1 Kings 17:3

3 “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River.

1 Kings 17:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 17:3

Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward
From the place where he was, being in danger from Ahab and Jezebel, provoked by his reproofs, threatenings, and prophecies:

and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan;
in some wood or cave near it, or among the reeds and rushes that grew on the banks of it; and Bochart ^F15 takes it to be the same with the river Kanah, on the borders of Ephraim, which has its name from reeds, ( Joshua 16:8 ) ( 17:9 ) , and Cherith by anticipation, from the prophet's being fed there; and Adrichomius ^F16 places this brook in the tribe of Ephraim; though Fuller ^F17 in the half tribe of Manasseh, beyond Jordan; but Bunting says ^F18 it runs from Mount Ephraim between Bethel and Jericho, eight miles from Jerusalem towards the north, and so, passing along towards the east, falls into Jordan.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F15 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 13. col. 216.
F16 Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 26.
F17 Pisgah-Sight B. 2. c. 3. p. 97.
F18 Travels p. 205.

1 Kings 17:3 In-Context

1 Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!”

2 Then the LORD said to Elijah,

3 “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River.

4 Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”

5 So Elijah did as the LORD told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan.