to the positive, it turns from explicit statements to hints and suggestions. The end of verse 12 does not actually say that the Lord was in the “still small voice”. However, when “a voice” does address Elijah (v.13), it is in exactly the same words and meets exactly the same response (v.14) as when “the word of the Lord came to him” (vv.9–10). That earlier phrase also shows the reluctance of the text to say simply that the Lord spoke to Elijah. (ii) The familiar “still small voice” of the