Verse Lens · Concise explanation
1 Kings 18:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly.” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Famine frames Ahab, Obadiah, and hidden prophets.”
In the third year Elijah is sent to Ahab, and famine is severe
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Kings 18:1–6. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 18:1–6
Read 1 Kings 18:3 with 18:1–6. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Opens the third year with the promise of rain and the command that Elijah face Ahab; divides the water-search route between Ahab and Obadiah.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Famine frames Ahab, Obadiah, and hidden prophets,” 1 Kings 18:3 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly.” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The third-year command to appear before Ahab returns to the drought word after showing Elijah, a Sidonian widow, and her child living within its famine conditions.
Read 1 Kings 18:1–6 together
Why these verses belong together: Famine frames Ahab, Obadiah, and hidden prophets is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 18:1–18:6.
Verse 1. 1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
Verse 2. 2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.
Verse 3. 3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:
Verse 4. 4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
Verse 5. 5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.
Verse 6. 6 So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
What Remains True
Faithful care keeps bodily need, grief, danger, agency, and honest uncertainty visible rather than converting suffering into blame or a promised formula. This unit tests that truth through opens the third year with the promise of rain and the command that Elijah face Ahab; divides the water-search route between Ahab and Obadiah. In 1 Kings 18:3, the concrete line “And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Kings 18:1–6 — Famine frames Ahab, Obadiah, and hidden prophetsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 18:1–6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 18:1–6
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 619–621, translation and translator notes for 18:1–6
Open source ↗