heavy burden imposed upon them by the Almighty!
O Lord, take away my life.] Lest Jezebel take it from me. Little thought Elias now that he should one day be bodily translated into heaven. God of his goodness so provided for his servant, that neither Jezebel, nor death, which devoureth all men, should have power over him.
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 Into the wilderness; the vast wilderness of Arabia. He…
Into the wilderness; the vast wilderness of Arabia. He durst not stay in Judah, though good Jehoshaphat reigned there, because he was allied to Ahab, and was a man of an easy temper, whom Ahab might circumvent, and either by force or art seize upon Elijah.
For himself, Heb. for his life, or his soul, that it might be taken away from his body. Or, with his soul, as it is Isa 26:9, i.e. he desired it heartily or fervently. Which he did, not only for his own sake, that he might be freed from his great fears and troubles; but especially from his zeal for God’s glory, which he saw was and would be dreadfully eclipsed by the relapse of the Israelites into idolatry, and by Elijah’s death, if it should be procured by the hands of Jezebel, or of the worshippers of Baal; and therefore he wished to die in peace, and by the hand of God.
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It is enough; I have lived long enough for thy service, and am not like to do thee any more service; neither my words nor works are like to do any good upon these unstable and incorrigible people.
I am not better than my fathers, that I should continue in life, when other prophets who have gone before me have lost their lives by Jezebel, or other persecutors.
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 But he himself went a day's journey into the…
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness,.... Of Paran, which began near Beersheba, and was the wilderness of Arabia, in which the Israelites were near forty years; this day's journey carried him about twenty miles from Beersheba southward, as the above writer reckons:
and came and sat down under a juniper tree; Abarbinel supposes that Elijah chose to sit under this tree, to preserve him from venomous creatures, which naturalists say will not come near it; and Pliny (o) indeed observes, that it being burnt will drive away serpents, and that some persons anoint themselves with the oil of it, for fear of them; and yet Virgil (p) represents the shade of a juniper tree as noxious; hence some interpreters take this to be a piece of carelessness and indifference of the prophet's, where he sat:
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and he requested for himself that he might die; for though he fled from Jezebel to preserve his life, not choosing to die by her hands, which would cause her prophets to exult and triumph, yet was now desirous of dying by the hand of the Lord, and in a place where his death would not be known:
it is enough, now, O Lord, take away my life; intimating that he had lived long enough, even as long as he desired; and he had done as much work for God as he thought he had to do; he supposed his service and usefulness were at an end, and therefore desired his dismission:
for I am not better than my fathers that he should not die, or live longer than they; but this desire was not like that of the Apostle Paul's, but like that of Job and of Jonah; not so much to be with God and Christ, as to be rid of the troubles of life.
(o) Nat. Hist. l. 24. c. 8. (p) "Juniperi gravis umbra----" Bucol. Eclog. 10. ver. 76.
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 Into the wilderness - The vast wilderness of Arabia.…
Into the wilderness - The vast wilderness of Arabia. He durst not stay in Judah, tho' good Jehosaphat reigned there, because he was allied to Ahab, and was a man of an easy temper, whom Ahab might circumvent, and either by force or art seize upon Elijah. It is enough - I have lived long enough for thy service, and am not like to do thee any more service; neither my words nor works are like to do any good upon these unstable and incorrigible people. I am not better - That I should continue in life, when other prophets who have gone before me, have lost their lives.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. A day's journey into the wilderness] Probably…
Verse 4. A day's journey into the wilderness] Probably in his way to Mount Horeb. See 1Kg 19:8.
Juniper tree] A tree that afforded him a shade from the scorching sun.
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It is enough] I have lived long enough! I can do no more good among this people; let me now end my days.
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 19:4. He went a day’s journey into the…
1Ki 19:4. He went a day’s journey into the wilderness — The vast wilderness of Arabia, wherein the Israelites wandered forty years. He durst not stay in Judah, though good Jehoshaphat reigned there, because he was allied to Ahab, and was a man of an easy temper, whom Ahab might circumvent, and either by force or art seize upon Elijah. He requested for himself — Hebrew, for his life, or his soul, that it might be taken away from his body. Or, with his soul, as it is Isa 26:9, that is, he desired it heartily or fervently; which he did, not only for his own sake, that he might be freed from his great fears and troubles; but especially from his zeal for God’s glory, which he saw was and would be dreadfully eclipsed by the relapse of the Israelites into idolatry, and by his death, if it should be procured by the hands of Jezebel, or of the worshippers of Baal; and therefore he wished to die in peace, and by the hand of God. And said, It is enough, now, O Lord — I have lived long enough for thy cause, and am not likely to do thee any more service; neither my words nor works are likely to do any good upon these unstable and incorrigible people. I am not better than my fathers — That I should continue, when other prophets who have gone before me have lost their lives.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Elijah did not feel himself safe until he was…
Elijah did not feel himself safe until he was beyond the territory of Judah, for Ahab might demand him of Jehoshaphat 1Ki 18:10, with whom he was on terms of close alliance 1Ki 22:4. He, therefore, proceeds southward into the desert, simply to be out of the reach of his enemies.
A juniper-tree - The tree here mentioned רתם rethem is not the juniper but a species of broom (Genista monosperma), called “rethem” by the Arabs, which abounds in the Sinaitic peninsula. It grows to such a size as to afford shade and protection, both in heat and storm, to travelers.
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Requested for himself that he might die - Like Moses and Jonah (marginal references). The prophet’s depression here reached its lowest point. He was still suffering from the reaction of overstrained feeling; he was weary with nights and days of travel; he was faint with the sun’s heat; he was exhausted for want of food; he was for the first time alone - alone in the awful solitude and silence of the great white desert. Such solitude might brace the soul in certain moods; but in others it must utterly overwhelm and crush. Thus the prophet at length gave way completely - made his prayer that he might die - and, exhausted sank, to sleep.
I am not better than my fathers - i. e., “I am a mere weak man, no better nor stronger than they who have gone before me, no more able to revolutionize the world than they.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Desert. It seems, towards Horeb. (Calmet) --- Tree. Hebrew…
Desert. It seems, towards Horeb. (Calmet) --- Tree. Hebrew Rothem, which term the Septuagint retain, "Rathmen." Symmachus has, "a shade." (Haydock) --- Die. Elias requested to die, not out of impatience or pusillanimity, but out of zeal against sin; and that he might no longer be witness of the miseries of his people, and the war they were waging against God and his servants. See ver. 10. (Challoner) --- He does not wish to fall into the hands of Jezabel, lest the idolaters should triumph: but he is willing to die, if God so order it. (Calmet) --- Mathathias entertained the like sentiments, 1 Machabees ii. 7. --- Fathers: that I should live longer than they did. (Menochius) (Ecclesiasticus xxx. 17.) --- If he had been weary of life, why did he flee? His answer to Achab shews that he was by no means timid. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain HE IS COMFORTED BY AN ANGEL. (Kg1 19:4-18)
HE IS COMFORTED BY AN ANGEL. (Kg1 19:4-18)
went a day's journey into the wilderness--on the way from Beer-sheba to Horeb--a wide expanse of sand hills, covered with the retem (not juniper, but broom shrubs), whose tall and spreading branches, with their white leaves, afford a very cheering and refreshing shade. His gracious God did not lose sight of His fugitive servant, but watched over him, and, miraculously ministering to his wants, enabled him, in a better but not wholly right frame of mind, by virtue of that supernatural supply, to complete his contemplated journey. In the solitude of Sinai, God appeared to instruct him. "What doest thou here, Elijah?" was a searching question addressed to one who had been called to so arduous and urgent a mission as his. By an awful exhibition of divine power, he was made aware of the divine speaker who addressed him; his attention was arrested, his petulance was silenced, his heart was touched, and he was bid without delay return to the land of Israel, and prosecute the Lord's work there. To convince him that an idolatrous nation will not be unpunished, He commissions him to anoint three persons who were destined in Providence to avenge God's controversy with the people of Israel. Anointing is used synonymously with appointment (Jdg 9:8), and is applied to all named, although Jehu alone had the consecrated oil poured over his head. They were all three destined to be eminent instruments in achieving the destruction of idolaters, though in different ways. But of the three commissions, Elijah personally executed only one; namely, the call of Elisha to be his assistant and successor [Kg1 19:19], and by him the other two were accomplished (Kg2 8:7-13; Kg2 9:1-10). Having thus satisfied the fiery zeal of the erring but sincere and pious prophet, the Lord proceeded to correct the erroneous impression under which Elijah had been laboring, of his being the sole adherent of the true religion in the land; for God, who seeth in secret, and knew all that were His, knew that there were seven thousand persons who had not done homage (literally, "kissed the hand") to Baal.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. A juniper tree — “A species of the…
4. A juniper tree — “A species of the broom plant, Genista roetam of Forskal. The Hebrew name רתם, rothem, is the same as the present Arabic name. The Vulgate, Luther, English Version, and others, translate it wrongly by juniper. It is the largest and most conspicuous shrub of the deserts of Sinai, growing thickly in the watercourses and valleys. The roots are very bitter, and are regarded by the Arabs as yielding the best charcoal. This illustrates Job_30:4, and Psa_120:4. Our Arabs always selected the place of encampment, if possible, in a spot where it grew, in order to be sheltered by it at night from the wind; and during the day, when they often went on in advance of the camels, we found them not unfrequently sitting or sleeping under a bush of retem to protect them from the sun.” — Robinson.
Requested for himself that he might die — Literally, besought his soul to die. See note on 1Ki_17:22.
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It is enough — I have lived long enough and seen sorrows enough. From this some infer that Elijah was now advanced in years.
Take away my life — “Strange contradiction,” says Kitto. “Here the man who was destined not to taste of death flees from death on the one hand, and seeks it on the other.”
Not better than my fathers — With all the Divine power and glory revealed in me, I am still as fallible and weak as they, and deserve to live no longer.
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 4. a day’s journey into the wilderness] The wilderness…
4. a day’s journey into the wilderness] The wilderness here spoken of is the desert of Paran, through which the Israelites had of old wandered from Egypt toward the promised land.
under a juniper tree] The LXX. merely represents the Hebrew name רֹתֶם by a transliteration ὑποκάτω Ραθμέν. The plant is one of the broom kind. It was stout enough to be used for fuel (Psa_120:4), and in time of famine its roots could be eaten (Job_30:3-4). The last quoted passage marks it as a tree growing in the wilderness. The Hebrew says literally ‘one juniper tree,’ and thus depicts for us the desolate country just on the borders of the wilderness.
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that he might die] The prophet had probably had some hope that Ahab would disown the idolatrous worship after the scene on Carmel and the destruction of the priests. Now he sees that the influence of Jezebel is as strong as ever, and the result is deep despondency and a longing to be removed from the struggle.
I am not better than my fathers] Elijah had probably reached a ripe age, and thinking his labours all fruitless, prays for removal. While there was work to be done, and as he thought, hope of success, he was a willing servant. It is only in the dark moment of seeming failure that his natural feeling of having wrought no reform, such as he longed for, wrings from him the cry in the text. We must not deem Elijah to blame for this feeling. The way in which God sent him comfort and sustenance shews us that the prophet’s conduct was not such as to merit rebuke. See a noble sermon on ‘Elijah’ by the late F. W. Robertson. Sermon VI. Second Series.
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 (4) Juniper tree.—A sort of broom, found abundantly in…
(4) Juniper tree.—A sort of broom, found abundantly in the desert. It has been noted that its roots were much prized for charcoal, the “coal” of 1Ki_19:6.
I am not better than my fathers.—The exclamation is characteristic. Evidently he had hoped that he himself was “better than his fathers” as a servant of God—singled out beyond all those that went before him, to be the victorious champion of a great crisis, “he, and he alone” (1Ki_18:22; 1Ki_19:10-14). Now he thinks his hope vain, and sees no reason why he should succeed when all who went before have failed. Why, he asks, should he live when the rest of the prophets have died?
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 But he himself went a day"s journey into the…
But he himself went a day"s journey into the wilderness Cf. Gen_21:14, Gen_21:21; Jer_9:2; Rev_12:6. Beer-sheba stands on the fringe of the desert of Et-Tih. It was not for the sake of security alone that the prophet plunged into the "great and terrible wilderness." It is probable that from the first, "Horeb, the mount of God," was in his thoughts. He may well have seen that he was destined to be a second Moses; that he was raised up to assert and enforce the covenant of which Moses was the mediator. We have seen already that he cites the words spoken to Moses at the bush; (1Ki_18:36) that to him as to Moses there was granted an apparition of fire; we now find him rejected as Moses had been before him. (Act_7:25, Act_7:35) How natural that, like Moses, he should flee into the land of Midian, to the place where God had spoken With Moses face to face. Wordsworth reminds us that the Jewish Church, by its cycle of lessons, suggests a comparison between the Law Giver and the Law Restorer, and came and sat down under a Heb. one; (see note on 1Ki_13:11) juniper tree The here found with a feminine numeral (Keri, masculine), in ver. 5 with a masculine, is not the juniper, but the plant now known to the Arabs as retem, i.e., the broom (genista monosperma, or G. raetam), "the most longed for and most welcome bush of the desert, abundant in beds of streams and valleys, where spots for camping are selected, and men sit clown and sleep in order to be protected against wind and sun" (Robinson, Pal. vol. 1. p. 203). It does not, however, afford a complete protection (Thomson, L. and B. vol. 2. pp. 436, 437). Every traveller remarks on its abundance in the desert; itgave a name, Rithmah, to one of the stations of the Israelites (Num_33:18. Cf. Stanley, S. and P. pp. 20, 79). Its roots are still used by theBedouin, for the manufacture of charcoal, (cf. Psa_120:4, "coals of rethern which they carry to Cairo: and he requested for himself Heb. asked as to his life, accusative of reference that he might die Again like Num_11:15; Exo_32:32 and said, It Is enough or, Let it be enough. LXX iJkanousqw; (See note on 1Ki_12:28) now, O Lord, take away my life "Strange contradiction! Here the man who was destined not to taste of death, flees from death on the one hand and seeks it on the other." Kitto; for I am not better than my fathers. These words clearly reveal the great hopes Elijah had formed as to the result of his mission, and the terrible disappointment his banishment had occasioned him. Time was when he had thought himself a most special messenger of Heaven, raised up to effect the regeneration of his country. He now thinks his work is fruitless, and he has nothing to live for longer. Keil concludes from these words that Elijah was already of a great age, but this is extremely doubtful.
HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND
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Ver. 4.
The Causes of Despondency.
Human character is more complex than many imagine. Its elements are so diverse, and sometimes so contradictory, that only God can fairly judge it. The biographies of Scripture and the subtleties of our own hearts combine to enforce the lesson, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." We should have placed in the foremost rank the disciple who first acknowledged the divinity of our Lord, and we should have cast him out of the Church who denied his Lord with oaths and curses; yet both the one and the other were the outcome of the same character. Never was contradiction more complete than in Elijah. One day he leads a whole nation in penitence, the next he flees to save his life, as one who has thrown up all hope of Jehovah"s cause. None but the pitiful and patient Father-God would have judged him aright; nor was Elijah the last to say, "Thy gentleness hath made me great." We are reminded that it is difficult to judge ourselves as well as others. On Carmel, Elijah might have thought himself invincible, and in Horeb an unmitigated coward, but he was neither. Varieties of mood must not he too much considered. They do not afford a fair index to character. We are not infidels because we pass through a phase of doubt, we are not reprobates because we are deeply conscious of sin, nor are we Christians because we enjoy a religious service. A sad and frequent experience of religious life, that of despondency, is set before us here, and we will seek to discover its causes.
I REACTION AFTER EXCITEMENT. Great natures are peculiarly subject to this. The impulse which impels to a noble act has a rebound proportioned to its intensity. Peter and John the Baptist stand beside Elijah as exemplars of this fact. From it arises the special peril of revivalistic services. Excitement has its place and power in the advance of Christ"s kingdom, but we must not substitute spasmodic feeling for steady growth.
II EXHAUSTION OF PHYSICAL AND NERVOUS ENERGY. Even the gigantic strength of Elijah underwent a terrible strain on Carmel Anxiety, enthusiasm, burning zeal, exultation combined to agitate him, and these were doubtless preceded by many days and nights of passionate, agonizing prayer. God"s provision for the prophet the sleep that came over him, as over a tired child, the food prepared by angel hands prove that this was recognized.
Show the mutual dependence of body and mind. Neither the equable temperament of some Christians nor the excitability of others is due always to the presence or absence of Divine grace. Good food, fresh air, and change of scene would do more than religious exercises to restore tone to some who are despondent. The neglect of sanitary laws is a sin. There was far-reaching wisdom in Paul"s declaration, "I keep the body under.
III ABSENCE OF SYMPATHY. "I am left alone." "I only am left." Such was the burden of Elijah"s cry. This is a special source of despondency to missionaries surrounded by the heathen. It affects also multitudes who are not so literally alone. They may have many Christians around them, but in their special work, in their peculiar difficulty, they can find none to help, or even to understand them. "Alone in a crowd" is a true description of many a disciple of Christ, who is thinking his own thoughts and fighting his own foes. Show from this the wisdom of the provision God has made in Church fellowship. Point out the causes which tend to make such communion unreal or unhelpful. Urge the cultivation of sympathy with young disciples, with obscure workers, etc.
IV INFLUENCE OF DOUBT. The confidence of the prophet on Carmel had broken down. Jezebel had not been cowed by the sudden revulsion of popular feeling. She doubted its permanence, and at all events resolved that she would not lose heart, so Ahab and his courtiers were reassured when she swore to have revenge on Elijah. The prophet thought now that he had been too sanguine that the one chance had come and gone without effect. Doubt paralyzed him. Doubt of God"s willingness to forgive plunges the penitent into despondency. He would scarcely venture secretly into a crowd to touch the hem of Christ"s garment. Doubt of God"s readiness to hear and answer prayer keeps the Christian from the light of His countenance, etc.
V INVISIBILITY OF ANTAGONISTS. Elijah could face his visible foes on Carmel without quailing indeed, he dared to taunt them at the risk of being torn to pieces but against this vague feeling of despair he could not hold his own. Moral battles are the hardest to fight. He who can grapple with what is tangible sometimes fails when called on to "wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world." Some would rather run the risk of being condemned hereafter, as wicked and slothful servants, than have the certainty of being sneered at now as those who are "righteous overmuch.
VI ENFORCED INACTIVITY. Elijah"s opportunity for vigorous action seemed over. He was cast in upon his own thoughts. Few could bear it less patiently than he. The man who can dare and do anything finds it specially hard to wait and to suffer. Similar temptation to despondency comes to those who are laid aside by illness, or removed from a happy sphere of service. But that is the time to wait on the Lord, and so "renew our strength.
CONCLUSION. In all hours of despondency remember that He who knew the agony of Gethsemane and Calvary pities us, and feels for us. "We have not a High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities," etc. A.R.
HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE
Vers. 4-21.
Return of Elijah to the Desert.
It is well for us to recognize that the great servants of God are men like ourselves, that they were formed of the same clay, and that they share our infirmities. Elijah had no time to magnify himself after his triumph on Mount Carmel. It was at this very moment God allowed him to pass through the most terrible mental conflict. Led into the bare and arid solitudes of Horeb, he fell into a state of depression bordering on despair, and, throwing himself down under a juniper tree in the wilderness, he cried, "O Lord, now take away my life!" (Ver. 4.) spiritual crisis like this comes in the life of most men of God, and may be explained by two reasons.
1. There is a spiritual necessity for it. The man of God who has gained thefirst great victory is apt to think that it is decisive and final, and that he may now cease to fight. And behold, the evil that was vanquished yesterday lifts up its head again, and the conflict has to be begun anew. "I hare been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant" (ver. 10).
2. This painful crisis is permitted by God, who will not have His servantsuplifted in their own eyes, even by the most splendid triumphs of the cause which it is their honour to maintain. This is the explanation of the mysterious thorn in the flesh with which St. Paul was buffeted. (2Co_12:7) This is the cause of the momentary despondency of John the Baptist, which prompted that utterance of a faltering faith, "Art thou he that shoed come?" (Mat_11:3) To the same source we may trace the anguish of Luther in the Wartburg. He who is pleased thus to exercise the soul of his children is Himself their only efficient Comforter. God raises His downcast servant Elijah by means of a glorious vision. The Lord is not in the wind, not in the earthquake; these are but the symbols of His awful majesty. He is in the still small voice, which whispers the name afterwards to be proclaimed to the whole world by the beloved disciple, and written in letters of blood upon the cross: "God is love". (1Jn_4:16) Let us not forget, however, that if God is not in the stormy wind and earthquake, these manifestations of His severity necessarily preceded the manifestation of that love which is His true essence. It was needful that the reed which had presumed to lift up itself against God should be bent, that the hard heart, like the stone, should be broken in order that the still small voice might gain an entrance to it. Repentance must come before the deliverance and joy of pardon. It is by this path through the desert that God leads every soul of man; it was thus that He led His servant Elijah. His overwhelming anguish of soul was like the whirlwind which prepared the way for the soft whisper of heavenly peace. This desert of spiritual desolation is to be made to blossom like the rose under the re. riving breath of the Lord. (Isa_35:1) Elijah comes forth from it with renewed strength and courage, after the wholesome discipline of humiliation, a witness to us of the truth of the Divine assurance uttered by the lips of Christ Himself: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted". (Mat_5:4) E. de P.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my…
1Ki_19:4
It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life.
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Elijahs singular request
These words every way are remarkable. They proceed from a certain state of the mind, which is not common. The words are remarkable, considering the person who uttered them. They were uttered by the bold and brilliant Elijah. If we consider further the time the words were uttered, they are equally remarkable. It was just after the extraordinary manifestation of Carmel. One would have thought, after such a manifestation of the Divine presence and decided triumph, that he never would have been so shorn of courage, and cast down into such deep depression. These words, though spoken in ancient days, and come down to us through many ages; yet they contain certain pictures in human thought and feeling, which are found more or less everywhere. They are true expressions of the human soul in certain conditions, and our business here will be to mention some of the things which are common to all ages, and more or less to all people.
I. The souls sigh in the search after solitude. Sometime or other all sigh for solitude; you cannot destroy the feeling, it is planted deeply in the human soul. There are certain circumstances in life which develop this feeling, until it becomes strong and all-powerful, governing the whole soul. It is possible to allow this sentiment to grow wild and overleap its natural limit; but in itself, and within its proper limit, it is right and necessary. Before men can be strong they must be much with God and themselves; before they can be rich and mature, they will have to live much in the garden of their mind to weed and manure it. The conditions under which solitude is sought are various.
1. The soul seeks solitude in the pangs of disappointment. We are born to disappointments--all meet them, only some are more sensitive to their point and bitterness than others. We are often either too confiding, or lofty in our wish, or sanguine in our expectation, that disappointments cannot but come. They come from foes and friends--from prosperity and adversity.
2. The soul often sighs for the solitary in life, when deeply convinced of the vanity and falsehood of society; when the soul sees and feels the faults and follies of the world, it often feels a wish to live in some place where they are not seen or heard.
3. The absence of congenial society not unfrequently turns the face of the soul towards solitude. There may be times when our companions are too numerous, as well as too few. The soul wishes to shake itself from them and be free, and often goes beyond civilisation for this freedom it longs for so anxiously. This is often the case from superior refinement, advanced piety, nobler aspirations than those of neighbours and friends.
4. The soul often sighs for the solitude in life under the influence of religious feeling. The danger is for the thing that is right in itself to become a blind sentimentality.
5. The soul is apt, in a condition of great sorrow, to sigh after solitude.
6. This feeling may and sometimes does proceed from a morbid state of mind.
II. The souls time of despondent depression. There is a shade sometime or other to cross every flowery bed, and a gloom to cover every sunny path. There are occasions in the history of most men when life, the most precious and the first to be desired, is a burden. In this state of the soul all power of enjoyment is gone, and all power and courage have taken their departure. The horizon of the soul is obscured with darkness, so that there is neither beauty nor prospect in view anywhere.
1. Sometimes this state of despondent depression comes upon the soul from a sense of its own sinfulness.
2. The thought of our own individual insignificancy has a tendency to the same result.
3. The conscious vanity of the surroundings of our present existence is another depressing element in life.
4. The darkness and uncertainty surrounding human life has a tendency to make us despondent. The simplest things are lost in mystery; the clearest things are covered with uncertainty.
5. Failure in realising our noblest plans and most cherished wishes is another depressing element which often presses us below the level of right standing.
6. The ills that men are subject to is another frequent means of human depression.
III. The souls depreciation of itself. Some people constantly depreciate themselves, and they are thought sincere and humble persons, whereas it may be nothing more than a habit, or worse, an affected self-depreciation, that others may have occasion and scope to raise them on high.
1. A sense of self-depreciation takes hold of the mind when it is filled with the conception of the Divine Majesty and His presence.
2. The feeling of self-depreciation pervades the soul in the presence or recollection of some higher examples in matters of life and ambition. An artist of sensitive appreciation of superiority in the presence of a genuine piece of art depreciates to the dust his own performances. A poet with a true poetic sense, when he reads or hears some grand poetry like Paradise Lost, feels very low in his own view. So is it in other things in life.
3. The same feeling takes hold of the mind of man often when comparing himself with the material universe and its different creations in his outward form and physical capacities.
4. This sentiment also proceeds frequently from a review of the past conduct of ones own life.
5. Self-depreciation is often the depressed language of the soul, when persecuted and cast out of society.
6. Once more, when the ills and miseries of life are calmly and seriously viewed, we ourselves being subjects of the same, the little we have done, or can do to diminish them, tends to self-depreciation.
IV. The souls weariness of life, and its special desire to be released from its burden. In many cases life is a burden, but it is a rare thing, nevertheless, to wish to get rid of the burden by being relieved of life. There are cases where it appears almost natural and religious for men to wish to die, which appear almost beyond the suspicion of wrong.
1. When a person thinks that his work is done in this life, and he cannot be of much use any longer.
2. When an individual becomes helpless, and requires the time and attention of others to attend to him, he feels he is in the way, and cannot compensate for the least done to him.
3. When, by his close communion with the Divine and the heavenly, the soul is more at home from the world than in it.
4. When it is submitted, as in the case of Elijah, to the hand and will of God. (T. Hughes.)
The Order of the Juniper tree
Some while ago in passing through Edinburgh we noticed the procession of a friendly society whose banner declared it to belong to the Order of the Juniper tree. Many of us belong to that order, and it may prove useful to consider the suggestive contrast established by these two texts. In the one, the prophet sinks in despair; in the other, he is carried triumphantly into heaven. What has this to do with us? It presents in a dramatic form the experience of Gods people in an ages.
I. The sharp contrast in these texts is worthy of being remembered in days of worldly adversity. Times of misfortune and disaster not uncommonly induce the mood expressed in the first text. Having suffered the wreck of our circumstances, schemes, happiness, and hopes, we court the shade of the juniper tree and pour out bitter lamentations. What is there to live for? We are failures, and the sooner we are out of the way the better.
1. It is only through discipline that we are fit for glorification. Cars of fire, horses of fire, a path beyond the stars, luminous diadems! we are presumptuous enough to think that at any time we are ready for these. But we are not ready. The perfection that qualifies for high places comes only through some form of suffering.
2. Only God knows when we are fit for glorification. It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life. Are we sure about this enough? When you chastise a child, you find that his opinion and yours wary considerably as to what is enough.
II. We may remember the strong contrast of these texts in days of spiritual despondency. Times of deep depression come in our spiritual history. Wesleys new life began in glorious experiences in Aldersgate Street, yet within a year of these glowing feelings we find that he suffered sad relapses into darkness and doubt; he even wrote, I am not a Christian now. We feel worsted in the spiritual conflict, losing confidence and hope. These sad days of humiliation and despondency need not be lost upon us. They bring home the lesson of our personal unworthiness and helplessness. I am not better than my fathers.
III. We may remember the strong contrast of our texts in days when we are disappointed by the results of our evangelical work. Elijah was smitten with despair about Gods cause. The scornful, scorching words of the wicked and wrathful queen unmanned him. All his grand hopes for his nation and race were to expire at the juniper tree. And very often do the strongest and best of men entertain similar misgivings. Yet Elijah was wrong. God works strangely, He works silently, He works slowly, but He works surely. The funeral was not to be that of Elijah. The one thing we must resolve upon is not to reason and question, but confidently to follow out all the lines and leadings of God in spiritual life and evangelical toil It is the fashion with some modem novelists to finish their stories in the most atheistic and despairing manner--the mystery and struggle of life ending in unconsoled sorrows, unrequited sacrifices, uncompensated wrongs, unanswered prayers and strivings; the palpable moral of such treatment being that there is no law, government, or purpose in human life. We know otherwise. We believe in the programme of God, so wise, so true, so good; and in our best moments we are confident that His programme cannot fail. (W. L. Watkinson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain "So much I feel my genial spirits droop,
ELIJAHS DESPAIR
1Ki_19:4-8
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"So much I feel my genial spirits droop,
My hopes all flat, nature within me seems
In all her functions weary of herself,
My race of glory run, and race of shame,
And I shall shortly be with them that rest."
- Samson Agonistes.
WHAT are the causes which may drive even a saint of God into a mood of momentary despair as he is forced to face the semblance of final failure?
1. Even the lowest element of such despair has its instructiveness. It was due in part, doubtless, to mere physical exhaustion. Elijah had just gone through the most tremendous conflict of his life. During all that long and most exhausting day at Carmel he had had little or no food, and at the close of it he had run across all the plain with the kings chariot. In the dead of that night, with his life in his band, he had fled towards Beersheba, and now he had wandered for a whole day in the glare of the famishing wilderness. It does not do to despise the body. If we are spirits, yet we have bodies; and the body wreaks a stern and humiliating vengeance on those who neglect or despise it. The body reacts upon the mind. "If you rumple the jerkin, you rumple the jerkins lining." If we weaken the body too much, we do not make it the slave of the spirit, but rather make the spirit its slave. Even moderate fasting, as a simple physiological fact-if it be fasting at all, as distinguished from healthful moderation and wise temperance-tends to increase, and not by any means to decrease, the temptations which come to us from the appetites of the body. Extreme self-maceration-as all ascetics have found from the days of St. Jerome to those of Cardinal Newman-only adds new fury to the lusts of the flesh. Many a hermit and stylite and fasting monk, many half-dazed hysterical, high-wrought men have found, sometimes without knowing the reason of it, that by willful and artificial devices of self-chosen saintliness, they have made the path of purity and holiness not easier, but more hard. The body is a temple, not a tomb. It is not permitted us to think ourselves wiser than God who made it, nor to fancy that we can mend His purposes by torturing and crushing it. By violating the laws of physical righteousness we only make moral and spiritual righteousness more difficult to attain.
2. Elijahs dejection was also due to forced inactivity. "What doest thou here, Elijah?" said the voice of God to him in the heart of man. Alas! he was doing nothing: there was nothing left for him to do! It was different when he hid by the brook Cherith or in Zarephath, or in the glades of Carmel. Then a glorious endeavor lay before him, and there was hope. But
"Life without hope draws nectar in a sieve,
And hope without an object cannot live."
The mighty vindication of Jehovah in which all the struggle of his life culminated, had been crowned with triumph, and had failed. It had blazed up like fire, and had sunk back into ashes. To such a spirit as his nothing is so fatal as to have nothing to do and nothing to hope for. "What did the Marechal die of?" asked a distinguished Frenchman of one of his comrades. "He died of having nothing to do." "Ah!" was the reply; "that is enough to kill the best General of us all."
3. Again, Elijah was suffering from mental reaction. The bow had been bent too long, and was somewhat strained; the tense string needed to have been relaxed before. It is a common experience that some great duty or mastering emotion uplifts us for a time above ourselves, makes us even forget the body and its needs. We remember Jeremy Taylors description of what he had noticed in the Civil Wars, -that a wounded soldier, amid the heat and fury of the fight, was wholly unconscious of his wounds, and only began to feel the smart of them when the battle had ended and its fierce passion was entirely spent.
Men, even strong men, after hours of terrible excitement, have been known to break down and weep like children. Macaulay, in describing the emotions which succeeded the announcement that the Reform Bill had passed, says that not a few, after the first outburst of wild enthusiasm, were bathed in tears.
And any one who has seen some great orator after a supreme effort of eloquence, when his strength seems drained away, and the passion is exhausted, and the flame has sunk down into its embers, is aware how painful a reaction often follows, and how differently the man looks and feels if you see him when he has passed into his retirement, pale and weak, and often very sad. After a time the mind can do no more.
4. Further, Elijah felt his loneliness. At that moment indeed he could not bear the presence of any one, but none the less his sense that none sympathized with him, that all hated him, that no voice was raised to cheer him, that no finger was uplifted, to help him, weighed like lead upon his spirit. I only am left. There was awful desolation in that thought. He was alone among an apostatizing people. It is the same kind of cry which we hear so often in the life of Gods saints. It is the Psalmist crying: "I am become like a pelican in the wilderness, and like an owl that is in the desert. Mine enemies reproach me all the day long, and they that are mad upon me are sworn together against me"; {Psa_102:6-8} or, "My lovers and my neighbors did stand looking upon my trouble, and my kinsmen stood afar off. They also that sought after my life laid snares for me Psa_38:11-12." It is Job so smitten and afflicted that he is half tempted for the moment to curse God and die. It is Isaiah saying of the hopeless wickedness of his people, "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." It is Jeremiah complaining, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" {Jer_5:31; Jer_29:9} It is St. Paul wailing so sadly, "All they of Asia have turned from me. Only Luke is with me." It is the pathos of desolation which breathes through the sad sentence of the Gospels, "Then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled." The anticipation of desertion had wrung from the Lord Jesus the sad prophecy, "Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, when ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me." {Joh_16:32} And this heart-anguish of loneliness is, to this day, a common experience of the best men. Any man whose duty has ever called him to strike out against the stream of popular opinion, to rebuke the pleasant vices of the world, to plead for causes too righteous to be popular, to deny the existence of vested interests in the causes of human ruin, to tell a corrupt society that it is corrupt, and a lying Church that it lies; -any man who has had to defy mere plausible conventions of veiled wrong-doing, to give bold utterance to forgotten truths, to awake sodden and slumbering consciences, to annul agreements with death and covenants with hell; every man who rises above the trimmers and the facing-both-ways, and those who try to serve two masters-they who swept away the rotting superstitions of a tyrannous ecclesiasticism, they who purified prisons, they who struck the fetters off the slave-every saint, reformer, philanthropist, and faithful preacher in the past, and those now living saints, who, walking in the shining steps of these, endeavor to rescue the miserable out of the gutter, and to preach the gospel to the poor, know the anguish of isolation, when, because they have been benefactors, they are cursed as though they were felons, and when, for the efforts of their noble self-sacrifice, the contempt of the world, and its pedantry, and its malice can find for them no words too contemptuous or too bitterly false.
5. But there was even a deeper sorrow than these which made Elijah long for death. It was the sense of utter and seemingly irretrievable failure. It happens often to the worldling as well as to the saint. Many a man, weary of lifes inexorable emptiness, has exclaimed in different ways:-
"Know that whatever thou hast been,
Tis something better not to be."
That sentiment is not in the least peculiar to Byron. We find it again and again in the Greek tragedians. We find it alike in the legendary revelation of the god Pan, and in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and in Schopenhauer and Von Hartmann. No true Christian, no believer in the mercy and justice of God, can share that sentiment, but will to the last thank God for His creation and preservation and all the blessings of this life, as well as for the inestimable gift of His redemption, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. Nevertheless, it is part of Gods discipline that He often requires His saints as well as His sinners to face what looks like hopeless discomfiture, and to perish, as it were,
"In the lost battle
Borne down by the flying,
Where mingles wars rattle
With the groans of the dying."
Such was the fate of all the Prophets. They were tortured; they had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, they hid in caves and dens of the earth, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, though of them the world was not worthy. Such, too was the fate of all the Apostles set forth last of all as men doomed to death; made a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. They were hungry, thirsty, naked, buffeted; they had no certain dwelling-place; they were treated as fools and weak, were dishonored, defamed, treated as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things. Such was conspicuously the case of St. Paul in that death, so lonely and forsaken, that the French skeptic thinks he must have awakened with infinite regret from the disillusionment of a futile life. Nay, it was the earthly lot of Him who was the prototype, and consolation, known or unknown, of all these:-it was the lot of Him who, from that which seemed the infinite collapse and immeasurable abandonment of His cross of shame, cried out: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He warned His true followers that they, too, would have to face the same finality of earthly catastrophes, to die without the knowledge, without even the probable hope, that they have accomplished anything, in utter forsakenment, in a monotony of execration, often in dejection and apparent hiding of Gods countenance. The olden saints who prepared the way for Christ, and those who since His coming have followed His footsteps, have had to learn that true life involves a bearing of the cross.
Take but one or two out of countless instances. Look at that humble brown figure, kneeling drowned with tears to think of the disorders which had already begun to creep into the holy order which he had designed. It is sweet St. Francis of Assisi, to whom God said in visions: "Poor little man: thinkest thou that I, who rule the universe, cannot direct in My own way thy little order?" Look at that monk in his friars dress, racked, tortured, gibbeted in fetters over the flaming pyre in the great square at Florence, stripped by guilty priests of his priestly robe, degraded from a guilty Church by its guilty representatives, pelted by wanton boys, dying amid a roar of execration from the brutal and fickle multitude whose hearts he once had moved. It is Savonarola, the prophet of Florence. Look at that poor preacher dragged from his dungeon to the stake at Basle, wearing the yellow cap and sanbenito painted with flames and devils. It is John Huss, the preacher of Bohemia. Look at the lion-hearted reformer feeling how much he had striven, not knowing as yet how much he had achieved, appealing to God to govern His world, saying that he was but a powerless man, and would be "the veriest are alive" if he thought that he could meddle with the intricacies of Divine Providence. It is Luther. Look at the youth, starving in an ink-stained garret, hunted through the streets by an infuriated mob, thrust into the city prison as the only way to save his life from those who hated his exposure of their iniquities. It is William Lloyd Garrison. Look at that missionary, deserted, starving, fever-stricken, in the midst of savages, dying on his knees, in daily sufferings, amid frustrated hopes. It is David Livingstone, the pioneer of Africa. They, and thousands like them, have borne squalors and shames and tragedies, while they looked not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Might not they all have said with the disappointed Apostles, "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing"? Might not their lives and deaths-the lives which fools thought madness, and their end to be without honor-be described as one poet has described that of his disenchanted king:-
"He Walked with dreams and darkness, and he found
A doom that ever poised itself to fall,
An ever-moaning battle in the mist,
Death in all life, and lying in all love,
The meanest having power upon the highest,
And the high purpose broken by the worm."
"Yes; the smelter of Israel had now to go down himself into the crucible."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 he himself went a day's journey
he himself went a day's journey
The word "himself" is used to emphasize that he was alone. AT: "he walked by himself for a day" (See: Reflexive Pronouns)
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broom tree
A "broom tree" is a plant that grows in the desert. (See: Translate Unknowns)
He requested for himself that he might die
"He prayed that he would die"
It is enough, now, Yahweh
"These troubles are too much for me, Yahweh"
bread that had been baked on coals
This can be stated in active form. AT: "bread that someone had cooked on hot stones" (See: Active or Passive)
jug of water
"a container of water"
translationWords
desert
Yahweh
asleep
angel
bread
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 19:4 Though technically a shrub, the broom tree can…
19:4 Though technically a shrub, the broom tree can reach a height of ten feet. Its leaves are small, but it provides adequate shade for a weary traveler in the wilderness. Like Jonah (Jon 4:3), Elijah had successfully carried out his commission, but he felt a sense of defeat with the results. • no better: God’s refugee prophet felt that he had accomplished little and would be better off dead.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.