1 Kings 17:2-12

2 Then the word of ADONAI came to him:

3 "Leave here, turn to the east, and hide in Vadi K'rit near the Yarden.

4 You are to drink from the stream, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."

5 So he went and acted according to the word of ADONAI- he went and lived in Vadi K'rit near the Yarden.

6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the stream.

7 After a while the stream dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

8 Then this word of ADONAI came to him:

9 "Get up; go to Tzarfat, a village in Tzidon; and live there. I have ordered a widow there to provide for you."

10 So he set out and went to Tzarfat. On reaching the gate of the city, he saw a widow there gathering sticks. He called out to her, "Please bring a little water in a container for me to drink."

11 As she was going to get it, he called after her, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."

12 She answered, "As ADONAI your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a pot and a little oil in the jug. Here I am, gathering a couple sticks of wood, so that I can go and cook it for myself and my son. After we have eaten that, we will die."

1 Kings 17:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

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.