He cried to Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh my God, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?”
He stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to Yahweh, and said, “Yahweh my God, please let this child’s soul come into him again.”
Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the room into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Elijah said, “Behold, your son lives.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v20 He was afraid lest God’s name should have been…
He was afraid lest God’s name should have been blasphemed and his ministers contemned, except he should have continued his mercies as he had begun them, specially while he there remained.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–23 1Ki 17:20 And he cried unto the LORD, and…
1Ki 17:20 And 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?
Ver. 20. Hast thou also brought evil?] Words of wonder, and all full of weight. Quot verba, tot argumenta: this humble expostulation flowed from faith, as appeareth in 1Ki 17:21.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv20–21 A prayer full of powerful arguments. Thou art the…
A prayer full of powerful arguments. Thou art the Lord, that canst revive the child; and my God, and therefore wilt not, do not, deny me. She is a widow; add not affliction to the afflicted; deprive her not of the great support and staff of her age. She hath given me kind entertainment; let her not fare the worse for her kindness to a prophet, whereby wicked men will take occasion to reproach both her and religion.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–23 And he stretched himself upon the child three times,....…
And he stretched himself upon the child three times,.... Or "measured himself" (i) on it, or put himself into a posture in some respects equal to the child; putting his mouth on its mouth, his eyes on its eyes, his hands on its hands, as Elisha afterwards did in a like case, perhaps in imitation of him, Kg2 4:34, thereby showing his great affection to the child, and in order to increase it the more, and to make him the more fervent and importunate in his prayers for its life; and hereby signifying also that he would if he could infuse his breath and life into it, and warm it with his own heat:
and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again: which shows that the child was really dead; and a proof this that the soul dies not with the body, but exists in a separate state without it.
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(i) "et mensus est se", Pagninus, Montanus; "admensus se", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv20–22 He cried - A prayer full of powerful arguments.…
He cried - A prayer full of powerful arguments. Thou art the Lord, that canst revive the child: and my God; and therefore wilt not, deny me. She is a widow, add not affliction to the afflicted; deprive her not of the support and staff of her age: she hath given me kind entertainment: let her not fare the worse for her kindness to a prophet, whereby wicked men will take occasion to reproach both her, and religion.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Verse 21. Stretched himself upon the child three times]…
Verse 21. Stretched himself upon the child three times] It is supposed that he did this in order to communicate some natural warmth to the body of the child, in order to dispose it to receive the departed spirit. Elisha, his disciple, did the same in order to restore the dead child of the Shunammite, 2Kg 4:34. And St. Paul appears to have stretched himself on Eutychus in order to restore him to life, Ac 20:10.
Let this child's soul come into him again] Surely this means no more than the breath. Though the word נפש nephesh may sometimes signify the life, yet does not this imply that the spirit must take possession of the body in order to produce and maintain the flame of animal life? The expressions here are singular: Let his soul, נפש nephesh, come into him, על קרבו al kirbo, into the midst of him.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv21–23 1Ki 17:21. He stretched himself upon the child three…
1Ki 17:21. He stretched himself upon the child three times — Not as if he thought this could contribute any warmth or life to the child; but partly to express, and withal to increase, his grief for the child’s death, and his desire of its reviving; that thereby his prayers might be more fervent, and consequently more prevalent with God: and partly to give a sign of what God would do by his power, and what he doth by his grace in the raising of souls dead in sin to a spiritual life: the Holy Ghost comes upon them, and the power of the Highest overshadows them, and puts life into them. Let this child’s soul come into him again — By this way of speaking, Elijah expressed his certainty that the child’s soul had left his body, and that he was properly dead. And he asks, not that he might be recovered from a fainting fit, swoon, or trance; but reanimated by the departed soul, and raised from the dead. This certainly was a great and most extraordinary request, and such as there is every reason to think had never been asked of God before by any human creature. Certainly he had no precedent to plead for requesting such a thing, much less did he know of an instance of any mortal’s resurrection having taken place in answer to any one’s prayers or otherwise. Nevertheless, he was encouraged and induced to make this request, partly by his zeal for God’s honour, which he judged was concerned in it, and would be eclipsed, if the child of this widow remained in death; partly by the experience which he had of his prevailing power with God in prayer; and partly by a divine influence, moving him to desire the child’s restoration to life.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v21 He stretched himself upon the child three times -…
He stretched himself upon the child three times - This action of Elijah is different from that of Elisha (marginal reference), and does not imply the use of any natural means for the restoration of suspended animation. It is nearly parallel to the “touch,” through which our Lord performed similar miracles Mat 9:25; Luk 7:14.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Her son. He speaks in the most earnest and…
Her son. He speaks in the most earnest and familiar manner, shewing his confidence in God. (Salien)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv20–23 20. Hast thou also brought evil — Not the…
20. Hast thou also brought evil — Not the language of reproach or complaint, but the emotional expression of profoundest sympathy with the widow’s affliction, and of the earnestness of Elijah’s faith and prayer.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–22 20. O Lord my God, hast thou also brought…
20. O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow] The LXX. omits ‘my God.’ In ‘also’ the prophet refers to the other evil which was brought on Israel and Phœnicia too by the drought. The widow had shewn such faith and obedience that we may regard the prophet’s question as of the nature of a petition ‘Let not this evil fall upon her.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–21 (20) Hast thou also brought evil.—Elijah’s complaint is characteristic…
(20) Hast thou also brought evil.—Elijah’s complaint is characteristic of the half-presumptuous impatience seen more fully in 1 Kings 19. He apparently implies that his own lot, as a hunted fugitive not protected by God’s Almighty power, is so hard, that it must be his presence which has brought trouble even on the home that sheltered him.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv20–23 And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O…
And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast Thou also i.e. in addition to the misery and suffering brought through me upon my country brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying Heb. to slay. Words. worth partly bases his conclusion that the child was dead on the inexact translation of the A.V her son?
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v22 Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah
Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah
Here "voice" represents what Elijah prayed. AT: "Yahweh answered Elijah's prayer" (See: Metonymy)
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the life of the child returned to him, and he revived
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. AT: "the child came back to life" or "the child lived again" (See: Parallelism)
his room
Here "his" refers to Elijah.
See, your son is alive
The word "See" here alerts us to pay attention to the surprising information that follows.
the word of Yahweh in your mouth is true
"the message of Yahweh in your mouth is true." The word "mouth" represents what Elijah said. AT: "the message that you spoke from Yahweh is true" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
voice
know
word of God
true
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20–22 17:20 why have you brought tragedy: Elijah plaintively expressed…
17:20 why have you brought tragedy: Elijah plaintively expressed to God the fear that his presence caused the child’s death.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.