1 Kings 17:10

10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink."

1 Kings 17:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 17:10

So he arose, and went to Zarephath
Which, according to Bunting F6, was one hundred miles from the brook Cherith:

and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was
there gathering sticks:
perhaps out of an hedge just without the city this shows her to be a poor woman, who had no other way of coming at fuel but this, and no servant to fetch it for her: Bunting tells us, that now before the gate of the city there is showed a certain chapel, where they say Elias first spoke with the widow:

and he called to her, and said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water
in a vessel, that I may drink;
being thirsty through travelling, and supposing this to be the woman he was directed to, made trial of her this way; some render it, "in this vessel" F7, which he had with him, and made use of at the brook Cherith.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Ut supra, (Travels) p. 203.
F7 (ylkb) "in hoc vase", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

1 Kings 17:10 In-Context

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
9 "Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you."
10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink."
11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
12 But she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.