1 Kings 17: Elijah, the drought, the ravens and the widow of Zarephath
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What happens?
Elijah the Tishbite tells Ahab that there will be no dew or rain these years except by his word. Yahweh sends him to hide by the brook Cherith, where ravens bring him bread and meat morning and evening, until the brook dries up. Then Yahweh sends him to a widow at Zarephath of Sidon, who has only a handful of flour and a little oil; Elijah tells her that Yahweh says the flour and oil will not run out until he sends rain, and they do not. When her son grows so sick that no breath is left in him, she blames Elijah; he carries the boy up to his room, cries to Yahweh, and stretches himself on the child three times. Yahweh listens, the child lives, and the woman says that now she knows Elijah is a man of God and that Yahweh's word in his mouth is truth.
Who is speaking?
The narrator tells the story. God's own words are in 3 of the 24 verses: the word of Yahweh to Elijah, sending him to the brook Cherith (verses 3 and 4) and to the widow at Zarephath (verse 9); verses 2 and 8 tell that it came. Elijah speaks to Ahab in verse 1, an oath by Yahweh in his own words. Elijah and the widow speak in verses 10 to 13 and 18 to 24. In verse 14 Elijah passes on to the widow what Yahweh says; he speaks those words, so they are not in gold. Elijah cries to Yahweh in verses 20 and 21: it is his own prayer. Verses 16 and 22, that the flour and oil did not fail and that Yahweh listened to Elijah, are the narrator's words. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
In plain English: Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers (or: from Tishbe) of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand (or: whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain these years, except at my word."
Good to know: This is the first verse that names Elijah. In Hebrew his name is Eliyahu. The text does not explain it. It is made of eli, the word for "my God" in ("My God, my God"), and Yah, which the dictionary gives as "Jah, the sacred name" (this Bible writes it "Yah", as in ). So the name can be read "my God is Yah".
The Hebrew words: "One of the settlers" is toshav, which the dictionary gives as "resident alien". Without the vowel marks, the same letters can be read "from Tishbe", the town that the dictionary places "in Gilead". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "the Thesbite of Thesbae of Galaad".
The Hebrew words: "Before whom I stand" is said of those who serve someone: says the tribe of Levi was set apart "to stand before Yahweh to minister to him", and the queen of Sheba speaks of Solomon's servants "who stand continually before you" ().
What changes: Read as a picture, Elijah says he stands in Yahweh's presence. Read as service, he calls himself Yahweh's servant. Elijah says the same words again in . The text does not say here how long "these years" were (see the note on ).
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2Then Yahweh’s word came to him, saying,
In plain English: Then the word of Yahweh came to him:
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3“Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.God speaks
In plain English: "Go away from here and turn east. Hide by the brook (or: valley) Cherith, which is before (literally: on the face of) the Jordan.
Good to know: Here the text gives the word of Yahweh to Elijah, so it is in gold, as it is again in verse 9. "The brook" is nachal, which the dictionary gives as "a stream, especially a winter torrent; (by implication) a (narrow) valley (in which a brook runs)". This one dries up in verse 7. The dictionary gives Cherith only as "a brook of Palestine".
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4You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”God speaks
In plain English: You will drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens (or: the Arabians, or: traders; see the note) to feed you there."
The Hebrew word: "Ravens" is orev, which the dictionary gives as "a raven (from its dusky hue)". This Bible says "raven" or "ravens" in all 10 verses that use the word. Without the vowel marks, the same Hebrew letters can be read two other ways: "the Arabians", as in , or "traders", from arav, which the dictionary gives as "to traffic (as if by barter)", as in "the dealers in your merchandise" in .
What changes: Read as "ravens", as the vowel marks have it and as this Bible and the old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) have it, birds brought Elijah his food. Read as "Arabians" or "traders", people did. The text says only that they brought him bread and meat morning and evening (verse 6).
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5So he went and did according to Yahweh’s word, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan.
In plain English: So he went and did as Yahweh had said. He went and stayed by the brook Cherith, which is before the Jordan.
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6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
In plain English: The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
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7After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
In plain English: After a while (literally: at the end of days), the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
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8Yahweh’s word came to him, saying,
In plain English: The word of Yahweh came to him:
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9“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.”God speaks
In plain English: "Get up, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Look, I have commanded a widow there to feed you."
Good to know: Zarephath "belongs to Sidon", the land of Jezebel's father, "king of the Sidonians" (). In Jesus says that Elijah was sent to none of the widows in Israel, "except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow".
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10So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.”
In plain English: So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, there was a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a jar, so that I may drink."
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11As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
In plain English: As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."
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12She said, “As Yahweh your God lives, I don’t have anything baked, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jar. Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
In plain English: She said, "As Yahweh your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering two sticks, so that I can go in and make it for me and my son, so that we may eat it, and die."
Good to know: "As Yahweh your God lives" is the widow's own oath. She calls Yahweh "your God", Elijah's God.
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13Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you have said; but make me a little cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for you and for your son.
In plain English: Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake from it and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
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14For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of meal will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth.’”
In plain English: For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this: 'The jar of flour will not run out, and the jug of oil will not run short, until the day Yahweh sends rain on the land (literally: on the face of the ground).'"
Good to know: Elijah passes on to the widow what Yahweh says. These are Elijah's words, so they are not in gold. Verse 16 says the flour and oil did not run out "according to Yahweh's word, which he spoke by Elijah".
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15She went and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she, he, and her household ate many days.
In plain English: She went and did as Elijah said. She, he and her household ate for many days (literally: days).
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16The jar of meal didn’t run out and the jar of oil didn’t fail, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by Elijah.
In plain English: The jar of flour did not run out, and the jug of oil did not run short, just as Yahweh had said through (literally: by the hand of) Elijah.
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17After these things, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
In plain English: After these things, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick. His sickness was so severe that no breath was left in him.
Good to know: The verse says the boy's sickness was so severe "that there was no breath left in him". In verses 18 and 20 the widow and Elijah both speak of his death: "to kill my son" and "by killing her son". Verse 22 says his life came back into him and he lived. says "Women received their dead by resurrection", without naming anyone.
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18She said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, you man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my son!”
In plain English: She said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you (literally: what is there to me and to you), man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to mind and to kill my son!"
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19He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the room where he stayed, and laid him on his own bed.
In plain English: He said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her arms (literally: her bosom), carried him up to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
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20He cried to Yahweh and said, “Yahweh my God, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?”
In plain English: He cried out to Yahweh and said, "Yahweh my God, have you brought harm even on the widow I am staying with, by killing her son?"
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21He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to Yahweh and said, “Yahweh my God, please let this child’s soul come into him again.”
In plain English: He stretched himself out over the child three times, and cried out to Yahweh and said, "Yahweh my God, please let this child's life (or: soul) come back into him."
The Hebrew word: "Stretched himself" is madad, which the dictionary gives as "properly, to stretch; by implication, to measure (as if by stretching a line)". This Bible says "measure" or a longer form in 48 of the 49 verses that use it; the other one is this verse. The text does not say more about what Elijah did. The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "he breathed on the child thrice".
The Hebrew word: "Soul" is nephesh, which the dictionary gives as "properly, a breathing creature" and says is "used very widely". This Bible says "soul" in verses 21 and 22; the STEPBible meaning for these verses gives "the life of".
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22Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
In plain English: Yahweh listened to Elijah's voice. The child's life (or: soul) came back into him, and he lived.
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23Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the room into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, “Behold, your son lives.”
In plain English: Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, "Look, your son is alive."
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24The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that Yahweh’s word in your mouth is truth.”
In plain English: The woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of Yahweh in your mouth is truth."
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