1 Kings 17:20

20 He called to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?"

1 Kings 17:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 17:20

And he cried unto the Lord
Or prayed unto him, as the Targum, with great vehemence and importunity:

and said, O Lord, my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow,
with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
he pleads his interest in the Lord, and makes use of it as an argument with him to hear his prayer; he observes the character and condition of the woman, a widow, such as the Lord has a compassionate regard for; and he urges the kindness of her to him, with whom he had sojourned so long; and seems to represent the case as an additional evil or affliction to him, as well as to the widow.

1 Kings 17:20 In-Context

18 So she said to Elijah, "What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!"

19 He said to her, "Give me your son." Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.

20 He called to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?"

21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the LORD and said, "O LORD my God, I pray You, let this child's life return to him."

22 The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "sojourning"