“Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to Yahweh’s word; for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
Show the surrounding paragraph
1 Kings 17:3-7 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Then Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to Yahweh’s word; for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
Parallel Translations
-
“Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
So he went and did according to Yahweh’s word; for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan.
The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
-
Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Show all 3 translations
-
'Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.'
So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD; for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan.
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
Cross-references (46)
- Psalms 78:23-24 (v6) Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven. He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky.
- 1 Kings 17:9 (v4) “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.”
- Psalms 147:9 (v4) He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.
- Matthew 6:31-33 (v6) “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek…
- Job 38:41 (v4) Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
Show all 46 cross-references
- Matthew 4:4 (v4) But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’ ”
- 1 Kings 19:5-8 (v4) He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!” He looked, and behold,…
- Psalms 78:15-16 (v6) He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused…
- Isaiah 54:10 (v7) For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not…
- Jeremiah 37:21 (v6) Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard. They gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the…
- Psalms 33:8-9 (v4) Let all the earth fear Yahweh. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and…
- Isaiah 40:30-31 (v7) Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will…
- Matthew 14:19-21 (v6) He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed,…
- Matthew 19:26 (v6) Looking at them, Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Luke 22:35 (v6) He said to them, “When I sent you out without purse, wallet, and sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.”
- Judges 15:18-19 (v6) He was very thirsty, and called on Yahweh and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die…
- 1 Kings 22:25 (v3) Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day, when you go into an inner room to hide yourself.”
- Psalms 31:20 (v3) In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man. You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife…
- Psalms 34:9-10 (v6) Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who…
- Psalms 37:19 (v6) They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
- Psalms 83:3 (v3) They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones.
- Isaiah 33:16 (v6) he will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.
- Jeremiah 36:19 (v3) Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”
- Jeremiah 36:26 (v3) The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe…
- Matthew 4:11 (v4) Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.
- John 8:59 (v3) Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them,…
- Hebrews 11:38 (v3) of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
- Revelation 12:6 (v3) The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty…
- Revelation 12:14 (v3) Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished…
- Numbers 11:23 (v6) Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”
- Judges 14:14 (v6) He said to them, “Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness.” They couldn’t in three days declare the riddle.
- 1 Kings 19:9 (v5) He came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
- Job 34:29 (v4) When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? He is over a nation or a man alike,
- Job 38:8-13 (v4) “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb, when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness, marked…
- Psalms 37:3 (v6) Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
- Proverbs 3:5 (v5) Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.
- Habakkuk 3:17-18 (v6) For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are…
- Matthew 16:24 (v5) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
- John 15:14 (v5) You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
- Acts 17:14 (v3) Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there.
- Hebrews 6:18 (v6) that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to…
- Exodus 16:35 (v6) The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders…
- Numbers 20:8 (v4) “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its…
- Jeremiah 40:4 (v6) Now, behold, I release you today from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I…
- Amos 9:3-4 (v4) Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hidden from my sight in the…
- Hebrews 13:5-6 (v6) Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Or, brook.
Or, brook.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–7 1Ki 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward,…
1Ki 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that [is] before Jordan.
Ver. 3. Get thee hence.] It was a sweet providence, that wicked Ahab had not laid present hold on the prophet, whom afterwards he so sought for to no purpose in all countries. But he slighted him, likely, as an idle and empty headed fellow, no whit to be regarded.
Read full note →
That is before Jordan.] That by a direct line runneth into Jordan.
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 vv3, 4, 6, 7 Thus God rescues him from the fury of Ahab…
Thus God rescues him from the fury of Ahab and Jezebel, who he knew would seek to destroy him.
Quest. Why did not Ahab seize upon him immediately upon these words?
Read full note →
Answ. 1. This must be ascribed to God’s overruling providence, who hath the hearts of all men in his hands, and hath oft protected his prophets and servants in such cases.
2. He might say this not by word of mouth, but by letter and message sent to him; as that word is sometimes used, as Exo 18:6.
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 vv3–7 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward,.... From the…
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 (o) takes it to be the same with the river Kanah, on the borders of Ephraim, which has its name from reeds, Jos 16:8, and Cherith by anticipation, from the prophet's being fed there; and Adrichomius (p) places this brook in the tribe of Ephraim; though Fuller (q) in the half tribe of Manasseh, beyond Jordan; but Bunting says (r) 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.
Read full note →
(o) Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 13. col. 216. (p) Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 26. (q) Pisgah-Sight, &c. B. 2. c. 3. p. 97. (r) Travels, &c. p. 205.
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 vv3, 4, 6, 7 Hide thyself - Thus God rescues him from the…
Hide thyself - Thus God rescues him from the fury of Ahab and Jezebel, who, he knew, would seek to destroy him. That Ahab did not seize on him immediately upon these words must be ascribed to God's over-ruling providence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7 Verse 3. Hide thyself by the brook Cherith] This…
Verse 3. Hide thyself by the brook Cherith] This brook, and the valley through which it ran, are supposed to have been on the western side of Jordan, and not far from Samaria. Others suppose it to have been on the eastern side, because the prophet is commanded to go eastward, 1Kg 17:3. It was necessary, after such a declaration to this wicked and idolatrous king, that he should immediately hide himself; as, on the first drought, Ahab would undoubtedly seek his life. But what a proof was this of the power of God, and the vanity of idols! As God's prophet prayed, so there was rain or drought; and all the gods of Israel could not reverse it! Was not this sufficient to have converted all Israel?
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 vv3, 6, 7 1Ki 17:3-4. Hide thyself by the brook Cherith —…
1Ki 17:3-4. Hide thyself by the brook Cherith — A brook, no doubt, well known to Elijah: both it and the valley through which it runs, are near the river Jordan; but whether on the east or west side, is not so well agreed. By sending him to this remote and retired place, where he was to lie concealed, so that neither friends nor foes might know where he was, God rescued him from the fury of Ahab and Jezebel, who, he knew, would seek to destroy him. That Ahab did not seize him immediately upon hearing the forementioned prediction and warning, must be ascribed to God’s overruling providence. I have commanded the ravens to feed thee — Or, I shall command; that is, effectually move them by instincts, which shall be as forcible with them, as a law or command is to men. God is said to command both brute creatures and senseless things, when he causeth them to do what he intends to effect by them. The ravens being birds of prey, and very voracious, were more likely to rob the prophet than to bring him food; but God’s command suspended their natural instinct, and made them act contrary to it. They are said to be unnatural to, and to neglect their young ones; yet, when God pleaseth, they shall feed his prophet. God could have sent angels to minister to him; but he chose winged messengers of another kind, to show that he can serve his own purposes as effectually by the meanest as by the mightiest creatures; and to give Elijah such a proof of his power and care in providing for him, as should effectually teach him to trust in God in those many and great difficulties to which he was to be exposed: and the more unfit instruments the ravens seemed to be, the more was his almighty power magnified, who controlled their natural inclinations while he employed them; and the greater encouragement was given to his prophet to rely on that power, thus engaged for him in his greatest straits and dangers. This, however, may be said for the choice of ravens for this work; that, as they are solitary birds, and delight to live about brooks of water, so are they accustomed to seek out for provisions, and to carry them to the places of their abode; on which account they were nor improper creatures for God to employ upon his service. To suppose, as some have done, that the ravens, being unclean birds, (Lev 11:15,) would defile and render unclean the food they brought, is to mistake the meaning of the law in that case. The flesh of unclean animals was not to be eaten by the Israelites; but their touch, while living, communicated no ceremonial uncleanness either to food or any thing else: for asses and camels were also unclean, and yet the Jews constantly used them for carrying provisions, as well as for other purposes.
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 vv3–4 Brook Cherith - Rather, “the torrent course,” one of…
Brook Cherith - Rather, “the torrent course,” one of the many which carry the winter rains from the highlands into that stream.
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 vv3, 4, 6, 7 Carith, between Samaria and the Jordan. It was a…
Carith, between Samaria and the Jordan. It was a torrent or valley. (Calmet)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v6 the ravens brought him bread--The idea of such unclean…
the ravens brought him bread--The idea of such unclean and voracious birds being employed to feed the prophet has appeared to many so strange that they have labored to make out the Orebim, which in our version has been rendered "ravens," to be as the word is used (in Eze 27:27) "merchants"; or Arabians (Ch2 21:16; Neh 4:7); or, the citizens of Arabah, near Beth-shan (Jos 15:6; Jos 18:18). But the common rendering is, in our opinion, preferable to these conjectures. And, if Elijah was miraculously fed by ravens, it is idle to inquire where they found the bread and the flesh, for God would direct them. After the lapse of a year, the brook dried up, and this was a new trial to Elijah's faith.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7 3. Hide thyself — “Elijah’s escapes from the hands…
3. Hide thyself — “Elijah’s escapes from the hands of his enemies, and his departures into unknown places, are faint resemblances of the mysterious vanishings of our Lord after he had delivered some of those Divine messages which excited the anger of the people. Luk_4:29; Joh_8:59; Joh_10:39. Compare the promise to the Church of God. Rev_12:6-14.” — Wordsworth.
The brook Cherith — This was some mountain stream running into the Jordan; but what was its locality, and whether on the east or west side of the Jordan, is unknown. Dr. Robinson makes it identical with Wady el Kelt, which rises amid the hills of the wilderness of Judea, and runs through the Jordan plain near Jericho. Others have suggested other streams on either side of the Jordan, but nothing sufficient has been brought forward to settle the question. Local traditions have uniformly placed it on the west of the river.
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 vv3–7 3. and hide thyself] The prophet’s life would be…
3. and hide thyself] The prophet’s life would be in danger from the anger of the king and Jezebel, who would consider Elijah not merely the announcer but the cause of the drought.
by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan] The rendering gives a fair representation of what was commanded, but the word rendered ‘brook’ is נחל nahal, which is really a torrent-bed, a deep ravine down which in rainy times a strong stream flowed, but which at others was nearly if not entirely dry. Such would make a good hiding-place. The situation of Cherith has not been identified. Josephus gives no form of the name, only saying that Elijah stayed παρὰ χειμάρρῳ τινί = ‘by a certain torrent-bed.’ Nor does the description ‘that is before Jordan’ help us. It probably implies that the stream from the ravine emptied itself into the Jordan, and hence the valley looked towards the river. But whether on the west side or the east we cannot tell. If the interview with Ahab was in Samaria, and Elijah travelled thence toward the east (Josephus says in contradiction of the text ‘towards the south’) it appears most likely that he crossed the Jordan, and found his retreat in the wilder parts of Gilead, which would be more distant from Ahab and less frequented than any of the ravines in the hill country of Ephraim on the east of Jordan, and with which the prophet would most likely be familiar.
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 vv3–4 (3) The brook Cherith—properly “the torrent (or valley) Cherith,…
(3) The brook Cherith—properly “the torrent (or valley) Cherith, facing the Jordan;” evidently one of the ravines running into the Jordan valley; probably on the east from the prophet’s own land of Gilead.
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 vv3–7 Get thee hence, and turn thee for the construction…
Get thee hence, and turn thee for the construction (dat. commodi) cf. Gen_12:2 Gen_22:2 Son_2:11 eastward. This he must do, whichever side of the Jordan, east or west, the brook Cherith was, for his interview with Ahab had probably taken place at Samaria. But the word would be specially appropriate, if the Cherith was beyond Jordan. Ewald, indeed, holds that our text is decisive on this point, and hide thyself Heb. be hid, i.e., lie hid, Niphal. It does not seem to have occurred to the prophet that such a calamity as he had denounced against the country almost made his disappearance from the scene a necessity, or if it did, he still waited for instructions. Cf. ver. 9; 1Ki_18:1, etc. Not merely was his flight necessary in order to escape persecution or punishment the search which Ahab instituted for him in part explains his disappearance but to avoid importunity. It would have been morally impossible for him, though a man of inflexible will (Bahr) to dwell among the people, while the land groaned under the terrible burden which he had laid upon it, and which he alone was able to remove. His life would not have been safe see 1Ki_18:4 and the ordeal would have been intolerable. And 1Ki_19:2 shows that the prophet"s nature had its weaker side. Wordsworth observes that Elijah"s escapes and departures into unknown places are "faint resemblances of the mysterious vanishings of our blessed Lord, after He had delivered some of His Divine messages which excited the anger of the people;" (Luk_4:29; Joh_8:59 Joh_10:39) by Heb. in the brook Heb. ljn i.e., watercourse, wady. This word has two meanings. Its primary meaning is torrent; its secondary and, from the fact that the torrents of the East are for the most part dried up during the greater part of the year, its common meaning is torrent-bed, or ravine, valley. Both meanings are brought out here. Elijah should dwell in and drink of the ljn. (Cf. 1Ki_15:3) Cherith The word means separation, a name which may possibly indicate that it was extremely secluded, or it may have been a boundary line of some sort. Tradition identifies the brook Cherith with the Wady-et-kelt, i.e., the great valley, west of the Jordan, which debouches into the Ghor, half a mile south of Jericho, and Robinson and Porter pronounce in its favour. Van de Velde (2. 310, 311) suggests the Wady Fasael, a few miles to the north. But it is much more probable that it is to be sought in the region east of the Jordan, where, indeed, Eusebius and Jerome place it. It is extremely doubtful whether the Wady-el-kelt, or any Cis-Jordanic ravine, would afford sufficient privacy. Probably Jericho was already rebuilt. As we cannot decide with certainty, we may reasonably conjecture that it is to be sought in Elijah"s own country of Gilead, and probably in the Waddy Alias, i.e., at no great distance from "Abara (Conder, "Tent-work," p. 230), the Jordan ford nearly opposite Bethshan, where, indeed, an old tradition places it that is before Nothing positive can be concluded from ynepl. In Gen_16:12 Gen_23:19 Gen_25:18; Jos_18:14, etc., it means eastward.But this meaning is gathered from the context Jordan. The Cherith was clearly one of the lateral valleys which run into the Ghor. It is just possible that the name may be recovered by the survey of the country east of the Jordan, which is now (1880) being organized.
Vers. 3-7.
Read full note →
The Solitary Place.
We have just seen that it was from the wilderness that Elijah went forth into the busy, wicked world, and to the anxious, dangerous work of a prophet. He, like his antitype, was in the desert "until the time of his showing unto Israel". (Luk_1:80) There, in secret communion with God, he had gained strength for the encounter; there he had meditated over the grievous apostasy of his people, and had "vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their evil deeds". (2Pe_2:8) And there, as he "prayed earnestly that it might not rain," the word of the Lord came to him and burned in his bones, (Jer_20:9) and bore him into the presence of the king. (Amo_3:8) But it is now for us to observe that no sooner had he entered upon his ministry, and delivered his first brief message, than he was sent into the desert it may be, the same desert again. The word of the Lord straightway bids him turn eastward and hide in the brook Cherith. Now the word Cherith means separation. This section consequently may fittingly speak to us of the need of separation, of the uses of solitude and retirement in the discipline of the saints. From Elijah"s separation from his work and the world we may glean some lessons as to our own. Observe
1. Solitude was necessary to Elijah"s safety. He must hide or lose his head. When Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, (1Ki_18:18) we may be sure he would not be spared. Was it not because of him indeed that the others were attacked? Had his dwelling been with men, the messengers of Ahab would assuredly have found him and slain him. (1Ki_18:10) So it is sometimes necessary, for the life of our souls, that we should flee into the desert. It is at our peril that we stay in Sodom. We must "escape to the mountain." It may be from some enchantress, whose whoredoms and witchcrafts are as cruel as Jezebel"s; it may be from companions whose snares are more perilous than Ahab"s sword; it may be from a society hardly less pestilent than that of Israel. There are times when our only safety is in flight. Those hermits who buried themselves in the Thebaid, or who burrowed in the rocks of the Wady Feiran, the world has only a smile for their folly, and it is no doubt true that God wound have us leaven the world, not leave it, But it would have been well if some had, for a time at least, followed their example. How many souls have perished because they would not enter into their chambers and shut their doors and hide themselves until the indignation be overpast; (Isa_26:20) because they had not the courage to disappear for a while, if only into their closets. "He that wilfully stands still to catch dangers, tempteth God instead of trusting him.
2. Solitude was necessary to his soul"s health. It is remarkable how God"s elect messengers, each in his turn, have been sent "apart into a desert place to rest awhile". (Mar_6:31) Moses must spend forty years in the great and terrible wilderness; must spend forty days and forty nights in Horeb, the Mount of God. Elijah himself only emerges from the Cherith to go to another hiding place at Zarephath, and from Zarephath he passes almost directly to the same wilderness and the same mount where Moses was. The Baptist"s life was almost divided between the desert and the prison. St. Paul must learn his gospel in Arabia. And our Holy Lord, He must begin File ministry by a forty days" fast, and from time to time must seek a quiet place to rest and pray. All men who are much before the world need their times of retirement. In the "loud stunning tide of human care and crime" it is difficult to hear the whispers of God in the soul. Now the voices of nature, such as men hear in solitude, are among the voices of God. Nature has been called "God"s great green book.
One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can.
"There are two books," says Sir Thomas Browne, "from whence I collect my divinity. Besides that written one of God, another of his servant nature, that universal and public manuscript that lies expensed unto the eyes of all." And is not every tree, every leaf, in its way a mute witness for God and purity? It is remarkable that the greatest crimes and brutalities are committed in those districts of this country where men can have neither nature nor solitude in the dens of Liverpool, amid the cinder heaps of the Black Country, in the dingy pit villages of Durham It is only in quiet, under the silent stars, amid the purple heather, by the murmuring brook, or in the inner chamber, that we can know ourselves and our God. The "Ancient Mariner"s" conception of his "wide, wide sea
So lonely "twas, that God Himself Scarce seemed there to be, fine though it is, contradicts the experience of the saints, who have found that it is precisely the profoundest solitude that is instinct with His presence.
And now let us consider how God calls us all in turn to a brook Cherith.
(1) He calls us to separation from sin. The Church is a Cherith. Baptism is a water of separation," the token and pledge of our renunciation of world and flesh and devil, of our admission into the family of God. While in the world, we may not be of it. Our calling is to holiness. (1Pe_1:15; 1Th_4:7; 2Ti_1:9) We are to be sacrifices, (Rom_12:1) and the root idea both of holiness and of sacrifice is a separation to God.
(2) Sometimes He calls us to a chamber of sickness, sometimes to the very valley of the shadow of death." How often is bodily sickness for the soul"s healthThat vale of separation becomes a vale of blessing; the Cherith leads to a Berachah (2Ch_20:26; cf. Psa_84:6)
What a school of the heart has that enforced solitude often proved! See Homiletics, p. 13.
(3) Nor must we forget here the Retreat those opportunities for meditation and prayer, happily revived amongst us of late years. The name may possibly be Romish, but the thing is sensible and scriptural enough a voluntary retirement for a short period from the world that we may hear and think only of the things which make for our peace. The saying still holds good, "He goeth before you into Galilee a retired mountain place it was (Mat_28:16) there shall ye see him.
3. Elijah"s retirement was for the ultimate welfare of Israel. So long as he remained amongst them, the people would have looked to him as the author of their calamities, or would have cried to him to avert them. His disappearance afforded them leisure to examine themselves and face their sins, and left them only God or Baal to cry to. It is sometimes well that the prophet should keep silence. Deus habet suas moras. It is not always that He stretches out his hands all clay long to the disobedient and gainsaying. Having spoken by Elijah to Ahab and Israel, now He and His prophet must withdraw into the darkness, and the drought must do its silent work. And there are times, too, when Christ"s ministers must he silent. When the Gadarenes besought our Lord to depart out of their coasts, He straightway took them st their word (Mat_8:34 Mat_9:1; cf. ch. 23:38, 39). The apostles were to shake off the dust of their feet against the city that received them not, and to depart from it, (Mat_10:14) and they did. (Act_13:51) When the Jews counted themselves unworthy of eternal life, Paul and Barnabas turned to the Gentiles. (Act_13:46) When the churches of Asia fell and repented not, their candlestick was removed out of its place. (Rev_2:5) Their loss is our gain. "These things were written for our admonition."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in…
1Ki_17:6
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning.
Read full note →
Elijah led by ravens
I. A morally great man in great physical need. Elijah was a morally great man. Worldly greatness is but tinselled paper. He only is great who is great in thoughts and noble purposes. Elijah was such: a greater could not be found. Yet he was reduced to the greatest need.
II. The God of nature ministering to a lonely man. The Infinite Father knew His servants destitution, sympathised with it, and sent relief to him morning and evening by the ravens. Observe,
1. God makes the humblest things in nature serve His people.
2. God supplies His people as their wants return. (Homilist.)
Elijah fed by ravens
I. Irrational creatures divinely directed. All creatures, from the lowest up to the greatest, are under the Divine rule. Generally they are ruled by their own instincts. Here is an exception.
II. Lower creatures engaged in the service of man.
III. Gods attention to the affairs of the individual.
IV. Help coming from unlikely sources. (Homilist.)
The battle for bread
There is an incident in my text that baffles all the ornithological wonders of the world. The grain crop had been cut off. Famine was in the land. In a cave by the brook Cherith sat a minister of God, Elijah, waiting for something to eat. Why did he not go to the neighbours? There were no neighbours, it was a wilderness. Why did he not pick some of the berries? There were none. If there had been, they would have been dried up. Seated one morning at the mouth of his cave, the prophet looks into the dry and pitiless heavens, and he sees a flock of birds approaching.
1. Notice, in the first place, in the story of my text, that these winged creatures came to Elijah directly from God. I have commanded the ravens that they feed thee. They did not come out of some other cave. They did not just happen to alight there. God freighted them, God launched them, and God told them by what cave to swoop. That is the same God that is going to supply you. He is your Father. You would have to make an elaborate calculation before you could tell me how many pounds of food and how many yards of clothing would be necessary for you and your family; but God knows without any calculation. You have a plate at His table, and you are going to be waited on, unless you act like a naughty child, and kick, and scramble, and pound saucily the plate, and try to upset things. God has a vast family, and everything is methodised, and you are going to be served, if you will only wait your turn.
2. Notice, again, in this story, that the ravens did not allow Elijah to hoard up a surplus. They did not bring enough on Monday to last all the week. They did not bring enough one morning to last until the next morning. They came twice a day, and brought just enough for one time. You know as well as I that the great fret of the world is that we want a surplus--we want the ravens to bring enough for fifty years. You have more confidence in the Long Island Bank than you have in the royal bank of heaven. You say: All that is very poetic, but you may have the black ravens--give me the gold eagles. We had better be content with just enough. If, in the morning, your family eat up all the food there is in the house, do not sit down, and cry, and say: I dont know where the next meal is coming from. About five, or six, or seven oclock in the evening just look up, and you wilt see two black spots on the sky, and you will hear the flapping of wings, and, instead of Edgar A. Poes insane raven, alighting on the chamber-door, only this, and nothing more, you will find Elijahs two ravens, or the two ravens of the Lord, the one bringing bread and the other bringing meat--plumed butcher and baker. God is infinite in resource. When the city of Rochelle was besieged, and the inhabitants were dying of the famine, the tides washed up on the beach as never before, and as never since, enough shell-fish to feed the whole city. God is good. There is no mistake about that. History tell us that, in 1555, in England, there was a great drought. The crops failed, but in Essex, on the rocks, in a place where they had neither sown nor cultured, a great crop of peas grew, until they filled a hundred measures; and there were blossoming vines enough promising as much more.
3. Again, this story of the text impresses me that relief came to this prophet with the most unexpected, and with seemingly impossible conveyance. If it had been a robin redbreast, or a musical meadow lark, or a meek turtle-dove, or a sublime albatross that had brought the food to Elijah, it would not have been so surprising. But no. It was a bird so fierce and inauspicate that we have fashioned one of our most forceful and repulsive words out of it--ravenous. That bird has a passion for picking out the eyes of men and animals. It loves to maul the sick and the dying. It swallows, with vulturous guggle, everything it can put its beak on; and yet all the food Elijah gets for six months or a year, is from the ravens. So your supply is going to come from an unexpected source. You think some great-hearted, generous man will come along and give you his name on the back of your note, or he will go security for you in some great enterprise. No, he will not. God will open the heart of some Shylock toward you. Your relief will come from the most unexpected quarter. The providence that seemed ominous will be to you more than that which seemed auspicious. It will not be a chaffinch with breast and wing dashed with white, and brown, and chestnut, it will be a black raven. Children of God, get up out of your despondency. The Lord never had so many ravens as He has this morning. Fling your fret and worry to the winds. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v7 1Ki_17:7; 1Ki_18:19.
ELIJAH AT SAREPTA
1Ki_17:7; 1Ki_18:19.
Read full note →
"The rain is Gods compassion."
-MOHAMMED
THE fierce drought continued, and "at the end of days" even the thin trickling of the stream in the clefts of Cherith was dried up. In the language of Job it felt the glare and vanished {Job_6:17} No miracle was wrought to supply the Prophet with water, but once more the providence of God intervened to save his life for the mighty work which still awaited him. He was sent to the region where, nearly a millennium later, the feet of his Lord followed him on a mission of mercy to those other sheep of His flock who were not of the Judaean fold.
The word of the Lord bade him make his way to the Sidonian city of Zarephath. Zarephath, the Sarepta of St. Luke, the modern Surafend, lay between Tyre and Sidon, and there the waters would not be wholly dried up, for the fountains of Lebanon were not yet exhausted. The drought had extended to Phoenicia, but Elijah was told that there a widow woman would sustain him. The Baal-worshipping queen who had hunted for his life would be least of all likely to search for him in a city of Baal-worshippers in the midst of her own people. He is sent among these Baal-worshippers to do them kindness, to receive kindness from them-perhaps to learn a wider tolerance, and to find that idolaters also are human beings, children, like the orthodox, of the same heavenly Father. He had been taught the lesson of "dependence upon God"; he was now to learn the lesson of "fellowship with man." Traveling probably by night both for coolness and for safety, Elijah went that long journey to the heathen district. He arrived there faint with hunger and thirst. Seeing a woman gathering sticks near the city gate he asked her for some water, and as she was going to fetch it he called to her and asked her also to bring him a morsel of bread. The answer revealed the condition of extreme want to which she was reduced. Recognizing that Elijah was an Israelite, and therefore a worshipper of Jehovah, she said, "As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but (only) a handful of meal in the barrel, and a little oil in the cruse." She was gathering a couple of sticks to make one last meal for herself and her son, and then to lie down and die. For drought did not only mean universal anguish, but much actual starvation. It meant, as Joel says, speaking of the desolation caused by locusts, that the cattle groan and perish, and the corn withers, and the seeds rot under their clods.
Strong in faith Elijah told her not to fear, but first to supply his own more urgent needs, and then to make a meal for herself and her son. Till Jehovah sent rain, the barrel of meal should not waste, nor the cruse of oil fail. She believed the promise, and for many days, perhaps for two whole years, the Prophet continued to be her guest.
But after a time her boy fell grievously sick, and at last died, or seemed to die. So dread a calamity-the smiting of the stay of her home, and the son of her widowhood-filled the woman with terror. She longed to get rid of the presence of this terrible "man of God." He must have come, she thought, to bring her sin to remembrance before God, and so to cause Him to slay her son. The Prophet was touched by the pathos of her appeal, and could not bear that she should look upon him as the cause of her bereavement. "Give me thy son," he said. Taking the dead boy from her arms, he carried him to the chamber which she had set apart for him, and laid him on his own bed. Then, after an earnest cry to God, he stretched himself three times over the body of the youth, as though to breathe into his lungs and restore his vital warmth, at the same time praying intensely that "his soul might come into him again." His prayer was heard; the boy revived. Carrying him down from the chamber, Elijah had the happiness of restoring him to his widowed mother with the words, "See, thy son liveth." So remarkable an event not only convinced the woman that Elijah was indeed what she had called him, "a man of God," but also that Jehovah was the true God. It was not unnatural that tradition should interest itself in the boy thus strangely snatched from the jaws of death. The Jews fancied that he grew up to be servant of Elijah, and afterwards to be the prophet Jonah. The tradition at least shows an insight into the fact that Elijah was the first missionary sent from among the Jews to the heathen, and that Jonah became the second.
We are not to suppose that during his stay at Zarephath Elijah remained immured in his chamber. Safe and unsuspected, he might, at least by night, make his way to other places, and it is reasonable to believe that he then began to haunt the glades and heights of beautiful and deserted Carmel, which was at no great distance, and where he could mourn over the ruined altar of Jehovah and take refuge in any of its "more than two thousand tortuous caves." But what was the object of his being sent to Zarephath? That it was not for his own sake alone, that it had in it a purpose of conversion, is distinctly implied by our Lord when He says that in those days there were many widows in Israel, yet Elijah was not sent to them, but to this Sidonian idolatress. The prophets and saints of God do not always understand the meaning of Providence or the lessons of their Divine training. Francis of Assisi at first entirely misunderstood the real drift and meaning of the Divine intimations that he was to rebuild the ruined Church of God, which he afterwards so gloriously fulfilled. The thoughts of God, are not as man's thoughts, nor His ways as man's ways, nor does He make all His servants as it were "fusile apostles," as He made St. Paul. The education of Elijah was far from complete even long afterwards. To the very last, if we are to accept the records of him as historically literal, amid the revelations vouchsafed to him he had not grasped the truth that the Elijah-spirit, however needful it may seem to be, differs very widely from the Spirit of the Lord of Life. Yet may it not have been that Elijah was sent to learn from the kind ministrations of a Sidonian widow, to whose care his life was due, some inkling of those truths which Christ revealed so many centuries afterwards, when He visited the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and extended His mercy to the great faith of the Syro-Phoenician woman? May not Elijah have been meant to learn what had to be taught by experience to the two great Apostles of the Circumcision and the Uncircumcision, that not every Baal-worshipper was necessarily corrupt or wholly insincere? St. Peter was thus taught that God is no respecter of persons, and that whether their religious belief be false or true, in every nation he that feareth Him and doeth righteousness is accepted of Him. St. Paul learnt at Damascus and taught at Athens that God made of one every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth, that they should seek God if haply they might feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far; from every one of us.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v5 as the word of Yahweh commanded
as the word of Yahweh commanded
Here "the word" represents Yahweh himself. AT: "as Yahweh commanded" (See: Metonymy)
Read full note →
the brook Kerith
This is the name of a very small stream. See how you translated this in 1 Kings 17:2. (See: How to Translate Names)
in the land
"in that area" or "in that country"
translationWords
bread
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.