1 Kings 17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 17

So sad was the character both of the princes and people of Israel, as described in the foregoing chapter, that one might have expected God would cast off a people that had so cast him off; but, as an evidence to the contrary, never was Israel so blessed with a good prophet as when it was so plagued with a bad king. Never was king so bold to sin as Ahab; never was prophet so bold to reprove and threaten as Elijah, whose story begins in this chapter and is full of wonders. Scarcely any part of... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 17:1-7

The history of Elijah begins somewhat abruptly. Usually, when a prophet enters, we have some account of his parentage, are told whose son he was and of what tribe; but Elijah drops (so to speak) out of the clouds, as if, like Melchisedek, he were without father, without mother, and without descent, which made some of the Jews fancy that he was an angel sent from heaven; but the apostle has assured us that he was a man subject to like passions as we are (Jas. 5:17), which perhaps intimates, not... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 17:8-16

We have here an account of the further protection Elijah was taken under, and the further provision made for him in his retirement. At destruction and famine he shall laugh that has God for his friend to guard and maintain him. The brook Cherith is dried up, but God's care of his people, and kindness to them, never slacken, never fail, but are still the same, are still continued and drawn out to those that know him, Ps. 36:10. When the brook was dried up Jordan was not; why did not God send... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 17:17-24

We have here a further recompence made to the widow for her kindness to the prophet; as if it were a small thing to be kept alive, her son, when dead, is restored to life, and so restored to her. Observe, I. The sickness and death of the child. For aught that appears he was her only son, the comfort of her widowed estate. He was fed miraculously, and yet that did not secure him from sickness and death. Your fathers did eat manna, and are dead, but there is bread of which a man may eat and not... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 17

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 17 This chapter begins with a prophecy of Elijah, that there should be want of rain for some years to come, and he is directed to go first to the brook Cherith, where he should be fed by ravens, 1 Kings 17:1 , and afterwards he is sent to a widow at Zarephath, where he, she, and her son, were supported for a considerable time with a handful of meal, and a little oil in a cruse miraculously increased, 1 Kings 17:8 , whose son falling sick and dying, he restored... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 17:1

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead ,.... Which belonged partly to the Reubenites and Gadites, and partly to the half-tribe of Manasseh on the other side Jordan, where this prophet dwelt; but why he is called the Tishbite is not easy to say; what Kimchi observes seems right, that he was at first of a city called Toshab, and afterward's dwelt at Gilead; which city perhaps is the same with Thisbe, in the tribe of Naphtali, the native place of Tobit, "Who in the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 17:2

And the word of the Lord came to him ,.... The word of prophecy, as the Targum; this shows that by word, in the former verse, he means the word of the Lord by him: saying ; as follows. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 17:3

Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward ,.... From the place where he was, being in danger from Ahab and Jezebel, provoked by his reproofs, threatenings, and prophecies: and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan ; in some wood or cave near it, or among the reeds and rushes that grew on the banks of it; and Bochart F15 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 13. col. 216. takes it to be the same with the river Kanah, on the borders of Ephraim, which has its name from reeds, ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 17:4

And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook ,.... The water of that was to be his drink: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there ; whereby he should be provided with food to eat; by whom are meant not angels in the form of ravens, as some; nor, as others, Arabians, for there were none of that people near him; nor, as others, merchants, the word being sometimes used of them, for this was not a likely method for privacy; nor, as others, the inhabitants of a place called... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 17:5

So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord ,.... Took his journey eastward, and hid himself in the place directed to: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan ; see Gill on 1 Kings 17:3 . read more

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