1 Reis 17

BLIVRE · Chapter 17/22

¹Então Elias Tisbita, que era dos moradores de Gileade, disse a Acabe: Vive o SENHOR Deus de Israel, diante do qual estou, que não haverá chuva nem orvalho nestes anos, a não ser por minha palavra.

²E foi a ele palavra do SENHOR, dizendo:

³Aparta-te daqui, e volta-te ao oriente, e esconde-te no ribeiro de Querite, que está diante do Jordão;

⁴E beberás do ribeiro; e eu ei mandado aos corvos que te deem ali de comer.

⁵E ele foi, e fez conforme à palavra do SENHOR; pois se foi e assentou junto ao ribeiro de Querite, que está antes do Jordão.

⁶E os corvos lhe traziam pão e carne pela manhã, e pão e carne à tarde; e bebia do ribeiro.

⁷Passados alguns dias, secou-se o ribeiro; porque não havia chovido sobre a terra.

⁸E foi a ele palavra do SENHOR, dizendo:

⁹Levanta-te, vai-te a Sarepta de Sidom, e ali morarás: eis que eu mandei ali a uma mulher viúva que te sustente.

¹⁰Então ele se levantou, e se foi a Sarepta. E quando chegou à porta da cidade, eis que uma mulher viúva que estava ali colhendo gravetos; e ele a chamou, e disse-lhe: Rogo-te que me tragas um pouco de água em um vaso, para que beba.

¹¹E indo ela para trazê-la, ele a voltou a chamar, e disse-lhe: Rogo-te que me tragas também um bocado de pão em tua mão.

¹²E ela respondeu: Vive o SENHOR Deus teu, que não tenho pão cozido; que somente um punhado de farinha tenho no jarro, e um pouco de azeite em uma botija: e agora cozia dois gravetos, para entrar-me e prepará-lo para mim e para meu filho, e que o comamos, e morramos.

¹³E Elias lhe disse: Não tenhas temor; vai, face como disseste: porém faze-me a mim primeiro disso uma pequena torta cozida debaixo da cinza, e traze-a a mim; e depois farás para ti e para teu filho.

¹⁴Porque o SENHOR Deus de Israel disse assim: O jarro da farinha não esvaziará, nem se diminuirá a botija do azeite, até aquele dia que o SENHOR dará chuva sobre a face da terra.

¹⁵Então ela foi, e fez como lhe disse Elias; e comeu ele, e ela e sua casa, muitos dias.

¹⁶E o jarro da farinha não esvaziou, nem minguou a botija do azeite, conforme à palavra do SENHOR que havia dito por Elias.

¹⁷Depois destas coisas aconteceu que caiu enfermo o filho da ama da casa, e a enfermidade foi tão grave, que não restou nele respiração.

¹⁸E ela disse a Elias: Que tenho eu contigo, homem de Deus? Vieste a mim para trazer em memória minhas iniquidades, e para fazer-me morrer meu filho?

¹⁹E ele lhe disse: Dá-me aqui teu filho. Então ele o tomou de seu colo, e levou-o à câmara de onde ele estava, e pôs-lhe sobre sua cama;

²⁰E clamando ao SENHOR, disse: SENHOR Deus meu, ainda à viúva em cuja casa eu estou hospedado afligiste, matando-lhe seu filho?

²¹E ele se estendeu sobre o menino três vezes, e clamou ao SENHOR, e disse: SENHOR Deus meu, rogo-te que volte a alma deste menino a suas entranhas.

²²E o SENHOR ouviu a voz de Elias, e a alma do menino voltou a suas entranhas, e reviveu.

²³Tomando logo Elias ao menino, trouxe-o da câmara à casa, e deu-o à sua mãe, e disse-lhe Elias: Olha, teu filho vive.

²⁴Então a mulher disse a Elias: Agora conheço que tu és homem de Deus, e que a palavra do SENHOR é verdade em tua boca.

📖 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 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.
1 Reis 17:2After this announcement, the word of the LORD comes to Elijah with specific instructions.
1 Reis 17:3God tells Elijah to go away and hide by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan.
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.
1 Reis 17:5Elijah does exactly as the LORD commanded, going to live by the brook Cherith.
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.
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.
1 Reis 17:8The word of the LORD comes to Elijah again, with new instructions for this new stage.
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.
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.
1 Reis 17:11While she goes to fetch the water, he also asks for a piece of bread.
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.
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.
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.
1 Reis 17:15She does as Elijah said, and so she, he, and her household eat for many days.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
1 Reis 17:22The LORD hears Elijah’s cry, and life returns to the boy — he comes back to life.
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.
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.