And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

1 KINGS 18:26KJV
Know the Bible

1 Kings 18:26 (KJV)

What does 1 Kings 18:26 mean?

1 Kings 18:26 describes how the prophets of Baal prepared their bull for sacrifice and spent hours calling on Baal to answer them, but there was no response. In desperation, they even jumped around the altar they had made, trying to get Baal’s attention.

This scene takes place during a dramatic contest on Mount Carmel between Elijah, the prophet of the LORD, and the prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal are trying to prove that their god is real by calling on him to send fire to consume their offering, but nothing happens. Their frantic actions show their desperation and the silence of Baal.

The Hebrew behind 1 Kings 18:26

  • בָּעַל (baʿal): This is the name of the Canaanite god the prophets are calling on. The repetition of this name highlights the focus of their worship and the contrast with the God of Israel.
  • עָנָה (ʿanah): This word means "to answer" or "respond." The verse uses it twice—once as a plea ("hear us") and once to show there was no answer. The silence emphasizes Baal’s powerlessness.
  • פָּסַח (pasach): Translated here as "leaped," this word can also mean to limp or hop. It suggests wild, frenzied movement, showing the prophets’ growing desperation as they try to provoke a response from Baal.

Why 1 Kings 18:26 matters

  • The verse highlights the contrast between the living God and idols that cannot respond, setting up the dramatic outcome of the contest.
  • It shows the lengths people will go to in religious rituals when they are desperate for a sign or answer, even when none comes.
  • The details here prepare the reader for Elijah’s calm and confident approach later, emphasizing the difference between true faith and empty ritual.

Where else these words appear

“leaped” Hebrew H6452 · used in 7 verses

  • Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
  • Exodus 12:27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
  • 1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

“noon” Hebrew H6672 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
  • 1 Kings 20:16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
  • Isaiah 16:3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

“no” Hebrew H369 · used in 29 verses

  • Genesis 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
  • 2 Chronicles 20:25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
  • Isaiah 41:24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

“Baal” Hebrew H1168 · used in 68 verses

  • Judges 2:11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
  • 1 Kings 22:53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
  • 2 Chronicles 23:17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.