Passage

1 Kings 19.14

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"12. and after the earthquake a fire; but Jehovah was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?"

"14. And he said, I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

"15. And Jehovah said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; 16. and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room." (1 Kings 19:12-16, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"12. After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice. 13. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”"

"14. He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”"

"15. Yahweh said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16. Anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel; and anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah to be prophet in your place." (1 Kings 19:12-16, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"12. And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?"

"14. And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

"15. And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: 16. And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. ^{Elisha: Gr. Eliseus}" (1 Kings 19:12-16, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"12. and after the shaking a fire:, not in the fire [is] Jehovah; and after the fire a voice still small; 13. and it cometh to pass, at Elijah's hearing [it], that he wrappeth his face in his robe, and goeth out, and standeth at the opening of the cave, and lo, unto him [is] a voice, and it saith, 'What, to thee, here, Elijah?'"

"14. And he saith, 'I have been very zealous for Jehovah, God of Hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, Thine altars they have thrown down, and Thy prophets they have slain by the sword, and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my life, to take it.'"

"15. And Jehovah saith unto him, 'Go turn back on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus, and thou hast gone in, and anointed Hazael for king over Aram, 16. and Jehu son of Nimshi thou dost anoint for king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat, of Abel-Meholah, thou dost anoint for prophet in thy stead." (1 Kings 19:12-16, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Elijah responding to YHWH at the mouth of the cave on Horeb (Sinai)
Audience: YHWH directly; through the narrator, all later Israel
Location: Mount Horeb (= Sinai), the mountain of the Mosaic covenant
Time period: mid-ninth century BC, during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel (c. 870-852 BC)

Theological reading

1 Kings 19:14 is the second canonical case of human covenantal qana deployed by a covenant-mediator. Elijah uses the doubled construction qano qineti, "zealously have I been zealous", the intensified Hebrew form for qana-deployment at its breaking point. The setting is theologically loaded: Elijah is at Horeb, the mountain of the Sinai covenant, repeating the same statement he made in v. 10, Elijah's covenant-zeal mirrors the Mosaic covenant's Qanna-God (Ex 34:14) on the same mountain. The pattern: a covenant-mediator stands in for God's qana against the broader people's covenant-breaking; the mediator is exhausted, dispirited, near despair; God responds by recommissioning (anoint Hazael, Jehu, Elisha) rather than rebuking the zeal. The theophany itself, the wind-earthquake-fire-still-small-voice sequence (vv. 11-12), recontextualizes Elijah's qana: God is not only in the dramatic theophany but in the qol demamah daqqah ("still small voice"). The covenant-zeal is right, but its mode is reshaped. The figure carries Christological weight (Mal 4:5-6; Matt 17:10-13; Luke 1:17), Elijah's qana prefigures John the Baptist's covenant-zeal preparation for Christ. Patristic and Reformation exegesis read the still-small-voice as the mode of New Covenant divine self-disclosure: not the thundering Sinai theophany but the indwelling Spirit.

Key words

H7065 - qana, qana / qano qineti (Strong's H7065). The doubled-construction intensified deployment.
H7068 - qinah, qinʾah (Strong's H7068). The cognate noun.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.