Biblical Hebrew for All

1 Kings

מְלָכִים א 

" 1 kings "

Introduction

The Book of Kings is a book in the Hebrew Bible and two books (1 Kings and 2 Kings) in the Christian Old Testament.
It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books of Joshua and Judges and the Books of Samuel.

Contents

The Jerusalem Bible divides the two Books of Kings into eight sections:
  • 1 Kings 1:1–2:46. The Davidic Succession
  • 1 Kings 3:1–11:43. Solomon in all his glory
  • 1 Kings 12:1–13:34. The political and religious schism
  • 1 Kings 14:1–16:34. The two kingdoms until Elijah
  • 1 Kings 17:1 – 2 Kings 1:18. The Elijah cycle
  • 2 Kings 2:1–13:25. The Elisha cycle
  • 2 Kings 14:1–17:41. The two kingdoms to the fall of Samaria
  • 2 Kings 18:1–25:30. The last years of the kingdom of Judah.

Date

Scholars tend to treat the books as consisting of a first edition from the late 7th century BCE and of a second and final edition from the mid-6th century BCE.
The rest of this comprehensive Wikipedia article on the book can be read here.
An extract from BHFA Volume 5

1 Kings 19:12b

  וְאַחַר         הָאֵשׁ         קוֹל         דְּמָמָה      דַקָּה׃

small     whisper     a voice     the fire      and after

  • KJB and after the fire a still small voice.
  • NASB and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
  • ESV And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.
  • NLT And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.
  • NIV And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
  • CSB And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.
In the BHS text, there is a footnote at the last word. It states that the Greek Septuagint has added text. It does indeed add κακεί κύριος and thus changing the end of the sentence to: "and after the fire, the sound of a fine breeze, there was the LORD."
There is no reason to believe, as a number of scholars suggest, that the "voice" is in the construct and coupled to the last two words, and thus changing it to, "the voice of a small breeze."
The last two words are a noun followed by an attributive adjective. The correct and more dynamic equivalent of the actual MT would then be, " And after the fire, a voice, a fine whisper," as is found in the CSB translation for example.
An extract from BHFA Volume 5

1 Kings 19:16b

תַּחְתֶּֽיךָ׃

under you

This is a preposition + suffix 2mp meaning, "under you." Modern English translations imply that Elisha would replace Elijah fairly soon, but there is no indication of that in this verse. In 2 Kgs 3:11 Elisha is identified as Elijah’s personal servant.
  • KJB in thy room.
  • NASB in your place.
  • ESV in your place.
  • NLT to replace you
  • NIV to succeed you