1 Kings 17:7-16

7 After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.

Elijah and the widow from Zarephath

8 The LORD's word came to Elijah:

9 Get up and go to Zarephath near Sidon and stay there. I have ordered a widow there to take care of you.

10 Elijah left and went to Zarephath. As he came to the town gate, he saw a widow collecting sticks. He called out to her, "Please get a little water for me in this cup so I can drink."

11 She went to get some water. He then said to her, "Please get me a piece of bread."

12 "As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any food; only a handful of flour in a jar and a bit of oil in a bottle. Look at me. I'm collecting two sticks so that I can make some food for myself and my son. We'll eat the last of the food and then die."

13 Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid! Go and do what you said. Only make a little loaf of bread for me first. Then bring it to me. You can make something for yourself and your son after that.

14 This is what Israel's God, the LORD, says: The jar of flour won't decrease and the bottle of oil won't run out until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth."

15 The widow went and did what Elijah said. So the widow, Elijah, and the widow's household ate for many days.

16 The jar of flour didn't decrease nor did the bottle of oil run out, just as the LORD spoke through Elijah.

1 Kings 17:7-16 Meaning and Commentary

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, 1Ki 17:1-7, 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, 1Ki 17:8-16, whose son falling sick and dying, he restored to life, 1Ki 17:17-24.