1 Reis 17

ARC · Chapter 17/22

1Então Elias, o tesbita, dos moradores de Gilead, disse a Achab: Vive o Senhor, Deus de Israel, perante cuja face estou, que n'estes annos nem orvalho nem chuva haverá, senão segundo a minha palavra.

2Depois veiu a elle a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

3Vae-te d'aqui, e vira-te para o oriente, e esconde-te junto ao ribeiro de Carith, que está diante do Jordão.

4E ha de ser que beberás do ribeiro: e eu tenho ordenado aos corvos que ali te sustentem.

5Foi pois, e fez conforme á palavra do Senhor: porque foi, e habitou junto ao ribeiro de Carith, que está diante do Jordão.

6E os corvos lhe traziam pão e carne pela manhã; como tambem pão e carne á noite: e bebia do ribeiro.

7E succedeu que, passados dias, o ribeiro se seccou; porque não tinha havido chuva na terra.

8Então veiu a elle a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

9Levanta-te, e vae-te a Sarepta, que é de Zidon, e habita ali: eis que eu ordenei ali a uma mulher viuva que te sustente.

10Então elle se levantou, e se foi a Sarepta; e, chegando á porta da cidade, eis que estava ali uma mulher viuva apanhando lenha; e elle a chamou, e lhe disse: Traze-me, peço-te, n'um vaso um pouco d'agua que beba,

11E, indo ella a trazel-a, elle a chamou e lhe disse: Traze-me agora tambem um bocado de pão na tua mão.

12Porém ella disse: Vive o Senhor teu Deus, que nem um bolo tenho, senão sómente um punhado de farinha n'uma panella, e um pouco d'azeite n'uma botija: e vês aqui apanhei dois cavacos, e vou preparal-o para mim e para o meu filho, para que o comamos, e morramos.

13E Elias lhe disse: Não temas; vae, faze conforme á tua palavra: porém faze d'elle primeiro para mim um bolo pequeno, e traze-m'o para fóra; depois farás para ti e para teu filho.

14Porque assim diz o Senhor Deus de Israel: A farinha da panella não se acabará, e o azeite da botija não faltará, até ao dia em que o Senhor dê chuva sobre a terra

15E foi ella, e fez conforme á palavra de Elias: e assim comeu ella, e elle, e a sua casa muitos dias.

16Da panella a farinha se não acabou, e da botija o azeite não faltou: conforme á palavra do Senhor, que fallara pelo ministerio de Elias.

17E depois d'estas coisas succedeu que adoeceu o filho d'esta mulher, da dona da casa: e a sua doença se aggravou muito, até que n'elle nenhum folego ficou.

18Então ella disse a Elias: Que tenho eu comtigo, homem de Deus? vieste tu a mim cara trazeres á memoria a minha iniquidade, e matares a meu filho?

19E elle lhe disse: Dá-me o teu filho. E elle o tomou do seu regaço, e o levou para cima, ao quarto, onde elle mesmo habitava, e o deitou em sua cama,

20E clamou ao Senhor, e disse: Ó Senhor meu Deus, tambem até a esta viuva, com quem eu moro, affligiste, matando-lhe seu filho?

21Então se mediu sobre o menino tres vezes, e clamou ao Senhor, e disse: Ó Senhor meu Deus, rogo-te que torne a alma d'este menino a entrar n'elle.

22E o Senhor ouviu a voz de Elias; e a alma do menino tornou a entrar n'elle, e reviveu.

23E Elias tomou o menino, e o trouxe do quarto á casa, e o deu a sua mãe; e disse Elias: Vês ahi teu filho vive.

24Então a mulher disse a Elias: N'isto conheço agora que tu és homem de Deus, e que a palavra do Senhor na tua bocca é verdade.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The prophet Elijah announces a drought in Israel and is fed by ravens beside a brook, then by a widow in Zarephath whose flour and oil miraculously never run out. When the widow's son dies, Elijah prays and brings him back to life.

Explanation

Elijah's dramatic introduction marks the beginning of the most intense confrontation between faith in Yahweh and the worship of Baal (the Canaanite god of storm and fertility) — the drought Elijah announces was, in effect, a direct attack on Baal's credibility, since he supposedly controlled the rain. It is significant that God sustains Elijah first through ravens (birds generally considered unclean) and then through a foreign widow in Phoenician territory, the very heartland of Baal worship — showing that God's provision respects no borders or expected conventions. Jesus cites this episode in Luke 4:25-26 as an example of God's grace reaching beyond Israel.

Fun facts

  • Zarephath, the widow's city, lay in the territory of Sidon, Jezebel's own homeland — an ironic detail showing God providing through a poor foreign woman in the very region the idolatrous queen came from.
  • The raising of the widow's son is the first recorded resuscitation of a dead person in the Bible, establishing a pattern that will be repeated with Elisha (2 Kings 4) and, later, with Jesus.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Reis 17:1Baal was, among other things, the Canaanite god of rain and fertility. Announcing a prolonged drought in the LORD’s name is a direct strike at the territory Baal supposedly controlled, setting up the Carmel showdown that comes later.
  2. 1 Reis 17:2After this announcement, the word of the LORD comes to Elijah with specific instructions.
  3. 1 Reis 17:3God tells Elijah to go away and hide by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan.
  4. 1 Reis 17:4He will drink from the brook, and God has already commanded ravens to feed him there — an unexpected provision in the very drought he himself announced.
  5. 1 Reis 17:5Elijah does exactly as the LORD commanded, going to live by the brook Cherith.
  6. 1 Reis 17:6Ravens were considered unclean birds under Jewish law, which makes it striking that God chose exactly them to carry food to the prophet. It’s a detail that reinforces the idea that divine providence doesn’t follow human categories of clean and unclean.
  7. 1 Reis 17:7After a while the brook dries up, because it had not rained in the region — the very drought Elijah had prophesied now affects the prophet himself.
  8. 1 Reis 17:8The word of the LORD comes to Elijah again, with new instructions for this new stage.
  9. 1 Reis 17:9Zarephath lay in Phoenician territory, practically in Baal’s own backyard. The miracle of the flour and oil that never run out happens precisely with a poor foreign woman, showing that God’s provision reaches even those outside the expected territory.
  10. 1 Reis 17:10He goes to Zarephath and, at the city gate, finds a widow gathering sticks; he asks her for a little water to drink.
  11. 1 Reis 17:11While she goes to fetch the water, he also asks for a piece of bread.
  12. 1 Reis 17:12She answers that she has nothing prepared, only a handful of flour and a little oil, and was gathering sticks to make one last meal for herself and her son before they starved to death.
  13. 1 Reis 17:13Elijah tells her not to be afraid: go do as she planned, but first make him a small loaf, then make food for herself and her son.
  14. 1 Reis 17:14For thus says the LORD: the flour will not run out and the oil will not fail until the day He sends rain on the land.
  15. 1 Reis 17:15She does as Elijah said, and so she, he, and her household eat for many days.
  16. 1 Reis 17:16The flour did not run out and the oil did not fail, exactly as the LORD had said through Elijah — a small daily miracle sustaining the three of them through the famine.
  17. 1 Reis 17:17Elijah stretches himself out over the boy and prays repeatedly before he breathes again. It’s one of the earliest biblical accounts of a dead person being revived, a gesture Elisha will repeat in a similar way later, in 2 Kings 4.
  18. 1 Reis 17:18Later the widow’s son falls sick and dies; in despair, she asks Elijah what he has against her, thinking he came to bring her sin to remembrance and kill her son.
  19. 1 Reis 17:19Elijah asks for the boy, takes him from her arms, carries him up to the room where he was staying, and lays him on his own bed.
  20. 1 Reis 17:20He cries out to the LORD, asking why He would bring this tragedy on the widow who took him in, by killing her son.
  21. 1 Reis 17:21He stretches himself out over the boy three times, crying out to the LORD for the life to come back into him.
  22. 1 Reis 17:22The LORD hears Elijah’s cry, and life returns to the boy — he comes back to life.
  23. 1 Reis 17:23Elijah takes the boy, brings him down from the room, and hands him to his mother, saying: look, your son is alive.
  24. 1 Reis 17:24The woman says to Elijah: now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.

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