1 Kings 17:3

3 "Go from this place and turn to the east; you must hide yourself in the Wadi Kerith {which faces the Jordan}.

1 Kings 17:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 17:3

Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward
From the place where he was, being in danger from Ahab and Jezebel, provoked by his reproofs, threatenings, and prophecies:

and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan;
in some wood or cave near it, or among the reeds and rushes that grew on the banks of it; and Bochart ^F15 takes it to be the same with the river Kanah, on the borders of Ephraim, which has its name from reeds, ( Joshua 16:8 ) ( 17:9 ) , and Cherith by anticipation, from the prophet's being fed there; and Adrichomius ^F16 places this brook in the tribe of Ephraim; though Fuller ^F17 in the half tribe of Manasseh, beyond Jordan; but Bunting says ^F18 it runs from Mount Ephraim between Bethel and Jericho, eight miles from Jerusalem towards the north, and so, passing along towards the east, falls into Jordan.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 13. col. 216.
F16 Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 26.
F17 Pisgah-Sight B. 2. c. 3. p. 97.
F18 Travels p. 205.

1 Kings 17:3 In-Context

1 Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe of Gilead said to Ahab, "{As Yahweh lives}, the God of Israel before whom I stand, there shall surely not be dew nor rain these years {except by my command}."

2 Then the word of Yahweh came to him, saying,

3 "Go from this place and turn to the east; you must hide yourself in the Wadi Kerith {which faces the Jordan}.

4 It shall be that you shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the crows to sustain you there."

5 So he went and did according to the word of Yahweh. He went and stayed in the Wadi Kerith {which faces the Jordan}.

Footnotes

• [a]. A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
• [b]. Literally "on the face of the Jordan"