“leap.” This same word is used in 1 Kings 18:26 for the false prophets leaping on the altar they made.

“the two sides.” The Hebrew word can mean “branches” (YLT) or crutches made from branches (HALOT), which seems unlikely here. The ASV uses “two sides,” which makes sense. The idea seems to be the very concrete mind picture of a person leaping back and forth between two branches in a tree or two sides of an issue. One thing seems clear from the context, and that is that no one can support both sides because the sides are opposed.

“Baal.” The Canaanite god of rain and fertility. See commentary on 1 Kings 17:1.