The name Elijah means “Yahweh is my God.” It is expressive of the truth which his whole life preached. The two words rendered “Tishbite” and “inhabitant” are in the original (setting aside the vowel points) “exactly alike.” The meaning consequently must either be “Elijah the stranger, of the strang... [ Continue Reading ]
BROOK CHERITH - Rather, “the torrent course,” one of the many which carry the winter rains from the highlands into that stream.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RAVENS - This is the translation of most of the ancient versions; others, omitting the points, which are generally allowed to have no authority, read “Arabians;” others, retaining the present pointing, translate either “merchants” (compare the original of Ezekiel 27:9, Ezekiel 27:27), or “Orbite... [ Continue Reading ]
The dependence of Zarephath (Sarepta) on Sidon is indicated in the inscriptions of Sennacherib, where it is mentioned as belonging to Luliya (Elulaeus), king of Sidon, and as submitting to the Assyrian monarch on Luliya’s flight from his capital. Elijah may have been sent to this place, so near the... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE LORD THY GOD LIVETH - The words do not prove that the woman was an Israelite, or a worshipper of the true God; any Phoenician, recognizing in Elijah’s appearance the garb and manner of a Jehovistic prophet, might have thus addressed him: Baal-worshippers would have admitted Yahweh to be “a” l... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the first recorded miracle of its kind - a supernatural and inexplicable multiplication of food (compare 2 Kings 4:42; Matthew 14:15; Matthew 15:32). The sacred record does not explain these miracles; but if the explanations sometimes suggested - that there was a transformation of previously... [ Continue Reading ]
NO BREATH - Or, “no spirit,” “no soul.” (Compare Genesis 2:7). The word used is translated “spirit” in Proverbs 20:27; Ecclesiastes 3:21; Job 26:4; and elsewhere.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT HAVE I TO DO WITH THEE? - i. e., “What have we in common?” - implying a further question, “Why hast thou not left me in peace?” The woman imagines that Elijah’s visit had drawn God’s attention to her, and so to her sins, which (she feels) deserve a judgment - her son’s death. THOU MAN OF GOD -... [ Continue Reading ]
INTO A LOFT - Rather, “into the upper chamber;” often the best apartment in an Eastern house.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE STRETCHED HIMSELF UPON THE CHILD THREE TIMES - This action of Elijah is different from that of Elisha (marginal reference), and does not imply the use of any natural means for the restoration of suspended animation. It is nearly parallel to the “touch,” through which our Lord performed similar mi... [ Continue Reading ]