1 Kings 17

KJV · Chapter 17/22

¹And 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.

⁸And 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.

¹³And 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.

¹⁷And 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.

📖 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 Kings 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 Kings 17:2After this announcement, the word of the LORD comes to Elijah with specific instructions.
1 Kings 17:3God tells Elijah to go away and hide by the brook Cherith, east of the Jordan.
1 Kings 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 Kings 17:5Elijah does exactly as the LORD commanded, going to live by the brook Cherith.
1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 17:8The word of the LORD comes to Elijah again, with new instructions for this new stage.
1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 17:11While she goes to fetch the water, he also asks for a piece of bread.
1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 17:15She does as Elijah said, and so she, he, and her household eat for many days.
1 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 17:21He stretches himself out over the boy three times, crying out to the LORD for the life to come back into him.
1 Kings 17:22The LORD hears Elijah’s cry, and life returns to the boy — he comes back to life.
1 Kings 17:23Elijah takes the boy, brings him down from the room, and hands him to his mother, saying: look, your son is alive.
1 Kings 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.