And 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. Ver. 1. _And Elijah the Tishbite._] So he is called of his country. The Hebrews tell us _a... [ Continue Reading ]
And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Ver. 2. _And the word of the Lord came._] The Lord is said to have come to Balsam, Laban, and other profane wretches, but the word of the Lord to his prophets only, as was afore noted.... [ Continue Reading ]
Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that [is] before Jordan. Ver. 3. _Get thee hence._] It was a sweet providence, that wicked Ahab had not laid present hold on the prophet, whom afterwards he so sought for to no purpose in all countries. But he slighted h... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall be, [that] thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. Ver. 4. _Thou shalt drink of the brook._] Adam's ale (water) he had, and food cooked by the angels, likely; though the Rabbis tell us - but who told them? - that the ravens pillaged it out of... [ Continue Reading ]
So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that [is] before Jordan. Ver. 5. _For he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith._] In some cave, likely: as 1 Kings 19:9, where Joh. Hierosolymitanus saith he was taught of God a form of solitary living... [ Continue Reading ]
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. Ver. 6. _And the ravens brought him bread and flesh._] Which he knew could not be done but by a miracle. This was to Elijah a sensible demonstration of the divine care and provi... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. Ver. 7. _That the brook dried up._] So will all human helps and comforts fail, in time, those that confide in them. Only God is an inexhaustible and ever-springing fountain.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Ver. 8. _And the word of the Lord._] See 1 Kings 17:2 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which [belongeth] to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. Ver. 9. _Arise, get thee to Zarephath._] Which was, say chorographere, a hundred miles from the brook Cherith. But the Popish friars stick not at a journey to Chi... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 10. _Gathering of sticks._] _a_ Which showeth her low condi... [ Continue Reading ]
_And 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._ Ver. 11. _And as she was going, &c._] He found her facile to the first motion, saw God in it, and maketh a second. _ Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread._] _a_ He calleth... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 12. _I have not a cake._] Not so much food rea... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 13. _But make me thereof a little cake first._] Here "the trial of" this poor widow's "faith, being much more precious th... [ Continue Reading ]
For 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. Ver. 14. _The barrel of meal shall not waste._] This was hard to believe: but true faith, when it is in heart, will eat its way... [ Continue Reading ]
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat [many] days. Ver. 15. _And her house._] Which till now we read not of, more than of a son only. See on 1 Kings 17:12 . _ Many days,_] viz., Till the Lord gave rain, and the earth returned to its former... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Kings 17:16 [And] 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. Ver. 16. _And the barrel of meal wasted not._] There is nothing lost by bounty to God's prophets: yea, it is _ars omnium quaestuossima,_ the most gainfu... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 17. _After these things._] When the woman had by experience tasted how good the Lord was: and she was thereby the bette... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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? Ver. 18. _What have I to do with thee?_] An unkind challenge of a perplexed, and therefore over passionate, woman, imputing the death of her son to the... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 19. _And he said unto her._] So to clear himself. _ Carried him up into a loft._] For privacy's sake, which is a good help to fervency in pra... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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? Ver. 20. _Hast thou also brought evil?_] Words of wonder, and all full of weight. _Quot verba, tot argumenta:_ this humble expostulation flowed from faith, as app... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 21. _And he stretched himself._] As well to express the fervency of his prayer, as the desire he had to make him even partaker of his o... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. Ver. 22. _And the Lord heard._] The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availed much. Jam 5:16... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 23. _And delivered him unto his mother._] Of this the apostle seemeth to write, when he saith, "Women received their dead raised to life a... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 24. _Now by this I know._] I am better assured of that which also I knew and believed before. So John 6:69; "we believe and are sure.... [ Continue Reading ]