“And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.”
King James Version (KJV)
18:25 Dress it first - And I am willing to give you the precedency.This he did, because if he had first offered, and God had answered by fire,Baal's priests would have desisted from making the trial on their part;and because the disappointment of the priests of Baal, of which he waswell assured, would prepare the way for the people's attention to his words,and cause them to entertain his success with more affection; and this cominglast would leave the greater impression upon their hearts. And this theyaccepted, because they might think, that if Baal answered them first,which they presumed he would, the people would be so confirmed andheightened in their opinion of Baal, that they might murder Elijahbefore he came to his experiment.