Carmel (Joshua 12:22 note) was chosen by the prophet as the scene of the gathering to which he invited, or rather summoned, Ahab. Its thick jungles of copse and numerous dwarf-oaks and olives, would furnish abundant wood for his intended sacrifice. Here was a perennial fountain; and here again an ancient “altar of the Lord” 1 Kings 18:30, belonging probably to the old times of non-idolatrous high-place worship - perhaps an erection of one of the patriarchs. On the one hand, there would be a view of the Mediterranean, from where the first sign of rain was likely to come, and on the other of Jezreel, the residence of the court at the time, with its royal palace and its idol-temples, so that the intended trial would take place in the sight (so to speak) of the proud queen and her minions.
The prophets of Baal - The priests of Baal are so called not so much because they claimed a power of foretelling the future, as because they were “teachers” of the false religion, and more especially because they stand here in antagonism to the “prophet of the Lord,” with whom they are about to contend.
The prophets of the groves, four hundred - Rather, “of the grove” - the prophets, or priests, attached to the “grove” - אשׁרה 'ăshêrāh - which Ahab had made, probably at Jezreel (marginal reference). The number 400 seems to have been one especially affected by Ahab. We again find 400 prophets at the close of his reign 1 Kings 22:6. The number 40 entered largely into the religious system of the Jews 1 Kings 6:17; Exodus 26:19; Deuteronomy 25:3; Ezekiel 41:2.
Which eat at Jezebel’s table - Rather, “which eat from Jezebel’s table.” Oriental etiquette would not have allowed them to eat “at” the table of the queen, which was spread in the seraglio. They were fed from the superfluity of her daily provision, which was no doubt on a sumptuous scale. Compare 1 Kings 4:22-23.