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
Elijah Proclaims a Drought.#The story of Elijah is in three parts. The first (chap. 17) describes how Elijah proclaimed a drought on God’s authority and how he survived during the drought. The second (chap. 18) describes how he ends the drought by bringing the populace back to exclusive worship of the Lord. The third (chap. 19) describes Elijah’s despair at the failure of his prophetic mission and his consequent attempt to resign from the prophetic office. 1Elijah the Tishbite,#This verse introduces the enigmatic figure of Elijah the Tishbite. (The name “Elijah” means “the Lord is my God.” The meaning of “Tishbite” is unknown; it may refer to a place or to a social class.) His appearance before Ahab is abrupt and involves several matters that will unify the whole Elijah story. His claim to “serve the Lord” (lit., to “stand before the Lord”) points forward to 19:13, where he refuses to do so; the center of narrative tension on this level is the question of the prophet’s autonomy in God’s service. His proclamation of a drought points forward to 18:41–45 where he announces the drought’s end; the center of narrative tension on this level is the struggle between the Lord and the Canaanite fertility god Baal for the loyalties of Israel. His claim that the drought is due to his own word of power (“except at my word”) points forward to 17:24 where the widow acknowledges the divine source of the word Elijah speaks; the center of narrative tension on this level is the gradual characterization of the prophet as one who receives a divine word (vv. 2, 8), obeys it (v. 5), conveys an effective divine word of threat (v. 1) or promise (vv. 14, 16), and even speaks an effective human word of entreaty to God (vv. 20, 22). #Sir 48:1–12; Jas 5:17–18. from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.” 2The word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. 4You shall drink of the wadi, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there. 5So he left and did as the Lord had commanded. He left and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. 6#Ex 16:8, 12. Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.
7After some time, however, the wadi ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land. 8#2 Kgs 4:1–7; Lk 4:25–26. So the word of the Lord came to him: 9Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow there to feed you. 10He arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” 11She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a crust of bread.” 12She said, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” 13Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. 14For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” 15She left and did as Elijah had said. She had enough to eat for a long time—he and she and her household. 16The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Elijah.
17#2 Kgs 4:18–37; Lk 7:11–16. Some time later the son of the woman, the owner of the house, fell sick, and his sickness grew more severe until he stopped breathing. 18So she said to Elijah, “Why have you done this to me, man of God? Have you come to me to call attention to my guilt and to kill my son?” 19Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” Taking him from her lap, he carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20He called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” 21Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and he called out to the Lord: “Lord, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” 22The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the life breath returned to the child’s body and he lived. 23Taking the child, Elijah carried him down into the house from the upper room and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “See! Your son is alive.” 24The woman said to Elijah, “Now indeed I know that you are a man of God, and it is truly the word of the Lord that you speak.”
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