24 And the woman H802 said H559 to Elijah, H452 Now by this H2088 I know H3045 that thou art a man H376 of God, H430 and that the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 in thy mouth H6310 is truth. H571
And G5037 said G3004 unto the woman, G1135 G3754 Now G3765 we believe, G4100 not G3754 because G1223 of thy G4674 saying: G2981 for G1063 we have heard G191 him ourselves, G846 and G2532 know G1492 that G3754 this G3778 is G2076 indeed G230 the Christ, G5547 the Saviour G4990 of the world. G2889 Now G1161 after G3326 two G1417 days G2250 he departed G565 G1831 thence, G1564 and G2532 went into G1519 Galilee. G1056 For G1063 Jesus G2424 himself G846 testified, G3140 that G3754 a prophet G4396 hath G2192 no G3756 honour G5092 in G1722 his own G2398 country. G3968 Then G3767 when G3753 he was come G2064 into G1519 Galilee, G1056 the Galilaeans G1057 received G1209 him, G846 having seen G3708 all the things G3956 that G3739 he did G4160 at G1722 Jerusalem G2414 at G1722 the feast: G1859 for G1063 they G846 also G2532 went G2064 unto G1519 the feast. G1859 So G3767 Jesus G2424 came G2064 again G3825 into G1519 Cana G2580 of Galilee, G1056 where G3699 he made G4160 the water G5204 wine. G3631 And G2532 there was G2258 a certain G5100 nobleman, G937 whose G3739 son G5207 was sick G770 at G1722 Capernaum. G2584 When he G3778 heard G191 that G3754 Jesus G2424 was come G2240 out of G1537 Judaea G2449 into G1519 Galilee, G1056 he went G565 unto G4314 him, G846 and G2532 besought G2065 him G846 that G2443 he would come down, G2597 and G2532 heal G2390 his G846 son: G5207 for G1063 he was at the point G3195 of death. G599 Then G3767 said G2036 Jesus G2424 unto G4314 him, G846 Except G3362 ye see G1492 signs G4592 and G2532 wonders, G5059 ye will G4100 not G3364 believe. G4100
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 17
Commentary on 1 Kings 17 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 17
1Ki 17:1-7. Elijah, Prophesying against Ahab, Is Sent to Cherith.
1. Elijah the Tishbite—This prophet is introduced as abruptly as Melchisedek—his birth, parents, and call to the prophetic office being alike unrecorded. He is supposed to be called the Tishbite from Tisbeh, a place east of Jordan.
who was of the inhabitants of Gilead—or residents of Gilead, implying that he was not an Israelite, but an Ishmaelite, as Michaelis conjectures, for there were many of that race on the confines of Gilead. The employment of a Gentile as an extraordinary minister might be to rebuke and shame the apostate people of Israel.
said unto Ahab—The prophet appears to have been warning this apostate king how fatal both to himself and people would be the reckless course he was pursuing. The failure of Elijah's efforts to make an impression on the obstinate heart of Ahab is shown by the penal prediction uttered at parting.
before whom I stand—that is, whom I serve (De 18:5).
there shall not be dew nor rain these years—not absolutely; but the dew and the rain would not fall in the usual and necessary quantities. Such a suspension of moisture was sufficient to answer the corrective purposes of God, while an absolute drought would have converted the whole country into an uninhabitable waste.
but according to my word—not uttered in spite, vengeance, or caprice, but as the minister of God. The impending calamity was in answer to his earnest prayer, and a chastisement intended for the spiritual revival of Israel. Drought was the threatened punishment of national idolatry (De 11:16, 17; 28:23).
2, 3. the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, &c.—At first the king may have spurned the prediction as the utterance of a vain enthusiast; but when he found the drought did last and increase in severity, he sought Elijah, who, as it was necessary that he should be far removed from either the violence or the importunities of the king, was divinely directed to repair to a place of retreat, perhaps a cave on "the brook Cherith, that is, before [east of] Jordan." Tradition points it out in a small winter torrent, a little below the ford at Beth-shan.
6. the ravens brought him bread—The idea of such unclean and voracious birds being employed to feed the prophet has appeared to many so strange that they have labored to make out the Orebim, which in our version has been rendered "ravens," to be as the word is used (in Eze 27:27) "merchants"; or Arabians (2Ch 21:16; Ne 4:7); or, the citizens of Arabah, near Beth-shan (Jos 15:6; 18:18). But the common rendering is, in our opinion, preferable to these conjectures. And, if Elijah was miraculously fed by ravens, it is idle to inquire where they found the bread and the flesh, for God would direct them. After the lapse of a year, the brook dried up, and this was a new trial to Elijah's faith.
1Ki 17:8-16. He Is Sent to a Widow of Zarephath.
8-16. the word of the Lord came to him—Zarephath, Sarepta, now Surafend, whither he was directed to go, was far away on the western coast of Palestine, about nine miles south of Sidon, and within the dominions of Jezebel's impious father, where the famine also prevailed. Meeting, at his entrance into the town, the very woman who was appointed by divine providence to support him, his faith was severely tested by learning from her that her supplies were exhausted and that she was preparing her last meal for herself and son. The Spirit of God having prompted him to ask, and her to grant, some necessary succor, she received a prophet's reward (Mt 10:41, 42), and for the one meal afforded to him, God, by a miraculous increase of the little stock, afforded many to her.
1Ki 17:17-24. He Raises Her Son to Life.
17-24. the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick—A severe domestic calamity seems to have led her to think that, as God had shut up heaven upon a sinful land in consequence of the prophet, she was suffering on a similar account. Without answering her bitter upbraiding, the prophet takes the child, lays it on his bed, and after a very earnest prayer, had the happiness of seeing its restoration, and along with it, gladness to the widow's heart and home. The prophet was sent to this widow, not merely for his own security, but on account of her faith, to strengthen and promote which he was directed to go to her rather than to many widows in Israel, who would have eagerly received him on the same privileged terms of exception from the grinding famine. The relief of her bodily necessities became the preparatory means of supplying her spiritual wants, and bringing her and her son, through the teachings of the prophet, to a clear knowledge of God, and a firm faith in His word (Lu 4:25).