1 Kings 17:12

12 And she answered, (As) Thy Lord God liveth, for I have no bread, no but as much of meal in a pot, as a fist[ful] may take, and a little of oil in a vessel; lo! I gather two sticks, that I enter, and make it to me, and to my son, that we eat, and die (lo! I am gathering only two sticks, so that I can go in, and make it up for me, and my son, so that we can eat, and then die).

1 Kings 17:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 17:12

And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth
Which shows her to be a good woman, swearing by the living God, and him only, and that she took Elijah to be a good man, and a prophet of the Lord:

I have not a cake;
greater or less, not a morsel of bread in the house:

but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse;
these separate and unmixed, and not made into a cake, and dressed as she intended to do with them:

and, behold, I am gathering two sticks;
or a few, which would be sufficient to bake such a quantity as her meal and oil would make; she speaks by the figure "meiosis", which expresses less than what is meant, as Ben Melech observes:

that I may go in and dress it for me, and my son, that we may eat it,
and die;
having nothing more left, and no expectation of any elsewhere, and the famine strong in the land; so that she could look for nothing but death after this was eaten.

1 Kings 17:12 In-Context

10 He rose, and went into Zarephath of Sidonians; and when he had come to the gate of the city, a woman widow gathering sticks appeared to him; and he called her, and said to her, Give thou to me a little of water in a vessel, that I drink. (He rose up, and went to Zarephath of the Sidonians; and when he had come to the city gate, a widow woman gathering sticks appeared before him; and he called to her, and said to her, Give thou to me a little water in a vessel, so that I can have a drink.)

11 And when she went to bring it, he cried behind her back, and said, I beseech, bring thou to me also a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she answered, (As) Thy Lord God liveth, for I have no bread, no but as much of meal in a pot, as a fist[ful] may take, and a little of oil in a vessel; lo! I gather two sticks, that I enter, and make it to me, and to my son, that we eat, and die (lo! I am gathering only two sticks, so that I can go in, and make it up for me, and my son, so that we can eat, and then die).

13 And Elijah said to her, Do not thou dread, but go, and make as thou saidest; nevertheless make thou first to me of that little meal a little loaf, baken under ashes, and bring thou it to me; soothly thou shalt make afterward to thee and to thy son. (And Elijah said to her, Do not thou fear, but go, and make as thou saidest; but first make thou for me a small loaf from that little amount of meal, baked under ashes, and bring thou it to me; then afterward thou shalt make some for thee and thy son.)

14 Forsooth the Lord God of Israel saith these things (to you), The pot of meal shall not fail, and the vessel of oil shall not be abated, till to the day in which the Lord shall give rain on the face of the earth.