1 Kings 17
17
Elijah Visits a Widow in Sidonian Territory
1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve),#tn Heb “before whom I stand.” there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.”#tn Heb “except at the command of my word.” 2 The Lord told him:#tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to him, saying.” 3 “Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 4 Drink from the stream; I have already told#tn Heb “commanded.” the ravens to bring you food#tn Heb “to provide for you.” there.” 5 So he did#tn Heb “So he went and did.” as the Lord told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.
7 After a while,#tn Heb “And it came about at the end of days.” the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 The Lord told him,#tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to him, saying.” 9 “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told#tn Heb “Look, I have commanded.” a widow who lives there to provide for you.” 10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, “Please give me a cup#tn Heb “a little.” of water, so I can take a drink.” 11 As she went to get it, he called out to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”#tn The Hebrew text also includes the phrase “in your hand.” 12 She said, “As certainly as the Lord your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.”#tn Heb “Look, I am gathering two sticks and then I will go and make it for me and my son and we will eat it and we will die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned.#tn Heb “according to your word.” But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” 15 She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family.#tn Heb “and she ate, she and he and her house [for] days.” 16 The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, just as the Lord had promised#tn Heb “out, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke.” through Elijah.
17 After this#tn Heb “after these things.” the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe. 18 She asked Elijah, “Why, prophet, have you come#tn Heb “What to me and to you, man of God, that you have come.” to me to confront me with#tn Heb “to make me remember.” my sin and kill my son?” 19 He said to her, “Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed. 20 Then he called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?” 21 He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.” 22 The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy’s breath returned to him and he lived. 23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, “See, your son is alive!” 24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a prophet and that the Lord really does speak through you.”#tn Heb “you are a man of God and the word of the Lord is truly in your mouth.”sn This episode is especially significant in light of Ahab’s decision to promote Baal worship in Israel. In Canaanite mythology the drought that swept over the region (v. 1) would signal that Baal, a fertility god responsible for providing food for his subjects, had been defeated by the god of death and was imprisoned in the underworld. While Baal was overcome by death and unable to function like a king, Israel’s God demonstrated his sovereignty and superiority to death by providing food for a widow and restoring life to her son. And he did it all in Sidonian territory, Baal’s back yard, as it were. The episode demonstrates that Israel’s God, not Baal, is the true king who provides food and controls life and death. This polemic against Baalism reaches its climax in the next chapter, when the Lord proves that he, not Baal, controls the elements of the storm and determines when the rains will fall.
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1 Kings 17
17
1And Eliiah the Tishbite one of the inhabitats of Gilead sayde vnto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liueth, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dewe nor rayne these yeeres, but according to my worde. 2And the worde of the Lord came vnto him, saying, 3Go hence, and turne thee Eastwarde, and hide thy selfe in the riuer Cherith, that is ouer against Iorden, 4And thou shalt drinke of the riuer: and I haue comanded the rauens to feede thee there. 5So he went and did according vnto the word of the Lord: for he went, and remained by the riuer Cherith that is ouer against Iorden. 6And the rauens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the euening, and he dranke of the riuer. 7And after a while the riuer dryed vp, because there fell no rayne vpon the earth. 8And the worde of the Lord came vnto him, saying, 9Vp, and get thee to Zarephath, which is in Zidon, and remaine there: beholde, I haue commanded a widow there to sustaine thee. 10So he arose, and went to Zarephath: and when he came to the gate of the citie, beholde, the widowe was there gathering stickes: and he called her, and sayde, Bring me, I pray thee, a litle water in a vessel, that I may drinke. 11And as she was going to fet it, he called to her, and sayde, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsell of bread in thine hand. 12And shee sayde, As the Lord thy God liueth, I haue not a cake, but euen an handfull of meale in a barrel, and a litle oyle in a cruse: and behold, I am gathering a fewe stickes for to go in, and dresse it for me and my sonne, that we may eate it, and dye. 13And Eliiah said vnto her, Feare not, come, do as thou hast sayd, but make me thereof a litle cake first of all, and bring it vnto mee, and afterward make for thee, and thy sonne. 14For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The meale in the barrel shall not be wasted, neither shall the oyle in the cruse be diminished, vnto the time that the Lord send rayne vpon the earth. 15So she went, and did as Eliiah sayd, and she did eate: so did he and her house for a certaine time. 16The barrell of the meale wasted not, nor the oyle was spent out of the cruse, according to the worde of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of Eliiah. 17And after these things, the sonne of the wife of the house fell sicke, and his sicknesse was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 18And she said vnto Eliiah, What haue I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come vnto me to call my sinne to remembrance, and to slay my sonne? 19And he said vnto her, Giue me thy sonne. and he tooke him out of her bosome, and caryed him vp into a chamber, where he abode, and laid him vpon his owne bed. 20Then he called vnto the Lord, and sayde, O Lord my God, hast thou punished also this widowe, with whome I soiourne, by killing her sonne? 21And he stretched himselfe vpon the childe three times, and called vnto the Lord, and saide, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this childes soule come into him againe. 22Then the Lord heard the voyce of Eliiah, and the soule of the child came into him againe, and he reuiued. 23And Eliiah tooke the childe, and brought him downe out of the chamber into the house, and deliuered him vnto his mother, and Eliiah sayd, Behold, thy sonne liueth. 24And the woman saide vnto Eliiah, Now I knowe that thou art a man of God, and that the worde of the Lord in thy mouth is true.
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