1 Kings 17:3

and hide thyself The prophet's life would be in danger from the anger of the king and Jezebel, who would consider Elijah not merely the announcer but the cause of the drought.

by the brook Cherith, thatis before Jordan The rendering gives a fair representation of what was commanded, but the word rendered -brook" is נחל nahal, which is really a torrent-bed, a deep ravine down which in rainy times a strong stream flowed, but which at others was nearly if not entirely dry. Such would make a good hiding-place. The situation of Cherith has not been identified. Josephus gives no form of the name, only saying that Elijah stayed παρὰ χειμάρρῳ τινί = -by a certain torrent-bed." Nor does the description -that is before Jordan" help us. It probably implies that the stream from the ravine emptied itself into the Jordan, and hence the valley looked towards the river. But whether on the west side or the east we cannot tell. If the interview with Ahab was in Samaria, and Elijah travelled thence toward the east (Josephus says in contradiction of the text -towards the south") it appears most likely that he crossed the Jordan, and found his retreat in the wilder parts of Gilead, which would be more distant from Ahab and less frequented than any of the ravines in the hill country of Ephraim on the east of Jordan, and with which the prophet would most likely be familiar.