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(^7) It deserves more than passing notice, that the modern denial of God may be reduced to the same ultimate principle as
the worship of Baal. For, if the great First Cause - God as the Creator - be denied, then the only mode of accounting for
the origin of all things is to trace it to the operation of forces in matter. And what really is this but a deification of
Nature?
(^8) As already stated, Baal was the real deity of Asia, worshipped under different forms (hence the plural: Baalim).
Moloch was only Baal under another aspect, that of destruction, comp. Jeremiah 19:5; 32:35.
(^9) In the original the word, as before noted, is the same as that rendered "halt" (in verse 21). The expression, no doubt,
refers to the pantomimic dances around the altar.
(^10) This is the correct rendering of verse 28, and not "knives and lancets," as in the Authorized Version.
(^11) For a full description and explanation of the time of the Evening Sacrifice, see The Temple, its Ministry and Services
at the time of Jesus Christ, p. 116.
(^12) The Rabbis note that, each time, four pitchers of water were poured, or twelve in all, corresponding to the twelve
stones of which the altar was built, and for the same symbolic reason.
(^13) 1 Kings 18:37 indicates the final (moral) purpose not only of this but of every miracle. The last clause of the verse
should be rendered in the present tense: "and that Thou turnest their heart back again."
(^14) It is scarcely credible, in view of the words of our Lord, Luke 9:55, 56; and yet this scene has been adduced as a
precedent for the persecution of so-called "heretics."
(^15) Seven - the number of the Covenant.
(^16) The Targum renders: "And the spirit of strength from before Jehovah."
(^17) I use the term "economy" here in its original meaning, as denoting the household arrangement, the household
legislation and order.
(^18) The LXX. (and some Codd.) by a slight change after the word "saw" (1 Kings 19:3) into one which means "feared:"
it need scarcely be said, erroneously.
(^19) The Rothem is not a juniper-tree (as in the Authorized Version), but a species of large, wide-spreading broom, which
generally grows near watercourses, and serves as protection alike from the sun and the wind.
(^20) Kimchi marks that the second meal was not newly brought, but must have been the remainder of the old. He also
points out how Elijah was led in the wilderness by a higher direction than his own.
(^21) The journey straight to Mount Horeb would have taken scarcely more than a fourth of that time.
(^22) The Hebrew has the definite article, to mark a special, well-known cave.
(^23) This is the meaning of the word "lodge" in verse 9.
(^24) Some commentators regard the first part of what is related as having been a vision. But there seems no indication of
this in the text.
(^25) The question bears manifold application. By recalling it, the children of God have not unfrequently been preserved
from sin, from improper association, and from worldly conformity.
(^26) The LXX. seem to have read more correctly the first clauses of verse 11. We translate: "And he said, Go forth and
stand on the mount before Jehovah - and behold, Jehovah passing by (passeth by)." The narrative portion only begins
after this: "And wind, great and strong," etc. It deserves notice that the expression "pass by" is only used here and in
Exodus 33 and 34:6 of Jehovah. Generally the opposite - that of dwelling (whence Shechinah) - is connected with Him.
Of these glorious manifestations only passing glimpses could be caught under the Old Testament.
(^)