The big picture
Elijah, a prophet who speaks for God, confronts Ahab, the king of Israel, the northern kingdom. He announces that rain will stop until he gives the word. The drought then threatens his own food and water. God sends him first to a stream and then to a widow outside Israel. She has almost nothing left for herself and her son. Their survival will depend on promises that look impossible beside an empty store of food.
In this chapter
- The Prophet Hides by a Stream 1 Kings 17:1-7
Elijah tells Ahab that Israel will have neither dew nor rain except at his word.
- A Widow Has One Meal Left 1 Kings 17:8-12
God tells Elijah to go to Zarephath, a town in the territory of Zidon.
- The Flour and Oil Last 1 Kings 17:13-16
Elijah tells the widow not to fear.
- The Widow Receives Her Son Alive 1 Kings 17:17-24
The widow's son becomes so ill that he stops breathing.
Central truth
God sustains Elijah and a poor widow during drought, then restores her son to life when Elijah prays.
Scripture beside the summary
1 Kings · King James Version · 241 Kings 17:1-7
The Prophet Hides by a Stream
Elijah tells Ahab that Israel will have neither dew nor rain except at his word. He speaks as a servant of Israel's living God. God then sends him east to hide beside the Cherith stream, near the Jordan river. He drinks from the stream, while ravens bring him bread and meat morning and evening. He obeys and lives there for a time. But the same lack of rain he announced eventually dries up the stream. His place of refuge cannot supply water for ever.
In everyday life
A field researcher pours the last clean water from a collection tank during a long dry season. Her supply flights have brought food, but the nearby spring has stopped running. Even a prepared refuge has limits. Elijah's birds deliver food at God's command, and he has announced the drought himself.
Notice
1 Kings 17:7 The stream dries because of the announced drought. Elijah is sustained by God, but he still lives within the same crisis affecting the land.
1 Kings 17:1-7
King James Version1And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
2And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
3Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
7And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
1 Kings 17:8-12
A Widow Has One Meal Left
God tells Elijah to go to Zarephath, a town in the territory of Zidon. A widow there will feed him. At the town gate he finds her gathering sticks and asks for water. As she goes to fetch it, he asks for bread too. She explains that she has only a handful of flour and a little oil. She plans to cook one last meal for herself and her son. After that, she expects them both to die of hunger.
In everyday life
The relief van driver arrives at a remote house and finds the resident dividing the last scoop of rice. The promised source of help turns out to be a household already near the end of its supplies. He stops and listens. God sends Elijah to receive food from this poor widow.
Notice
1 Kings 17:12 The widow gathers fuel for what she expects to be her last meal. Her reply makes clear that she has no hidden store to spare.
1 Kings 17:8-12
King James Version8And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
12And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
1 Kings 17:13-16
The Flour and Oil Last
Elijah tells the widow not to fear. She should prepare food, but first make a small cake for him. He gives God's promise that her flour and oil will last until rain returns. She acts on his word, and all of them eat for many days. The containers do not run out. Her decision comes before she sees the lasting supply. The account credits their survival to God's word through Elijah, rather than to food the household already had.
In everyday life
A stranded camper shares the last bread in her pack after a ranger confirms that fresh supplies are on their way. She acts before seeing the delivery and sets aside a portion for another hungry walker. Her trust rests on the promise she hears. The widow's own flour and oil remain through God's action.
Notice
1 Kings 17:16 The supplies last according to God's word through Elijah. The account explains the food by that promise, not by a newly discovered reserve.
1 Kings 17:13-16
King James Version13And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
14For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
15And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
1 Kings 17:17-24
The Widow Receives Her Son Alive
The widow's son becomes so ill that he stops breathing. She asks whether Elijah has brought her sins to mind and caused her son's death. He carries the child upstairs and cries to God. He stretches himself over the boy three times and asks for his life to return. God hears him, and the child revives. Elijah brings him back to his mother. She now says she knows he is God's man and that the word he speaks is true.
In everyday life
A funeral home attendant sits with a mother who keeps asking whether her own mistakes caused the loss. He listens without agreeing to her self-blame and leaves the paperwork untouched for a while. Her grief seeks a reason for unbearable pain. Elijah's prayer brings the dead child back to life.
Notice
1 Kings 17:22 God hears Elijah's voice, and the child lives again. The answer comes from God; Elijah's physical actions are not described as a cure in themselves.
1 Kings 17:17-24
King James Version17And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
18And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
19And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.
22And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
24And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
1 Kings 17:1 begins with “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be…”
Where the chapter turns
1 Kings 17:14 forms a natural hinge: “For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain…”
The final note
1 Kings 17:24 leaves the reader with “And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, Elijah, word, brook, woman, barrel help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- meal
- Ground grain or flour used to make bread.
- sojourn
- To live somewhere for a time as a guest or outsider.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
