1 Kings 17

The Prophet Elijah Arises

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}.

6 The crows [were] bringing bread and meat in the morning for him and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.

7 It happened {after a while} that the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

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

9 "Get up and go to Zarephath which belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to sustain you."

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath and came to the gate of the city. There [was] a widow woman gathering wood, so he called to her, and he said, "Please bring a little water for me in a vessel so that I can drink."

11 She went to fetch [it], and he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."

12 She said, "{As Yahweh your God lives}, surely I do not have a cake, {but only a handful of flour} in the jar and a little olive oil in the jug. Here I [am] gathering a few pieces of wood, and I will go and prepare it for me and my son, that we might eat it and die."

13 Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go and do according to your word; only make for me a small bread cake from it first, and bring it out to me. Make it for yourself and for your son afterward.

14 For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'The jar of flour will not be emptied and the jug of olive oil will not run out until the day Yahweh gives rain on the surface of the earth.'"

15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah; then [both] she and he ate with her household for many days.

16 The jar of flour was not emptied and the jug of olive oil did not run out, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of Elijah.

17 It happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; and his illness was very severe until there was no breath left in him.

18 She said to Elijah, "{What do you have against me}, O man of God, [that] you have come to me to make known my guilt and to cause my son to die?"

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

20 Then he called to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh my God, are you also causing evil to come upon the widow with whom I [am] dwelling as an alien by causing her son to die?"

21 He stretched himself out on the child three times and called to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh my God, please let the life of this child return within him."

22 Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned within him, and he lived.

23 Elijah then took the child and brought him down from the upper room to the house and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, "Look, your son [is] alive."

24 Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now this I know, that you [are] a man of God and the word of Yahweh in your mouth [is] truth."

1 Kings 17 Commentary

Chapter 17

Elijah fed by ravens. (1-7) Elijah sent to Zarephath. (8-16) Elijah raises the widow's son to life. (17-24)

Verses 1-7 God wonderfully suits men to the work he designs them for. The times were fit for an Elijah; an Elijah was fit for them. The Spirit of the Lord knows how to fit men for the occasions. Elijah let Ahab know that God was displeased with the idolaters, and would chastise them by the want of rain, which it was not in the power of the gods they served to bestow. Elijah was commanded to hide himself. If Providence calls us to solitude and retirement, it becomes us to go: when we cannot be useful, we must be patient; and when we cannot work for God, we must sit still quietly for him. The ravens were appointed to bring him meat, and did so. Let those who have but from hand to mouth, learn to live upon Providence, and trust it for the bread of the day, in the day. God could have sent angels to minister to him; but he chose to show that he can serve his own purposes by the meanest creatures, as effectually as by the mightiest. Elijah seems to have continued thus above a year. The natural supply of water, which came by common providence, failed; but the miraculous supply of food, made sure to him by promise, failed not. If the heavens fail, the earth fails of course; such are all our creature-comforts: we lose them when we most need them, like brooks in summer. But there is a river which makes glad the city of God, that never runs dry, a well of water that springs up to eternal life. Lord, give us that living water!

Verses 8-16 Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, and some, it is likely, would have bidden him welcome to their houses; yet he is sent to honour and bless with his presence a city of Sidon, a Gentile city, and so becomes the first prophet of the Gentiles. Jezebel was Elijah's greatest enemy; yet, to show her how powerless was her malice, God will find a hiding-place for him even in her own country. The person appointed to entertain Elijah is not one of the rich or great men of Sidon; but a poor widow woman, in want, and desolate, is made both able and willing to sustain him. It is God's way, and it is his glory, to make use of, and put honour upon, the weak and foolish things of the world. O woman, great was thy faith; one has not found the like, no not in Israel. She took the prophet's word, that she should not lose by it. Those who can venture upon the promise of God, will make no difficulty to expose and empty themselves in his service, by giving him his part first. Surely the increase of this widow's faith, so as to enable her thus readily to deny herself, and to depend upon the Divine promise, was as great a miracle in the kingdom of grace, as the increase of her meal and oil in the kingdom of providence. Happy are all who can thus, against hope, believe and obey in hope. One poor meal's meat this poor widow gave the prophet; in recompence of it, she and her son did eat above two years, in a time of famine. To have food from God's special favour, and in such good company as Elijah, made it more than doubly sweet. It is promised to those who trust in God, that they shall not be ashamed in evil time; in days of famine they shall be satisfied.

Verses 17-24 Neither faith nor obedience shut out afflictions and death. The child being dead, the mother spake to the prophet, rather to give vent to her sorrow, than in hope of relief. When God removes our comforts from us, he remembers our sins against us, perhaps the sins of our youth, though long since past. When God remembers our sins against us, he designs to teach us to remember them against ourselves, and to repent of them. Elijah's prayer was doubtless directed by the Holy Spirit. The child revived. See the power of prayer, and the power of Him who hears prayer.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "The life of Yahweh"
• [b]. Literally "except at the word of my mouth"
• [c]. A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
• [d]. Literally "on the face of the Jordan"
• [e]. A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
• [f]. A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
• [g]. Literally "on the face of the Jordan"
• [h]. A valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season
• [i]. Literally "from the end of days"
• [j]. A seasonal stream that is often dry
• [k]. Literally "The life of Yahweh your God"
• [l]. Literally "except that which fills a hand with flour"
• [m]. Literally "What for me and for you"

Chapter Summary

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.