Biblical Geography

The Journeys of Elijah

Journey · Old Testament

Scripture first

1 Kings 19:8 · WEBU

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Elijah goes in the strength of one meal forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the of God.

Elijah's map is the map of his message: hiding in a ravine, sustained in the enemy's own country at Zarephath, confronting the court on Carmel, fleeing the length of the land to the where the began, and finishing at the Jordan where his successor took up the mantle.

From Gilead to the Kerith ravine, up the coast to Zarephath, to Carmel's fire, then south through the desert to Horeb, and back to the Jordan.

Biblical names
Cherith, Zarephath, Carmel, Beersheba, Horeb, the Jordan

Identification note. The brook Cherith's identification is uncertain; the other stages are secure.

The flight to Horeb is over four hundred kilometres on foot through . Scripture measures the despair by the distance: Elijah runs not just from Jezebel but back to the beginning of everything.

  • Elijah goes in the strength of one meal forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
  • Hidden by the brook Cherith, fed by ravens
  • North to Zarephath of Sidon and the widow's jar
  • Carmel: the contest with the prophets of Baal
  • Flight from Jezebel, south to Beersheba and on to Horeb
  • The last walk: Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, the Jordan

What we know

Certain

  • Carmel, Zarephath, Beersheba and the Jordan are identified; the arc of the journeys is clear in the text.

Disputed

  • Cherith's location is debated; east of the Jordan is the more natural reading.