1 Kings 17

Elijah, from the town of Tishbe, who lived among the settlers in the region of Gilead, said to King Ahab: "As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, the God I serve and stand before, there will be no dew and no rain in the coming years unless I say so."

1And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

NoteThree things in this verse are shorthand an ancient reader would have caught at once. "The LORD" in small capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, which the Hebrew text writes but does not pronounce. "As the LORD liveth" was the standard form of a binding oath, roughly "I swear by the living God." And "before whom I stand" is court language: a servant or attendant stood in the presence of the king he served, so the phrase means "whose servant I am." Ahab was king of Israel, the northern kingdom, in the ninth century BC; Gilead was the highland country east of the Jordan River, rough grazing land well away from the capital. A Tishbite is a man from Tishbe, a village in that area. Rain in this region falls only in winter, and a failure of it meant no crops the following year.

2Then a message from the LORD came to Elijah. It said:

2And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

Note"The word of the LORD came unto him" is a set formula used throughout the prophetic books for a message received from God. It is not a description of how the message arrived.

3"Leave this place, go east, and hide by the brook called Cherith, which is east of the Jordan River.

3Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

NoteCherith was a wadi, a streambed that runs with water during the rainy season and dries up when the rains stop. That is why it fails in verse 7. "Before Jordan" in the King James is an old use of "before" meaning "facing" or "on the east side of."

4You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to bring you food there."

4And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

NoteRavens were on the list of birds Israelites were forbidden to eat (Leviticus 11:15), and they are scavengers that feed on carrion, an unlikely source of a man's daily food.

5So Elijah did what the LORD told him. He went and lived by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan River.

5So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

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

6And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

Note"Flesh" in the King James simply means meat.

7After some time the brook dried up, because no rain had fallen in the land.

7And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

Note"After a while" translates a Hebrew phrase literally reading "at the end of days," meaning after some unspecified stretch of time.

8Then a message from the LORD came to Elijah. It said:

8And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

9"Get up and go to Zarephath, a town that belongs to Sidon, and stay there. I have ordered a widow there to feed you and take care of you."

9Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

NoteZarephath lay on the Mediterranean coast between Tyre and Sidon, in Phoenician territory, foreign ground, outside Israel, in the homeland of Ahab's queen Jezebel. A widow in this world had no husband to provide for her and, unless a grown son or male relative took her in, no legal claim on land or income; widows are named again and again in Hebrew law as among the most exposed people in society. The instruction sends Elijah to be fed by someone with nothing.

10So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he reached the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, so I can drink."

10So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

NoteThe gate of a walled town was its public square, the place where business was done, cases were judged, and travelers arrived. Gathering sticks means gathering firewood by hand, a task for someone with no fuel stored.

11As she was going to get it, he called after her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread too."

11And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12She answered, "As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread baked. All I have is a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a couple of sticks to go home and cook a last meal for my son and me. Then we will eat it and die."

12And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

NoteShe swears by "the LORD thy God", your God, not hers; she is a Phoenician, not an Israelite. "Meal" in the King James is flour, ground grain, not a mealtime. The "barrel" is a clay storage jar, not a wooden cask, and a "cruse" is a small jug or flask. "Dress it" means prepare or cook it. Her two sticks are enough fire for one small baking and no more.

13Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do what you said. But first make a small loaf for me from what you have and bring it out to me. After that, make something for yourself and your son.

13And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

NoteA "cake" here is a plain flat loaf baked on hot stones or in ashes, not anything sweet. Asking for it "first" puts the guest's portion ahead of the household's, which was the normal claim of hospitality on a host, though not normally on a host with one meal left.

14This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not run out, and the jug of oil will not go dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.'"

14For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

Note"Waste" in the King James means be used up or run out, and "fail" means run dry.

15She went and did what Elijah said. And there was food every day for her, for Elijah, and for her household.

15And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

Note"Many days" is a Hebrew way of saying "for a long time" rather than a count of days. "Her house" means her household, the people living under her roof.

16The jar of flour did not run out, and the jug of oil did not go dry, just as the LORD had said through Elijah.

16And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

17Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. He got worse and worse, until no breath was left in him.

17And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

Note"Sore" in the King James means severe or grievous, not painful to the touch. "The mistress of the house" means the woman who owned and ran the household. "No breath left in him" is the ordinary Hebrew way of describing death.

18She said to Elijah, "What do you and I have to do with each other, man of God? Did you come here to bring my sin to mind and to kill my son?"

18And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

Note"What have I to do with thee" is a Hebrew idiom (literally "what is there between me and you") used to protest an unwanted involvement: "why have you interfered with me?" Behind her words lies a common ancient assumption that disaster in a household exposed some hidden fault in it, and that the presence of a holy man brought such faults to notice.

19Elijah said to her, "Give me your son." He took the boy from her arms, carried him up to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.

19And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

NoteThe "loft" or "chamber" is a room built on the flat roof of the house, reached by an outside stair and often given to a guest. "Bosom" means her arms or lap, where she was holding the boy.

20Then he called out to the LORD, "LORD my God, have you also brought disaster on this widow I am staying with, by killing her son?"

20And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

Note"Sojourn" means to live somewhere as a guest or resident foreigner rather than as a native. "Brought evil upon" translates a Hebrew word covering disaster, harm and misfortune generally, not moral wickedness.

21Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times and called out to the LORD, "LORD my God, please let this child's life come back into him."

21And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.

Note"Soul" here translates the Hebrew nephesh, which means the life or breath in a living creature, what makes a body alive, rather than a spirit conceived of as separable from the body. Stretching himself over the child three times is a prophetic gesture; the text describes it without explaining it.

22The LORD listened to Elijah. The boy's life came back into him, and he lived again.

22And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

Note"Revived" in the King James means came back to life.

23Elijah picked up the child, carried him down from the upstairs room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, "Look, your son is alive."

23And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

24The woman said to Elijah, "Now I know for certain that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD you speak is true."

24And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.

Note"Man of God" was a standard title for a prophet, someone recognized as speaking on God's behalf.