1 Kings 18:40

“And Elijah said unto them, take the prophets of Baal, etc.] The four hundred and fifty that were upon the spot; for the number of the people of Israel, now gathered together, were equal to it; nor was it in Ahab’s power to hinder it, and he might himself be so far surprised and convicted as not in the least to object to it: let not one of them escape: that there might be none of them left to seduce the people any more: and they took them; laid hold on them, everyone of them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon; which ran by the side, and at the bottom of Mount Carmel, into the sea; (see Gill on “<070407>Judges 4:7”) (see Gill on “<070521>Judges 5:21”). and slew them there;…”

“Elijah required the people to show their conviction by acts - acts which might expose them to the anger of king or queen, but which once committed would cause them to break with Baal and his worshippers forever. Elijah is said to have slain the “prophets of Baal,” because the people killed them by his orders. Why they were brought down to the torrent-bed of Kishon to be killed, is difficult to explain. Perhaps the object of Elijah was to leave the bodies in a place where they would not be found, since the coming rain would, he knew, send a flood down the Kishon ravine, and bear off the corpses to the sea. Elijah’s act is to be justified by the express command of the Law, that idolatrous…”

“Elijah said - He takes the opportunity, whilst the peoples hearts were warm with the fresh sense of this great miracle. The brook Kishon - That their blood might be poured into that river, and thence conveyed into the sea, and might not defile the holy land. Slew them - As these idolatrous priests were manifestly under a sentence of death, passed upon such by the sovereign Lord of life and death, so Elijah had authority to execute it, being a prophet, and an extraordinary minister of God's vengeance. The four hundred prophets of the groves, it seems, did not attend, and so escaped, which perhaps Ahab rejoiced in. But it proved, they were reserved to be the instruments of his destruction, by…”

“Take: or, Apprehend, Kg2 10:25 Kishon: Jdg 5:21 slew them there: Deu 13:5, Deu 18:20; Jer 48:10; Zac 13:2, Zac 13:3; Rev 19:20, Rev 20:10 3 Kings (1 Kings) 18:41”