1 Kings 17
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 871 BC – 866 BC · Divided kingdom · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
24 verses · 654 words · ~3 min read · ~4 min listen
The Ravens Feed Elijah
1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
2Then a revelation from the Lord came to Elijah: 3“Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan. 4And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5So Elijah did what the Lord had told him, and he went and lived by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan. 6The ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7Some time later, however, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
The Widow of Zarephath
8Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 9“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
10So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.” 11And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”
12But she replied, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”
13“Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from what you have, and bring it out to me. Afterward, make some for yourself and your son, 14for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain upon the face of the earth.’”
15So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her household. 16The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through Elijah.
Elijah Raises the Widowʼs Son
17Later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, and his sickness grew worse and worse, until no breath remained in him. 18“O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”
19But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.”
So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?” 21Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this boyʼs life return to him!”
22And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the childʼs life returned to him, and he lived. 23Then Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. “Look, your son is alive,” Elijah declared.
24Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth.”
Footnotes (2)
- a v1 Or who was from Tishbe in Gilead
- b v3 Or the Cherith Ravine, near the Jordan; also in verse 5
Study notes on this chapter · 3
Elijah and Elisha sent to outsiders
Preaching at Nazareth, Jesus reminds his hearers that Elijah was sent to a widow in Sidon and Elisha healed Naaman the Syrian, while many in Israel were passed over. The examples make his point that God's mercy goes beyond expected boundaries, which enrages the synagogue.
When: Elijah and Elisha, c. 870–800 BC; Jesus at Nazareth, c. AD 27–28.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Prophets who raised the dead
Luke tells of Jesus raising a widow's only son at Nain in words that recall Elijah raising the widow's son at Zarephath: the boy is given back to his mother. Luke's wording echoes the Greek text of 1 Kings 17, and the crowd calls Jesus a great prophet. The New Testament does not spell out the link.
When: Elijah, c. 860 BC; Nain, c. AD 28–29.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The two witnesses
Revelation 11 describes two witnesses who prophesy for 1,260 days, have power like Elijah and Moses, are killed by the beast, lie in the street of the great city, and are raised after three and a half days. The two olive trees and two lampstands recall Zechariah's vision. Their identity is disputed.
When: Revelation, c. AD 90s.
Ways people read this (4)
- Two future prophets in a coming tribulation, sometimes identified with Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Elijah.
- The church as a witnessing community, as in the lampstands of Revelation 1 (idealist and amillennial).
- The Old and New Testaments, or the Law and the Prophets.
- Two historical figures or groups in the first century (preterist), such as James and Peter or Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.