1 Kings17
New American Standard
1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall certainly be neither dew nor rain during these years, except by my word.”
2Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
3“Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
4And it shall be that you will drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide food for you there.”
5So he went and did everything according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
6And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.
7But it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
9“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide food for you.”
10So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”
11As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”
12But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no food, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”
13However, Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said. Just make me a little bread loaf from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.
14For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘The bowl of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil become empty, until the day that the Lord provides rain on the face of the earth.’”
15So she went and did everything in accordance with the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days.
16The bowl of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil become empty, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
17Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his condition became very grave, until at the end he was no longer breathing.
18So she said to Elijah, “Why is my business any of yours, you man of God? Yet you have come to me to bring my wrongdoing to remembrance, and to put my son to death!”
19But he said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms and carried him up to the upstairs room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.
20And he called to the Lord and said, “Lord, my God, have You also brought catastrophe upon the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?”
21Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times, and called to the Lord and said, “Lord, my God, please, let this boy’s life return to him.”
22And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the boy returned to him and he revived.
23Elijah then took the boy and brought him down from the upstairs room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”
24Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Kings 17.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Elijah fed by ravens. (1–7). Elijah sent to Zarephath. (8–16). Elijah raises the widow's son to life. (17–24).
vv1-7
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! (1Ki 17:8-16)
vv8-16
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.
vv17-24
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.
Key Words
אֵלִיָּה: Elijah, the name of the famous prophet and of two other Israelites
תִּשְׁבִּי: a Tishbite or inhabitant of Tishbeh (in Gilead)
תּוֹשָׁב: resident alien
גִּלְעָד: Gilad, a region East of the Jordan; also the name of three Israelites
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אַחְאָב: Achab, the name of a king of Israel and of a prophet at Babylon
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
חַי: alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
Cross References
1 Kings 17New Testament verification that the drought was in response to Elijah's earnest prayer.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Jesus specifies the duration of the famine as three years and six months.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jesus highlights Elijah being sent to a Gentile widow rather than widows in Israel.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Commemorates the women who received their dead raised to life again by faith.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Drought as the explicit, covenantal punishment promised for national idolatry in Israel.
Supported by JFB
The widow receives a 'prophet's reward' for sustaining God's servant in need.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Elisha performs a structurally identical resurrection miracle in a private chamber.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Ravens are classified as unclean, making their service to Elijah highly unusual.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel miracle of multiplying oil to preserve a widow in extreme poverty.
Supported by JFB
Peter expresses similar unworthiness and fear when confronted with divine holiness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Elisha mirrors Elijah's physical stretching posture to revive the Shunammite's son.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Describes the priestly and prophetic posture of standing before the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Demonstrates the intensity of Ahab's search for Elijah during the drought.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Elijah appears alongside Moses at the Transfiguration as Israel's premier prophet.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Miraculous signs confirm that a messenger is indeed sent by God.
Supported by Matthew Henry