1 Kings 17:10

_SO 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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

8-16 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 n...

EXPOSITION ELIJAH AND THE GREAT DROUGHT.—The picture which the historian has just drawn of the shameless idolatry and the gross degeneracy of the earlier part of Ahab's reign forms a fit prelude to an account of the ministry of the great prophet Elijah, which occupies this and several succeeding chapters; for the two stand together in the closest connexion. It was only the unprecedented corruption of that age which necessitated such a mission, and a mission armed with such credentials as his. It will be obvious to the most cursory reader that the narratives comprised in the remaining portion of this book and the earlier part of 2 Kings are of a very different character from those which have so far been before us. The ministry of Elijah and Elisha alike is little more than a series of miracles. Of their words comparatively few are recorded; we hear of little but the signs and w

SO HE AROSE, AND WENT TO ZAREPHATH,.... Which, according to Bunting f, was one hundred miles from the brook Cherith: AND WHEN HE CAME TO THE GATE OF THE CITY, BEHOLD, THE WIDOW WOMAN WAS THERE GATHERING STICKS: perhaps out of an hedge just without the city this shows her to be a poor woman, who had no other way of coming at fuel but this, and no servant to fetch it for her: Bunting tells us, that now before the gate of the city there is showed a certain chapel, where they say Elias first spoke with the widow: AND HE CALLED TO HER, AND SAID, FETCH ME, I PRAY THEE, A LITTLE WATER IN A VESSEL, THAT I MAY DRINK; being thirsty through travelling, and supposing this to be the woman he was directed to, made trial of her this way; some render it, "in this vessel" g, which he had with him, and made use of at the brook Cherith. f Ut supra, (Travels, c.) p. 203. g בכלי "in hoc vase", Junius Trem...

IV. THE PROPHET ELIJAH AND KING AHAB 1. Elijah's Prediction and Miracles CHAPTER 17 _ 1. Elijah's message to Ahab (1 Kings 17:1)_ 2. At the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:2) 3. With the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8) 4. The widow's son restored to life (1 Kings 17:17) Upon this scene of complete departure of God, when Ahab and his heathen wife worshipped Baal and all the vileness connected with that cult flourished in Israel, there appeared suddenly one of the greatest of God's prophets, Elijah (my God is Jehovah) the Tishbite. “A grander figure never stood out even against the Old Te

ELIJAH IS FED BY RAVENS, AND RAISES THE WIDOW'S SON. Elijah appeared suddenly: we hear nothing of his birth or parentage. He simply announced to Ahab, in the name of Yahweh, before whom I stand (_cf._ Jeremiah 35:19), that there should be no rain for three years. Elijah is described as one of the sojourners of Gilead. Probably the LXX is correct in saying that he came from Tishbe (_mg.),_ said to be in Gilead to distinguish it from another Tishbe in Galilee (Tob_1:2). He then retired (1 Kings 17:3) to the brook Cherith, E. of Jordan, where he was fed by ravens. In the valley of the Jordan was the rock of Oreb the raven (Judges 7:25;...

_gathering of sticks_ R.V. modernizes the language by omitting the preposition. The abject poverty of the widow is seen from her coming forth to pick up any chance bits of wood which might have fallen from the trees outside the city walls....

C. ELIJAH AT ZAREPHATH 17:8-24 As the water supply at Cherith began to fail, God instructed Elijah to leave the land of Israel and journey to the Phoenician village of Zarephath. Two great miraculous occurrences are connected with the prophet's sojourn therethe miraculous provision of food in the home of a widow (1 Kings 17:8-16); and the resurrection of the widow's son (1 Kings 17:17-24). _1. THE MIRACULOUS PROVISION OF FOOD_ (1 Kings 17:8-16) TRANSLATION (8) And the word of the LORD came onto him, saying, (9) Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold I have commanded a woman, a widow, to feed you. (10) And he arose and went to Zarephath

ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH The prophet Elijah, who occupies so large a space in the succeeding history, is, like his successor Elisha, conspicuous among the prophetic figures of the OT. as a worker of miracles; and to him belongs the further distinction of having been removed from earth without dying. His prophecies differed from those of most later prophets in having in view only certain critical occasions of contemporary history, and in having no reference to the remote future or the Messianic age, though the moral and religious principles which they affirmed had, of course, a wide application....

GOD’S LESSONS FROM HISTORY 1 KINGS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 17 ELIJAH THE *PROPHET V1 Now Elijah from Tishbe in Gilead spoke to Ahab. ‘I promise this in the name of the *Lord because he is definitely alive. He is the God of *Israel and I am his servant. There will be no *dew or rain in the next few years until I say so.’ V2 Then the *Lord said to Elijah, V3 ‘Leave this place and go east. Hide near the stream called Cherith, east of the river Jordan. V4 You will drink water from the stream. I have told the birds to bring you food.’ V5 So Elijah obeyed the *Lord. He went to the stream