Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Elijah did not feel himself safe until he was beyond the territory of Judah, for Ahab might demand him of Jehoshaphat I Kings 18:10, with whom he was on terms of close alliance I Kings 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 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.
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."
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing 1 Kings 19:4:
Numbers 11:4-35
Job 30:4
Psalms 120:4
Proverbs 11:30
Revelation 12:14
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