Read 1 Kings 18 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
18:1-14 {s} Elijah meets Obadiah, who hid YHVH’s prophets when Jezebel massacred them
18:15-19:14 {s} …
1 Kin 17:1-18:46 Chiastic structure:
“Answer me, O YHVH, answer me, and let this people know that You, YHVH, are God, and You have turned their heart back to You.” 1 Kin 18:37
Elijah’s prayer is not so much for the miracle, although that happens, but so that the people will acknowledge YHVH as God, turning their hearts away from Baal and back to YHVH.
To turn is in Hebrew, Strong’s H5437 סבב sabab, a primitive verb meaning, “to turn about, to revolve.” The ancient pictographs are sin + bet + bet.
sin ס = thorn, thus grab, hate, protect
bet ב = house, thus house, household, family, in, within
bet ב = house, thus house, household, family, in, within
The cognate words will help us find the parable the Hebrew Root Word is telling. One is ‘turn,’ another ‘dizzy,’ ‘strong drink,’ and ‘drunkeness.’ Therefore, to turn (sin, since if one encounters a thorn along the way, one turns away from it) within (bet) again (bet, a second bet implying repetition or addition). It indicates that what is within—namely, the heart—has turned, as Elijah’s prayer assumes, and that the turning is not merely for outward show, but reflects a deeper, inward change.
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