1 Kings 17:17-24

Elijah Raises the Widow's Son

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

18 And she said to Elijah, ¹"What have you against me, O ²man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!"

19 And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.

20 And he cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?"

21 ³Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life^[a] come into him again."

22 And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and ⁴he revived.

23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives."

24 And the woman said to Elijah, ⁵"Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."

1 Kings 17:17-24 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.

Cross References

• 1. [Luke 4:34; Luke 5:8]
• 2. See Deuteronomy 33:1
• 3. 2 Kings 4:34, 35; Acts 20:10
• 4. [Hebrews 11:35]
• 5. [John 3:2]

Footnotes

• [a]. Or soul; also verse 22