1 Kings 17:3-13

3 "Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River.
4 You can drink fresh water from the brook; I've ordered the ravens to feed you."
5 Elijah obeyed God's orders. He went and camped in the Kerith canyon on the other side of the Jordan.
6 And sure enough, ravens brought him his meals, both breakfast and supper, and he drank from the brook.
7 Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought.
8 Then God spoke to him:
9 "Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I've instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you."
10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the entrance of the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, "Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink."
11 As she went to get it, he called out, "And while you're at it, would you bring me something to eat?"
12 She said, "I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don't have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we'll die."
13 Elijah said to her, "Don't worry about a thing. Go ahead and do what you've said. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go ahead and make a meal from what's left for you and your son.

1 Kings 17:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 17

This chapter begins with a prophecy of Elijah, that there should be want of rain for some years to come, and he is directed to go first to the brook Cherith, where he should be fed by ravens, 1Ki 17:1-7, and afterwards he is sent to a widow at Zarephath, where he, she, and her son, were supported for a considerable time with a handful of meal, and a little oil in a cruse miraculously increased, 1Ki 17:8-16, whose son falling sick and dying, he restored to life, 1Ki 17:17-24.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.