Did Elijah teleport so he reached ahead of Ahab to the gates of Jezreel?

Question

In the book of 1 Kings 18:44, Elijah the servant of God tells Ahab to ride his horses towards the gate of Jezreel but then the hand of the lord comes upon Elijah that he arrives at the gates of Jezreel ahead of Ahab. How is this possible when Elijah was on foot and Ahab is on a horse? Did the Lord cause Elijah to teleport?

1 Kings 18:45, 46 ESV

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 gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Answer 1

While spirit creatures could move with great speed such as the angel that killed 185,000 Assyrians in a single night (Isaiah 37:36 NWT), humans on their own can't do that.

So how could Elijah, running, arrive at Jereel before Ahab in a chariot? The only possible way would be for Jehovah God to give him that ability to do so.

Note the following information from the chapter "He Watched, and He Waited" in the book Imitate Their Faith,

¹⁸ “The very hand of Jehovah proved to be upon Elijah, so that he girded up his hips and went running ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.” (1 Ki. 18:46) Clearly, “the very hand of Jehovah” was acting on Elijah in a supernatural way. Jezreel was 19 miles (30 km) distant, and Elijah was no youth. Just picture that prophet girding up his long garments, tying them at his hips so that his legs would have freedom of movement, and then running along that rain-drenched road​—running so fast that he caught up with, passed, and outpaced the royal chariot!

¹⁹ What a blessing that must have been for Elijah! To feel such strength, vitality, and stamina​—perhaps even more than he had ever felt in his youth—​must have proved a thrilling experience. We might recall the prophecies that guarantee perfect health and vigor to faithful ones in the coming earthly Paradise. (Read Isaiah 35:6; Luke 23:43) As Elijah raced along that wet road, he surely knew that he had the approval of his Father, the only true God, Jehovah! [bold mine]

Jehovah, via his holy spirit, gave Elijah "strength, vitality, and stamina" to not only run past Ahab but get to Jezreel ahead of him.

This is corroborated by the following commentaries:

• Benson Commentary

  1 Kings 18:46. The hand of the Lord was on Elijah — God gave him more than natural strength, whereby he was enabled to outrun Ahab’s chariot for so many miles together.

• Barnes' Notes on the Bible

  Divinely directed, and divinely upheld, Elijah, instead of resting, ran in advance of the king's chariot the entire distance of at least 16 miles to the entrance of Jezreel.

• Matthew Poole's Commentary

  The hand of the Lord was on Elijah: God gave him more than natural and ordinary strength, whereby he was enabled to outrun Ahab’s chariot, and that for so many miles together.

• Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

  And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah,.... Giving him more than common strength of body, as well as courage and fortitude of mind; so the Targum, the spirit of strength from the Lord was with him:

• Geneva Study Bible

  And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran {q} before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

  (q) He was so strengthened by God's spirit that he ran faster than the chariot was able to run.

• Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

  46. the hand of the Lord was on Elijah] A divine impulse which directed and supported him in what he was to do.

• Pulpit Commentary

  Verse 46. - And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah [Same expression 2 Kings 3:15; Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 3:14; Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 33:22; cf. also Exodus 9:3; Judges 2:15; Ruth 1:13; Acts 11:21; Acts 13:11. Some of the commentators understand the words of Divine guidance, some of a supernatural strengthening. There is no need to exclude either interpretation. An impulse from on high impelled him to "gird up his loins" and go with the king; a strength not his own sustained him whilst "he ran," etc.

• Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

  . . . יהוה יד, the hand (i.e., the power) of the Lord, denotes the supernatural strength with which the Lord endowed him, to accomplish superhuman feats.

So it was not some science fiction trope that allowed Elijah to achieve something that would be uncharacteristic for a normal human to do. This was only possible by Jehovah's holy spirit, or active force.

Answer 2

It will come as a surprise that a fit human can outrun almost any animal, including the horse, over a long enough distance.

I reproduce this quote from this the article "The Human Body is Built for Distance".

Most mammals can sprint faster than humans - having four legs gives them the advantage. But when it comes to long distances, humans can outrun almost any animal. Because we cool by sweating rather than panting, we can stay cool at speeds and distances that would overheat other animals. On a hot day, the two scientists wrote, a human could even outrun a horse in a 26.2-mile marathon.

The distance from Mount Carmel to Jezreel is about 50 km (see Wikipedia: Tel Jezreel)

Over this distance, a fit Elijah could easily our run, or at least stay ahead of the chariot pulled by horse(s). Thus, the factoid contained in 1 Kings 18:46 is quite credible, especially if the "hand of the Lord" strengthened him.

And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

No teleportation required.

There is some indirect Bible evidence for this. In 2 Sam 18, news of the battlefront was dispatched, not by available horse & rider, but by a very fit (human) runner (V25, 26). This was also the case in 2 Chron 30:6, 10, Amos 2:14, 15, Est 3:13, 15, etc.

Answer 3

Assuming this was indeed a race and not Elijah simply running in front of the chariot as an escort (see addendum), the answer boils down to one word: "mud" - plus, Elijah also a head start. Consider the story again, including some of the previous verses:

Certainly some time elapsed between Elijah sending his servant to warn Ahab (vs. 41) and the servant arriving to give Ahab the news. Moreover Ahab was busy dining (vs. 42) and was not in the habit of believing Elijah's prophecies, while Elijah began running immediately.

Looking at the map, we can deduce that torrential rain, originating in Carmel after a long drought, would result in significant flooding and mudslides, causing Ahab's chariots to become stuck and his horses to be of no advantage. Elijah may have avoided the initial flooding because of his head start, and he could choose higher, rockier ground while Ahab had to stick to the roads, which were prone to becoming bogs. The conditions for Ahab would only worsen as he neared the Valley of Jezreel, known even in modern times as a territory where large areas of swampland had to be drained before it could be successfully farmed.

Conclusion: the hand of the Lord was with Elijah. But feet of Ahab's horses were slowed considerably by mud.

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Addendum: One important Jewish commentator, Rashi, does not see this as a footrace, but a case of Elijah running as Ahab's escort. Rashi says “he became endowed with strength to run on foot before the chariot, so that Achov [Ahab] would not go alone, for he treated royalty with respect." This does accord with what comes next: Ahab reports the events at Carmel to Jezebel and she then threatens divine retribution against Elijah, causing Elijah to flee from Jezreel for his life.