1 Raja-raja 18:26

18:26 So they took a bull, as he had suggested, ¹  and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped ²  around on the altar they had made. ³ 

1 Raja-raja 18:29

18:29 Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, ⁴  but there was no sound, no answer, and no response. ⁵ 

[18:26]  ¹ tn Heb “and they took the bull which he allowed them.”

[18:26]  ² tn Heb “limped” (the same verb is used in v. 21).

[18:26]  ³ tc The MT has “which he made,” but some medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions have the plural form of the verb.

[18:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “when noon passed they prophesied until the offering up of the offering.”

[18:29]  ⁵ tc The Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta include the following words here: “When it was time to offer the sacrifice, Elijah the Tishbite spoke to the prophets of the abominations: ‘Stand aside for the time being, and I will offer my burnt offering.’ So they stood aside and departed.”

[18:29]  sn In 2 Kgs 4:31 the words “there was no sound and there was no response” are used to describe a dead boy. Similar words are used here to describe the god Baal as dead and therefore unresponsive.