For Wednesday 16 December 2009: Third from the Sun (You should email to Stella before class time at 3:10 on Wednesday.)

THIRD FROM THE SUN

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View this episode from The Twilight Zone here then answer the following questions. Email your answers before class time at 3:10 on Wednesday 16 December 2009. (For our film students, note the deep focus lens which creates an eerie distortion in many shots, and also the canted camera angles, to the same purpose.)

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    1. What does Bill Sturka tell the gate guard is his specialty?
    2. In the impending war, how many hours before the military has its aircraft aloft?
    3. What is the enemy expected to do in the meantime?
    4. How many people does Sturka say might die instead of the usual 50 million?
    5. What does Carling accuse Sturka of being?
    6. What time does host/narrator Rod Serling say it is at the plant?
    7. What does he say is hanging invisible over the summer night?
    8. According to the daughter, Jody, what is her mother trying to urge out of the ground?
    9. What does Jody expect her father to do with her before supper?
    10. What does the father tell his daughter is spread out in a few photo albums?
    11. How many pieces does Sturka say is in one bomb?
    12. What does Sturka's wife, Eve, say that people have been noticing?
    13. What does Sturka say that people do with every great idea?
    14. What does the father (Sturka) tell his daughter (Jody) to do with her date?
    15. What can't the wife give words to?
    16. When do the conspirators have to be out of the house?
    17. What kind of stories does Jody say Jerry had better tell?
    18. What has Jerry been hot at the past couple of weeks?
    19. Does Ann know anything of Sturka's plans?
    20. When does Sturka want Jerry to come around?
    21. In their pretend conversation, when does Sturka tell Jerry to have his watch checked?
    22. How far is their destination?
    23. What does Carling ask to drink?
    24. What has Jerry being doing up north?
    25. What kind of card player does Jerry call Sturka?
    26. What does Carling say can happen in a week?
    27. What does he like to do on warm evenings?
    28. What does Carling say may be on the stars?
    29. How many months have Sturka and Jerry been planning their trip?
    30. What are we told won't exist much longer?
    31. Where does Jerry tell Jody  they will be in the morning?
    32. Where does Sturka tell the telephone caller that he is?
    33. How does Carling tell the men to breathe?
    34. With whom does Carling say Sturka and Jerry have an engagement?
    35. How does the loud speaker announcer classify the vehicle on the field?
    36. What time is it when Sturka says all is well?
    37. What is the third planet from the sun?

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2 Kings (Class Edit) Month of December 2008

2 Kings

1

1: After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel.
2: Now Ahazi'ah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Sama'ria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, "Go, inquire of Ba'al-ze'bub, the god of Ekron [that is, the Philistines], whether I shall recover from this sickness."
3: But the angel of the LORD said to Eli'jah the Tishbite, "Arise, go to the messengers of the king of Sama'ria, and say to them, `Is there no God in Israel that you wish to inquire of Ba'al-ze'bub, the god of Ekron?'
4: Therefore thus says the LORD, `You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but shall surely die.'"
When the king asks what kind of man this was, Elijah is described the following way:

8: They answered him, "He wore a garment of haircloth, with a girdle of leather about his loins." And he said, "It is Eli'jah the Tishbite."
John the Baptist is later described this way.
17: So he died according to the word of the LORD which Eli'jah had spoken. Jeho'ram, his brother, became king in his stead in the second year of Jeho'ram the son of Jehosh'aphat, king of Judah, because Ahazi'ah had no son.

2

1: Now when the LORD was about to take Eli'jah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Eli'jah and Eli'sha were on their way from Gilgal.
Elijah tells Elisha to wait while he goes first to Bethel, then Jericho, then the Jordan. Elisha refuses each time, proof that Elisha is a worthy successor:
8: Then Eli'jah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
This, like the later parting of the water by Elisha, refers back to Moses and Joshua parting the waters.
11: And behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Eli'jah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12: And Eli'sha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!"
"The chariots of Israel" are the power of God.
14: Then he took Elijah's mantle and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Eli'jah?" And when he had struck the water, the water was parted and Eli'sha crossed.
This means that Elisha has inherited the spirit of God, just like Elijah. Today we say a successor has inherited the mantle of a predecessor. Elisha in. v. 14 repeats the similar acts by Moses and Joshua in parting the waters & crossing over.

4-5

These chapters relate Elisha's miracles: A woman's husband dies and she is in debt, without food. Elisha tells her to gather her only jar of oil and empty vessels from neighbors.Then she should use her full bottle of oil and pour it into the empty vessels. When there are no more empty vessels the oil stops flowing. Elisha tells her to sell the oil to pay her debts and live on the remainder. He revives a dead child by laying on him, mouth to mouth. In another miracle, he cures poisoned food. A worker's iron ax falls into the water and Elisha makes it float by throwing in a stick. A man brings him 20 barley loaves and fresh ears of grain. Elisha asks the man to feed a hundred men. The food is enough, with leftovers. The king of Syria's servant, Naaman, has leprosy and asks Israel's king for help. Elisha tells him to wash in the Jordan 7 times. He's cured. Grateful, Naaman asks for earth from Israel to worship Israel's God in Syria, but asks permission to bow before Syria's God, Rimnon, when with Syria's king, his master. Elisha says, "Go in peace." By saying "Go in peace," Elisha avoids the issue of whether there's only one god. Also, Naaman needs Israel's earth (dirt) to worship Israel's God, as if this God were bound to the earth. We saw this earlier when David, fleeing from Saul outside outside Israel, complains he cannot worship Jehovah. We see this also in Psalm 137 when the psalmist says he cannot worship God in a foreign land. We saw it too when Ruth tells her mother-in-law on the way to Bethlehem, "your gods will be my gods." Monotheism is still tied to place in these texts.

8

16: In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jeho'ram the son of Jehosh'aphat, king of Judah, began to reign.
18: And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
19: Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant.
20: In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah, and set up a king of their own.

It's implied that Edom revolted (v. 20) because Jehoram did "evil in the sight of the LORD." (Edom is south of Judah, a common enemy; the story of Jacob and Esau [Edom] explained the conflict between these rivals.)

9

1: Then Eli'sha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, "Gird up your loins, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
2: And when you arrive, look there for Jehu and bid him rise from among his fellows, and lead him to an inner room.
The prophet party (led by Elisha) has decided to take over, to reclaim the nation for Jehovah (the traditional religion), by killing the kings of both kingdoms. Anointing confirms Jehu as king.
3: Then pour the oil on his head, and say, `Thus says the LORD, I anoint you king over Israel.'"
16: Then Jehu mounted his chariot, and went to Jezreel, for [Israel's King] Joram lay there. And Ahazi'ah king of Judah had come down to visit Joram.
22: And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" He answered, "What peace can there be, so long as the harlotries and the sorceries of your mother Jez'ebel are so many?"
"Peace" without "law" is no peace. Jehu kills both kings.
30: When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jez'ebel heard of it. She painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out of the window.
31: As Jehu entered the gate, she said, "Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?"

Jezebel calls Jehu a "Zimri," because Zimri had assassinated (killed) a king, just like Jehu has.
32: And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs [unsexed men] looked out at him.
33: He said, "Throw her down." They threw her down. Her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her.
35: When they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.
36: When they came back and told him, he said, "This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Eli'jah the Tishbite, `In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jez'ebel;
37: and the corpse of Jez'ebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jez'ebel.'"

10
By trickery, Jehu kills the whole House of Ahab, including the Ba'al prophets, as predicted by God. There seems to be criticism of Jehu's actions, which was politically motivated.

31: But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD the God of Israel with all his heart.
36: The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Sama'ria was twenty-eight years.

11

1: Now when Athali'ah the mother of Ahazi'ah saw her son (Ahazi'ah) was dead, she destroyed all the royal family.
2: But Jehosh'eba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahazi'ah, took Jo'ash the son of Ahazi'ah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber.
3: And he remained with her six years, hid in the house of the LORD, while Athali'ah reigned over the land.
Jehoiada, the priest, protects the boy:
12: Then [Jehoiada] put the crown upon him, and they said, "Long live the king!"
13: When Athali'ah heard the noise of the guard and of the people,
14: she tore her clothes, and cried, "Treason! Treason!"
15: Then Jehoi'ada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, "Bring her out between the ranks; and slay with the sword anyone who follows her."
18: Then all the people went to the house of Ba'al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Ba'al before the altars.
21: Jeho'ash was seven years old when he began to reign.

17

6: In the ninth year of Hoshe'a the king of Assyria captured Sama'ria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria.

This is 722 BCE: the fall of the northern kingdom; note the "theodicy" in v. 7:
7: And this was because Israel had sinned against the LORD.
24: And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, etc. and they took possession of Sama'ria, and dwelt in its cities.
34: To this day they do according to the former manner.
This is an attack on Samaria, because "they do" according to non-Jews. So Samaritans were scorned by Judahite Jews (from Judah).  Samaria had by post-Exilic times developed a syncretistic religion, influenced by many immigrants (see v. 33 above), no longer recognizably a Jewish religion, at least according to Judah's priests.

18

This begins the third and final part of 2 Kings: focused only Judah's kings, because there is no more northern kingdom. Hezekiah (next king) and Josiah are the only two kings in the books of Kings that are praised. Political success was not the standard used by the D writer; the only standard was based on religious values, to uphold traditional and centralized monotheism. The winners write the history books. Judah outlasted the northern kingdom, so it wrote the history of both kingdoms; the view we get is the view of Judah's historians.

2: Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.
3: He did right in the eyes of the LORD, like David his father had done.
4: He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Ashe'rah.

21

1: Manas'seh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2: He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Manasseh must have done something right, since he reigned for 55 years! But the D writer doesn't see it that way, since Manasseh opposed the Jerusalem party (centralized worship, strict monotheism). He submitted to Assyria, but blended religions. Manasseh is condemned and is actually said to be the cause of Judah's fall! A bogus Prayer of Manaesseh was written to "explain" why Manasseh reigned for so long. The prayer is based on the fact, reported in 2 Chronicles, that Manasseh was captive in Assyria for a few years. This is the short Prayer:

I am weighted down with iron chains as an Assyrian captive], rejected because of my sins. Now I beg your kindness, O Lord. I have sinned. Forgive me and I will praise you all the days of my life. . . . Amen.

The writer of  2 Chronicles mentioned this prayer to explain why Manasseh had a long rein. But the D writer of Kings dismisses Manasseh completely and predicts doom for Judah (the "measuring line of Samaria" means the same judgment, doom, as Samaria, which fell in 722):
10: And the LORD said by his servants the prophets,
11: "Because Manas'seh king of Judah has committed these abominations,
13: I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Sama'ria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
14: And I will cast off the remnant of my heritage, and give them into the hand of their enemies."
18: And Manas'seh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza.

22

1: Josi'ah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

Because Josiah ruled so young, it's likely the priests shaped his rule to their ways.
2: And he did right in the eyes of the LORD.
8: And Hilki'ah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD."
11: And when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.
Chronicles tells another story, showing that Josiah started reforms before the book was found. Here the book is found first, followed by reforms. The book is the Book of the Law, considered to be all or part of Deuteronomy. Whether it was "found" or planted to seem like it came from Moses, is another matter.

23 

3: And the king made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people joined in the covenant.

Note the Deuteronomist phrase, also in the Shema, "with all his heart and all his soul." Now Josiah starts another purge of foreign idols:
4: And the king commanded to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Ba'al, for Ashe'rah, and the host of heaven; he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
5: And he deposed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places at the cities of Judah and round about Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Ba'al, to the sun, and the moon, and the host of the heavens.

The student can see that Judah's religion was no longer pure but a syncretisic mix of many gods. This syncretism continues in modern Christianity (Christmas trees, candy canes, angels, Santa Claus, even December 25, the day of the sun god, Sol Invictus).
21: And the king commanded all the people, "Keep the passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant."
22: For no such passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah;
23: but in the eighteenth year of King Josi'ah this passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.
25: Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.
26: Still the LORD did not turn from his wrath, because of Manas'seh.

Though Josiah is given high approval ratings, the D writer explains why Judah fell and puts the blame on Manasseh's idolatry!
27: And the LORD said, "I will remove Judah out of my sight, as I removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem."

Note: the Lord defeated Israel and will defeat Judah, not foreign nations.
31: Jeho'ahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
32: And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all his fathers had done.

Egypt was gaining strength and had enough influence to depose Judah's king and replace him with one of her own choosing. Egypt now receives "tribute" money:
33: And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid upon the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
34: And Pharaoh Neco made Eli'akim the son of Josi'ah king in the place of Josi'ah his father, and changed his name to Jehoi'akim.
35: And Jehoi'akim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh.

24

1: In his days Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoi'akim became his servant three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.
2: And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chalde'ans [Babylonians], and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by his servants the prophets.
3: Surely this happened because of the sins of Manas'seh,

The new power is now the Babylonians (sometimes called the Neo-Babylonians, because there was an older power called the Babylonians). Manasseh is blamed for this too!
6: Jehoi'akim slept with his fathers, and Jehoi'achin his son reigned in his stead.
8: Jehoi'achin was eighteen years old when he became king; he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
9: He did evil in the sight of the LORD.
11: And Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. . . .
12: The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign,
13: and carried off the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon had made, as the LORD had foretold.
14: He carried away all Jerusalem, and the princes, ten thousand captives, and the craftsmen and smiths; none remained, except the poorest people of the land.
15: And he carried away Jehoi'achin to Babylon,
17: And Babylon made Mattani'ah, Jehoi'achin's uncle, king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedeki'ah.
18: Zedeki'ah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
19: And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, like Jehoi'akim.
20: And Zedeki'ah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

25

1: And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon came with his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it.
4: Then a breach was made in the city; the king with all the men of war fled by night.
5: But the army of the Chalde'ans pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and his army was scattered.
7: They slew Zedeki'ah's sons before his eyes, and put out his eyes and bound him in chains, and took him to Babylon.
8: In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, Nebu'zarad'an, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
9: And he burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down
10: and the walls around Jerusalem.
11: And the rest of the people Nebu'zarad'an carried into exile.

God's Temple is destroyed. The captivity of the Jewish people is called the Babylonian Captivity and lasted 50 years, before the Persian king Cyrus defeated Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple, under Persia's toleration of foreign gods.
12: But some of the poorest were left to be vinedressers and plowmen.
22: And over the people who remained he appointed Gedali'ah the son of Ahi'kam, son of Shaphan, governor.
24: And Gedali'ah said, "Do not be afraid because of the Chalde'an officials; and serve the king of Babylon."
Gedaliah is assassinated because he's only a puppet ruler.
26: Then the people, small and great, and the captains of the forces arose, and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chalde'ans.
27: And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoi'achin king of Judah, Evil-mero'dach king of Babylon graciously freed Jehoi'achin king of Judah from prison.
29: And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table.
The Deuteronomist History ends on a hopeful note, with the liberation of King Jehoiachin.

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Scheduled film for Friday 18 December 2009

MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT?

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Man's Favorite Sport (Howard Hawks, 1964) is a key film in the Auteur Theory, which recognizes the director as the chief architect of a film despite the collaborative nature of cinema.
    An argument of auteur critics is that the signature of a director (the director's personality) is more important than how good the film is. The worst film by an auteur is better than the best film by a mere "director" (a metteur-en-scene: someone who just translates a book to the screen, however well).
    In this case the auteur is Howard Hawks. He achieved legendary status among auteur critics yet was almost invisible among mainstream critics during his best years, eclipsed by directors who made "prestige" films based on major literary works but who left no signature in their films. But Hawks, auteur critics discovered, left a visible signature in all his films and a personality. Persistent themes and a style could be traced in them.
    Among his dramas critics discovered the theme of the masculine group united in a dangerous adventure. A woman was allowed in after accepting masculine standards.
    The comedies focused on the irrational war between the sexes. These are called screwball comedies, with fast ripostes, farcical incidents involving sexual humiliation, and a reversal of expectations (the hostile couple united at the end).
    In terms of style, Hawks preferred an eye-level camera (no fancy angles), overlapping dialogue, invisible editing, and functional camera movements such as follow shots.
    The problem with Man's Favorite Sport is it's Hawksian but not funny. It shows the hero, Roger, secure in his masculine environment (a sports store), humiliated by women.
    Mise-en-scene often shows two women (Abigail and her friend, Easy) in dominant positions, laughing at the male hero's ineptitude at a masculine sport (fishing). They initiate the comic encounters throughout the film, until the end, when Roger initiates the final development, insuring closure (the hectored male regains control to a more balanced degree).
    Hawks uses wardrobe changes and props (fishing gear and outfits, fish, pajamas, a bath towel, an arm cast, and tools used to break it) for comic effect. Scenes are scripted to show the male at a disadvantage with women and even men, as when Roger is in his pajamas.
    The problem is, though thematically and stylistically Hawksian, the film lacks distinction. Though a comedy, it's not funny, though some have found it so.
    A comparison of this film with Hawks' great comedies, such as Bringing Up Baby, Twentieth Century, His Girl Friday, I Was a Male War Bride, and Monkey Business will show the difference. Most notable is its slow pace compared to the earlier screwball comedies. Also missing is the overlapped dialogue typical of Hawks' comedies.
    More seriously, Rock Hudson is awkward as Roger. His conception and execution of the part are wrong. He reads his lines as if he were in a drama instead of a comedy. Paula Prentiss, as Abigail (Abby), is good but her character is poorly written and unmotivated
    The poor script shows how important good writing is, even to an auteur. The dialogue is not funny and the incidents contrived. They seem imposed on the characters rather than developing naturally from their motives. This is true from the first sequence, where Abby steals Roger's parking space.  The dialogue should sparkle but fizzles.
    Comic incidents are predictable. A fish caught in the pants. Roger upside down in the water or victimized by an inflatable suit. A bear riding a bicycle. A Caucasian pretends to be an Indian.
    But the film is important as a late work by one of Hollywood's most celebrated filmmakers, a hero of French auteur critics such as Francois Truffaut. It's a model of mise-en-scene, whether successful or not, since comedy, more than drama, requires an ostensive use of props, wardrobe changes, and blocking (proxemics).

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Student Sign-Up Sheet for Monday and Wednesday Oral Presentations 14, 16 December 2009

Absent students will have to come last on the list.

MIDTERM for Week of 14 December 2009

MIDTERM ORAL PRESENTATION

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Review the questions below. Practice at home or with your classmate(s). Prepare to discuss these with me individually during the week of 14 December 2009 (14, 16) during usual class times in the regular classroom. Work on content, fluency, vocabulary, volume, intonation.
    Each oral exam will take about 10 minutes. I will select several questions from the list below or all of them.
    I don't care about student rotation. If students agree on a rotation among themselves, that's all right. Otherwise I'll circulate a sign-up sheet on Wednesday.

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    1. Discuss one of your pet peeves and elaborate on it.
    2. Discuss your favorite song and why you like it. Discuss lyrics and music if you can.
    3. Discuss your personal response to a Twilight Zone teleplay.
    4. Discuss your response to the Nobel Prize award given to US President Barack Obama.
    5. Do you believe people are alike all over? Discuss. Give reasons, comparisons, analogies, examples. Include personal experience if you can.
    6. Discuss your views about credit cards and debt. Do you believe in using credit cards; in amassing debt?  What would you use a credit card for?
    7. In "The Mind and the Matter" the main character disliked people. Discuss the relative merits of society and solitude. Include personal examples or insights.
    8. Discuss your views about Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift at an award ceremony.

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DR. STRANGELOVE

1 KINGS (Class Edit) December 2009

1 Kings

(Class Edit)
December 2009

1

1: Now King David was old and advanced in years; and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.  
3: So they sought for a beautiful maiden throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Ab'ishag the Shu'nammite, and brought her to the king.
4: The maiden was beautiful and became the king's nurse; but the king knew her not.

In the Bible, "to know" someone is to have sex with them. We still use that phrase in legal speech, such as having "carnal knowledge" of someone, meaning have sex with them.  The writer may be deliberately showing the old King David, famous for his love affair with Bathsheba, now unable to enjoy a woman right next to him in bed. The reference to Adonijah, "son of Haggith" (v. 5, below) refers to David's son by another wife (Haggith, not Bathsheba). Note the criticism of David for never teaching his son, thus causing his misconduct. The son is linked to another rebellious son, Absalom, by being "handsome."
5: Now Adoni'jah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king."
6: His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, "Why have you done so?" He was also a very handsome man; and he was born next after Ab'salom.
7: He plotted with Jo'ab the son of Zeru'iah and with Abi'athar the priest; they followed Adoni'jah and helped him.
11: Then Nathan said to Bathshe'ba the mother of Solomon, "Have you not heard that Adoni'jah has become king and David our lord does not know it?
12: Now let me give you counsel, so save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
13: Go in to King David, and say, `Did not the king swear to your maidservant, saying, "Solomon your son shall reign after me"? Why then is Adoni'jah king?'
14: Then while you are still speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words."

There is no record of such a promise in the Bible; it's not clear if this is being made up to a senile (foolishly old) David.
15: So Bathshe'ba went to the king. 
22: While she was speaking with him, Nathan the prophet came in.  
24: And Nathan said, "My lord, have you said, `Adoni'jah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne'?
25: For he has invited the king's sons, Joab the commander of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, `Long live King Adonijah!'

These sacrifices of Adonijah would be a symbolic way of publicly claiming the crown (kingship), since the priest Abiathar is involved.
32: King David said, "Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." So they came before the king.
33: And the king said, "Take the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon to ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon;
34: and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet, and say, `Long live King Solomon!'
50: And Adoni'jah feared Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold of the horns of the altar.

This was a plea for "sanctuary" (protection from the Temple, as later, from the Christian church). Note the symbolic actions involved in making Solomon king (he rides on his father's mule, etc.).
53: So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and did obeisance to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, "Go to your house."

2

1: When David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2: "I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man. . . .
5: "Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me.

This refers to Jaob's killing of Abner (Saul's general, later on David's side). This scene of "settling scores" inspired the ending of the Godfather movie, where Corleone's enemies are killed by the son.
6: Act according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.
8: And there is also with you Shim'e-i, who cursed me when I went to Mahana'im; but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, saying, `I will not put you to death with the sword.'
9: You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol."

Did David speak these words, or were they put in his mouth to justify Solomon's blood bath (the killing of his enemies)?
10: Then David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
12: So Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father, his kingdom established.
13: Then Adoni'jah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, mother of Solomon.
15: He said, "You know the kingdom was mine, and all Israel expected me to reign; but the kingdom become my brother's, for it was his from the LORD.
16: And now I have one request to make.
17: Ask King Solomon to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."
18: Bathshe'ba said, "I will speak to the king."
By sleeping with King David's "concubine," like Absalom, Adonijah tries to show he is the true king. Bathsheba tells her son what Adonijah asks; but it's not clear if she knows what Solomon will do to remain king: kill Adonijah. Note, Adonijah agrees the kingdom was given to Solomon by the Lord (v. 15).
25: So King Solomon sent Benai'ah the son of Jehoi'ada; and he struck Adonijah down, and he died.
26: And to Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your estate. You deserve death, but I will not now put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you shared in all the affliction of my father."
27: So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, fulfilling the word of the LORD which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

As a descendet of Eli, Abiathar's death would fulfill God's prophecy that none of Eli's family would prosper as priests. This uses God to justify human actions, as we do today.
28: When the news came to Joab -- for Joab had supported Adonijah -- Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
29: And when it was told King Solomon, "Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD," Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, strike him down."
33: "So shall their [Abner and Amasa, the two people Joab killed] blood come back upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants for ever; but to David, and to his descendants, and to his house, and to his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD for evermore."

"Peace" [Hebrew: shalom] is another key word in the Bible (like "Sabbath" = "rest"). Solomon's name is related to "shalom" (peace).
35: The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abi'athar.

Now we have another line of priests, traced from Zadok from this point on. Most scholars believe that the religious group of Jesus' time, the Sadduces, got their name from Zadok.
36: Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and do not go forth from there to any place whatever.
37: Otherwise you shall die; your blood shall be upon your own head."
38: So Shim'e-i dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

The murders of Solomon's enemies are justified as coming from the dying King David (the orders probably did not come from him). Solomon's hands are clean. The story places the blame for the deaths of Abner and Amasa on Joab, not David, cleaning up David's image. The story of Shimei is similar to the story of Michael Corleone's brother-in-law in The Godfather movie, who is told to stay in Florida as punishment for an offense against the Corleone family. Michael tricks the brother-in-law and has him killed before he goes to Florida.
41: And when Solomon was told Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned,
46: the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
There seems to be irony in the final verse (46): the kingdom was "established" on murders, not on righteousness!

3

16: Two harlots came to the king, and stood before him.
17: The one woman said, "Oh, my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.
18: Then this woman also gave birth; we were alone; there was no one else with us in the house, only we two were in the house.
19: And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on it.
20: And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your maidservant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.
21: When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I looked at it closely in the morning, behold, it was not the child that I had borne."
22: But the other woman said, "No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours." The first said, "No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine." Thus they spoke before the king.
23: Then the king said, "The one says, `This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead'; and the other says, `No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.'"
24: And the king said, "Bring me a sword." So a sword was brought before the king.
25: And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other."
26: Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means slay it." But the other said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it."
27: Then the king answered and said, "Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means slay it; she is its mother."
28: And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they saw the wisdom of God was in him, to give justice.

6

1: In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the LORD.

38: And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.

8 

6: Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.
9: There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb [Sinai].
10: And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD,
11: so the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
12: Then Solomon said, "The LORD has set the sun in the heavens, but has said he would dwell in thick darkness.

The Sinai moment is repeated here, to "legitimate" the new Temple; and is repeated in the scene of Elijah on Mount Carmel; and then repeated in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The Sabbath, the Passover, and Sinai are the three founding moments of Jewish identity. The Sabbath = rest; Passover = Freedom; Sinai = the Law (Torah). Jesus and St. Paul repeat these 3 motifs: Jesus = the final rest; Jesus = the Law (the fulfillment of the Law, in Spirit and perfect obedience); Jesus = freedom from slavery to sin. As for the "cloud," this could be a symbolic displacement of the Sun god of other religions. The Deuteronomist says that God "set the sun in the heavens" (thus denying the sun is a god) but has chosen to dwell in darkness: this takes power and glory from the sun. Something similar happens when Elijah, the prophet, hears "the still, small voice," depriving thunder and lightning (identified with gods in other religions) of their power; the Jews don't need thnder and lightning; their god speaks in a small voice.
13: I have built thee an exalted house, a place for thee to dwell in forever.
25: Now O LORD, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him, saying, `There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.'
Note the tension (conflict) between giving God a house and knowing God cannot reside in a house! This is the special genius of the Hebrew religion, which has been passed to other cultures; this sense that God must never be limited by idols, by buildings, etc. Note v. 27. Still the house is built to preserve the religion! This is the paradox the Deuteronomist is aware of: form is necessary to preserve substance. Centralized worship is important to preserve the Shema: know the Lord your God is ONE. If people worship God in many places, there will be many gods! The paradox is that God must be limited, to one place, in order to insure his unity! This conflict will never be resolved and will lead to the end of Israel as a nation; but not to "Israel" as God's people. The irony is that only after the fall of "Israel" (the nation) does "Israel" (God's chosen people) take over the world ("Israel" now identified with gentiles [non-Jews] as well as Jews, as St. Paul showed).
27: "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! 
33: "When thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, if they turn again to thee, and acknowledge thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house;

This seems post-Exilic; that is, after the Exile, or at least after the exile of the Northern kingdom. Note the theme of universalism in v. 41ff. (following verses). Israel pleads for non-Jews as well as Jews. This theme of universalism becomes important in the prophetic writings, leading to the Jewish sect called Christianity.
34: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.
41: "Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of thy people Israel, comes from a far country for thy name's sake
42: (for they shall hear of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and of thy outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house,
43: hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to thee; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

The following is prophecy after the fact (at least after the fall of the northern kingdom in 722):
44: "If thy people
46: sin against thee -- there is no man who does not sin -- and thou art angry with them, and give them to an enemy, so they are captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
48: if they repent and pray to thee toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
49: then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

Note the reference to the founding moment of the Jewish people: the escape from slavery in Egypt; and, before that, the choosing of Abraham to found God's chosen people; then, in v. 56, there's the motif of "rest" repeated. Other motifs are the "promise" and univeralism.
53: For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be you heritage, as you declared through Moses, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt.
56: "Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel; not one word has failed of all his good promise, 
60: that all the peoples of the earth may know the LORD is God; there is no other."

10

1: Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.
6: And she said to the king, "The report was true which I heard in my own land of your affairs and of your wisdom."
24: And the whole earth sought Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.

The writer praises Solomon but hints of betrayal of the prophetic class, opposed to "chariots and horsemen," "silver," etc. This criticism becomes stronger in the next chapters. The king relied on the prophets for legitimacy, but aslo resented the limits prophets placed on their rule. Prophets, of course, would prefer to rely on God rather than horsemen!
26: And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen.
27: And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone.
28: And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Ku'e.

11

1: Now King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2: from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods"; Solomon clung to these in love.
To insure the glory of his kingdom, Solomon must oppose God's will, which is the centralized worship of one God. These wives insured political alliances which made Israel strong. To be friendly with other nations, Solomon had to be friendly with their gods too! The kings are judged not by their military or economic success, but by whether they maintained centralized worship and avoided idolatry (worship in high places, etc.). Note, "Solomon clung to these in love" (v. 2)  suggests they stole his heart from God (v. 4).
3: He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
4: For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

5: Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6: So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.
7: Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
8: And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
11: Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since you have not kept my covenant, I will tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.

Prophecy after the fact: the writer knows the kingdom will be split in two; he knows Judah will survive hundreds of years after the northern kingdom (Israel) falls; this is "for the sake of David." Note, v. 14, God is in control of history, even when his people suffer:
13: However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."
14: And the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal house in Edom.
26: Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite, also lifted up his hand against the king.
29: And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the open country.
30: Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.

This is what is called a symbolic action: showing the future by acting it out. So the prophet acts out how the 12 tribes will be divided.
31: And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I will tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes
32: (but Solomon shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),
33: because he has forsaken me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has not walked in my ways, doing what is right, as David his father did.
38: And if you walk in my ways, and do right as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
39: And I will for this afflict the descendants of David, but not for ever.'"
40: Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
42: And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over Israel forty years.
43: And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
The year of Solomon's death is usually given as 933 BCE.

12

1: Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
3: And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,
4: "Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke upon us, and we will serve you."
6: Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, "How do you advise me to answer this people?"
7: And they said to him, "If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants for ever."
Note the wisdom of the elders' advice; but Rehoboam foolishly ignores it.
10: But the young men who had grown up with him said, "Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, `Your father made our yoke heavy, but do you lighten it for us'; thus shall you say to them, `My little finger is thicker than my father's loins.
11: My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.'"
16: And when all Israel saw the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, "What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David." So Israel departed to their tents.
To go to their tents means they are willing to fight alone, as separate people.
17: But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
18: Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, taskmaster over forced labor, and Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
The people escaped from Egypt to freedom, but now the House of David has made them slaves again, to maintain luxury.
20: And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
26: And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David;
27: if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehobo'am king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehobo'am king of Judah."
28: So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
29: And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
30: And this thing became a sin, for the people went to the one at Bethel and to the other as far as Dan.
31: He also made houses on high places, and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites.
Jeroboam, king of the northern kingdom (Israel) made a reasonable political decision, to insure the people did not go to Jerusalem and be influenced by Judah's politics, so turn against him. But the prophet party could not compromise. Worship that was outside the Temple in Jerusalem was considered idolatry and forbidden. So Jeroboam gets bad marks in the D history. The "calves" were "bulls" and suggested bull worhip of other nations. One can also see how the story of the Golden Calf (where two calves are mentioned) was written backwards from this later incident; that is, the story of the Golden Calf, which caused Moses to break the tablets of the Law (thus breaking the Sinai Covenant that God had with his Chosen People) referred to this later political conflict between the two kingdoms (north and south) and was a way to make the attack on the worship of the "two calves" seem worse, by locating a similar incident in the time of Moses, who condemned such worship as idolatry.

14

Jeroboam asks his wife to consult, Ahijah, the prophet who anointed him before his apostasy (allowing idolatry). The prophet gives the following answer (vv. 14-16). (This is prophecy after the fact, since the northern kingdom, called Israel, fell to the Assyrians in 722 BCE.)
14: The LORD will
16: give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin."
20: And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

The book of kings is in three parts: 1. The United Kingdom, 2. The divided kingdoms; 3. Judah (after Israel's fall in 722 BCE). From now on (Part 2) the writer alternates between a northern ruler and a southern ruler of the same period:
21: Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah.
22: And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy by their sins more than all that their fathers had done.
23: For they built high places, and pillars, and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree;
24: and there were male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

To do evil meant idolatry. That was the standard the D writer had; but kings had other worries: to maintain an army, to make allies, etc. V. 30 (below) links Judah's apostasy (betrayal of God) with a war between north and south:
30: And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.
31: And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

15

23: In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and reigned for twelve years.
24: He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he fortified the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25: Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.

Omri was one of the greatest kings of the time; in fact, Israel was called the House of Omri. But that didn't mean anything to the D writer, who judged kings based on the principle of centralized worship. A king of the northern kingdom would get a bad grade from the D writer, who favored centralized worship, which was only possible in the southern kingdom (Jerusalem)! "Jeroboam" (v. 26) becomes the model of evil kings, because he was the first to build the two calves (bulls) against centralized worship.
26: For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam.
28: And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
29: In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Sama'ria twenty-two years.
30: And he did evil in the sight of the LORD more than all that were before him.
31: And he took for wife Jezebel, and served Baal, and worshiped him.

17

The following are part of the Elijah/Elisha cycle of stories, imitated in Christian hagiography (holy writings; writings about saints). Elijah's first two miracles look ahead to Jesus feeding the multitude and reviving the dead.

1: Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."
8: Then the word of the LORD came to him,
9: "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you."
10: And when he came to the gate of the city, a widow was gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me water."
11: And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me some bread."
12: And she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
13: And Eli'jah said to her, "Go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and your son.
14: For thus says the LORD the God of Israel, `The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the oil shall not fail, until the day the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'"
15: And she went and did as Elijah said; and her household ate for many days.
16: The jar of meal was not spent, neither did the oil fail, according to the word of the LORD.
17: After this the son of the woman became ill; and there was no breath in him.
18: And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!"
19: And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber, where he lodged, and laid him upon his own bed.
21: Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's soul come into him again."
22: And the LORD heard Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

18

1: After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth."

The stress on rain from God suggests that God, not the Canaanite storm god, Ba'al ("Lord"), whom Ahab worships, controlled the rain.
17: When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said, "Is it you, troubler of Israel?"
18: And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals.
19: Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20: So Ahab gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21: And Eli'jah said, "How long will you go limping with two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him."
22: Then Elijah said to the people, "I only am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23: Bring two bulls; let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; and I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it.
24: And you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, he is God."
25: Then Elijah said to the prophets of Ba'al, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it."
26: And they did so and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Ba'al, answer us!" But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped about the altar which they had made.
27: And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."

"He has gone aside" means their god has gone to relieve himself ("gone to the bathroom"). Elijah is making fun of idols. Later, the triple use of water shows that even with wet wood, the real God can start a fire.
28: And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
29: And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice; no one answered, no one heeded.
30: Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me"; and all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down;
31: Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, "Israel shall be your name";
32: and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
33: And he put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, "Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood."
34: And he said, "Do it a second time"; and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time"; and they did it a third time.
35: And the water ran round about the altar, and filled the trench also with water.
36: And Elijah said, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and have done these things at thy word."
38: Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39: And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God."
40: And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape." And they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
43: And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times."
44: And at the seventh time he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising out of the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, `Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.'"
"A little cloud like a man's hand" is a famous phrase, suggesting a small sign for a big event. Mt. Carmel is famous as the later site of the Christian Carmelite nuns (about 12th century). Another miracle occurs in v. 46 when, God's spirit allows Elijah to run faster than Ahab's chariot (v. 46):
45: And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
46: And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

19

1: Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2: Then Jez'ebel sent a messenger to Eli'jah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow."
3: Then he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4: But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die/
5: And he slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."
6: And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again.
7: And the angel of the LORD came again a second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you."
8: And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

The D writer links Elijah to Moses: both are in the wilderness 40 days and nights (Moses on the mountain); both go to the same mountain to hear the word of God. But the voice of God has changed into "a still, small voice," a sign of a more rational idea of how God speaks. Today, our conscience is called the still small voice, through which God speaks. This denies the Canaanite storm god's (Ba'al) power (through storm and thunder).
9: And there he lodged in a cave; and the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10: He said, "I have been jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
11: And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;
12: and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
15: And the LORD said, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;
16: and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Eli'sha the son of Shaphat of A'bel-meho'lah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place."

God is in control of history, appointing even the head of Syria, Israel's enemy.
19: So he found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Eli'jah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him.

This passing of the mantle is part of idiomatic English: "the mantle has passed to X," for example. Jesus improves this story (v. 20), by saying, "Anyone who sets his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God."
20: And he left the oxen, and ran after Eli'jah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again; for what have I done to you?"

21

5: Now Jezebel his wife came to Ahab and said, "Why is your spirit vexed that you eat no food?"
6: And he said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, `Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it'; and he answered, `I will not give you my vineyard.'"
7: And Jezebel his wife said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."
8: So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who dwelt with Naboth in his city.
9: And she wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people;
10: and set two base fellows opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, `You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death."
15: As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is  dead."
16: And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
17: Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18: "Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession.
Note the device as in the Tower of Babel story: even as Jezebel and Ahab "arise" to enjoy the fruit of their sin (the vineyard), Elijah "arises" to warn Ahab of certain punishment.
19: And you shall say to him, `Thus says the LORD, "Have you killed, and also taken possession?"' And you shall say to him, `Thus says the LORD: "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood."'"
20: Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.
23: And of Jezebel the LORD also said, `The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.'

22

1: For three years Syria and Israel continued without war.
2: But in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel (Ahab).
3: And the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?"
4: And he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?"
A battle ensues; Ahab tries to disguise himself but is accidentally killed anyway:

34: But a certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate; therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn about, and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded."
35: And the battle grew hot that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died; and the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot.
36: And about sunset a cry went through the army, "Every man to his city, and every man to his country!"
37: So the king died, and was brought to Sama'ria; and they buried the king in Sama'ria.
38: And they washed the chariot by the pool of Sama'ria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the harlots washed themselves in it, according to the word of the LORD which he had spoken.
Ahab could not save himself; even disguised, an arrow found him. The prophecy came true.

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