1 Kings 17 - Introduction
_A.M. 3094. B.C. 910._ Elijah foretels the drought, 1 Kings 17:1. Is fed by ravens, 1 Kings 17:2. By a widow, whose meal and oil are multiplied, 1 Kings 17:8. He raises her dead son, 1 Kings 17:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 3094. B.C. 910._ Elijah foretels the drought, 1 Kings 17:1. Is fed by ravens, 1 Kings 17:2. By a widow, whose meal and oil are multiplied, 1 Kings 17:8. He raises her dead son, 1 Kings 17:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Elijah the Tishbite_, &c. So bad was the character, both of the Israelites and their princes, as represented in the foregoing chapter, that one would have expected God should have cast off a people that had so cast him off; but as an evidence to the contrary, never was Israel so blessed with a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hide thyself by the brook Cherith_ A brook, no doubt, well known to Elijah: both it and the valley through which it runs, are near the river Jordan; but whether on the east or west side, is not so well agreed. By sending him to this remote and retired place, where he was to lie concealed, so that n... [ Continue Reading ]
_The ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning_, &c. “We need not inquire where they procured the bread and flesh, or how the food was prepared; he who commanded them to feed his servant had ten thousand ways of enabling them to fulfil his word: thus Elijah was sufficiently provided for, whe... [ Continue Reading ]
_After a while_ Hebrew, _at the end of the days;_ that is, of a year, as that phrase is often used. _The brook dried up_ For want of rain, and God so ordering it for the punishment of those Israelites who lived near it, and had hitherto been refreshed by it; and for the exercise of Elijah's faith, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Arise, get thee to Zarephath_ A city between Tyre and Sidon, called Sarepta by St. Luke 4:26, and others. _Which belongeth to Zidon_ To the jurisdiction of that city, which was inhabited by Gentiles. And God's providing for his prophet, first, by an unclean bird, and then by a Gentile, whom the Jew... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, the widow woman was gathering sticks_ He knew, by some secret divine intimations, that this was the woman that was to sustain him. _Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water_ Water, in consequence of the long drought, was doubtless scarce there as well as in the land of Israel; yet, being a pio... [ Continue Reading ]
_Make me thereof a little cake first_ This he requires as a trial of her faith, charity, and obedience, which he knew God would graciously and plentifully reward; and so this would be a great example to encourage others to the practice of the same graces. _Thus saith the Lord God of Israel_ In whom... [ Continue Reading ]
_She did according to the saying of Elijah_ Giving glory to the God of Israel, by believing his prophet. _O woman, great was thy faith!_ One has not found the like, _no not in Israel._ All things considered, it exceeded that of the widow, who, when she had but two mites, cast them into the treasury.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The barrel of meal wasted not_, &c. But as much as they took out for their daily use, was immediately supplied by the almighty power of God. “Never did corn or olive so increase in growing,” says Bishop Hall, “as these did in using.” They multiplied, observe, not in the hoarding, but in the spendin... [ Continue Reading ]
_There was no breath left in him_ No _soul_ or _life_, as the Hebrew word here used properly signifies. For, says Buxtorf, “The Hebrews by נשׁמה, _neshama_, understand the rational and immortal soul, whence they are wont to swear by it: and he quotes Aben Ezra as an authority for rendering the word,... [ Continue Reading ]
_She said, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God?_ Wherein have I injured or offended thee, or been wanting in my duty? Or, why didst thou come to sojourn in my house, if this be the fruit of it? They are the words of a troubled mind. How unconcernedly had she spoken of her own and her son'... [ Continue Reading ]
_Give me thy son_ Into my arms. _He took him out of her bosom_ By which it appears he was but a little child. _And carried him up into a loft_ A private place, where he might more freely and fully pour out his soul to God, and use such gestures and methods as his heart inclined him to use, without a... [ Continue Reading ]
_He stretched himself upon the child three times_ Not as if he thought this could contribute any warmth or life to the child; but partly to express, and withal to increase, his grief for the child's death, and his desire of its reviving; that thereby his prayers might be more fervent, and consequent... [ Continue Reading ]
_The soul of the child came into him again_ The reader will easily observe, that this phraseology of the sacred historian, like that of the prophet in the former verse, (and they both spoke by inspiration of God,) plainly signifies the distinction between the rational soul and earthly body to be as... [ Continue Reading ]
_Elijah said, See, thy son liveth_ And see the power of prayer, and the power of him that hears and answers prayer, that kills and makes alive. _The woman said, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God_ Though she believed it before, and termed him a man of God, (1 Kings 17:18,) which she might... [ Continue Reading ]