John Gill Commentary 1 Kings 18:42

"So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees." — 1 Kings 18:42 (ASV)

So Ahab went up to eat and to drink
Up to his chariot, as some think, or rather to some place higher than that in which he now was:

and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel ;
higher still, where he both might be alone, and have the opportunity of observing the clouds gathering, and the rain coming:

and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his
knees ;
expressive of his humility, and of his earnestness, and vehement desire, and continued importunity, that rain might fall; for this was a posture of prayer he put himself into, and continued in; and it is certain that it was through his prayer that rain came, (James 5:18) and from hence came the fable of the Grecians concerning Aeacus praying for rain in a time of drought, when it came ^F8 . So the Chinese writers ^F9 report that at the prayers of their emperor Tangus, after a seven years' drought, great rains fell.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Pausan. Attica, sive, l. 1. prope finem. Isocrat. Evagoras, p. 373.
• F9: Martin. Sinic. Hist. l. 3. p. 60.