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1 KINGS 17

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. The reign of Ahab is given much more coverage than previous kings of Israel. He documents the continuous evil of the Omri dynasty (see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1026-1027).
   
   
2. The chapter begins the ministry of Elijah. He and Elisha are powerful prophets of God given to the northern tribes. YHWH did not leave even sinful Israel without His message.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 17:1-7
  ¹Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." ²The word of the Lord came to him, saying, ³"Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there." ⁵So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁶The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. ⁷It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

17:1 "Elijah" The account of Elijah's ministry begins here and goes through 2 Kings 1, where the story of Elisha begins.

The MT has "the Tishbite from the settlers of Gilead," but with a revocalization it can be understood as "the Tishbite from Tishbe in Gilead" (Josephus, Antiq. 8.13.2). The UBS Text Project gives this revocalization a "B" rating (some doubt).

▣ "the Lord. . .lives" This is a play on the covenant name for Deity (cf. v. 12) YHWH, which is a form of the Hebrew VERB "to be."

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, D.

▣ "neither dew nor rain" Dew is the most significant source of moisture in Canaan. It rains only two times during the year (i.e., planting and just before harvest).

YHWH, not Ba'al the storm god, controls nature (cf. Lev. 26:19; Deut. 11:13-19; 28:23). He demonstrates this control to

1. judge idolatry
2. bring His people back to faith in Him

17:2 "the word of the Lord" This is a Hebrew idiom of YHWH's revelation.

17:3 "the brook Cherith" The location is uncertain but it appears to be an isolated wadi somewhere in Gilead, which was Elijah's home area.

17:4 "the ravens" This is the translation of all the English versions. However, since ravens were unclean birds (cf. Lev. 11:15), many Jewish commentators have suggested a revocalization to "Arabs."

1. the ravens ‒ הערים (BDB 788)
2. the Arab (singular) ‒ הערי (BDB 787, cf. Neh. 1:19; 6:1)
3. the Arabs (plural) ‒ הערבים (BDB 887, cf. Neh. 4:1; 2 Chr. 21:16; 22:1)

This was not an attempt to remove the miracle but defend Elijah's kosher food source.

17:5 Obedience is crucial (cf. 1 kgs. 13:11-32).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 17:8-16
  ⁸Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹"Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." ¹⁰So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, "Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink." ¹¹As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand." ¹²But she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." ¹³Then Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. ¹⁴For thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.'" ¹⁵So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.

17:8-16 This account illustrates

1. the compassion of YHWH
2. the obedience of Elijah
3. YHWH's love and care for non-Israelites

YHWH's power over rain/dew is now matched by His power over flour and oil!

17:9 "Zarephath" As Gilead was beyond Ahab's control, so too, Phoenicia.

17:15 The widow was obedient to the prophet's messge from YHWH. I am surprised by v. 24. She had already demonstrated faith in YHWH's word and power.

▣ "and she and her household" This statement involved three people.

1. the widow
2. Elijah
3. the widow's son

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 17:17-24
  ¹⁷Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸So she said to Elijah, "What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!" ¹⁹He said to her, "Give me your son." Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰He called to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?" ²¹Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child's life return to him." ²²The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. ²³Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." ²⁴Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."

17:17-24 The widow and Elijah are tested. Another crisis gives YHWH the opportunity to show He is in control of death!

When the Bible speaks on this subject, we must clarify three types of YHWH's power over death.

1. Enoch and Elijah are taken to heaven without death.
2. The son and many others are restored to physical life but they will die again in the future (i.e., resuscitation).
3. Jesus was resurrected, which means a new spiritual/physical existence (i.e., no more death). Jesus is the only one so far (cf. 1 Corinthians 15).

This resuscitation would have been related to the myth of Ba'al's death and rising (i.e., winter-spring). Ba'al had no power over death (as he had no power over rain) but YHWH did!

17:17 "no breath left in him" This is the ancient's belief that "breath" showed life; no breath (BDB 675), no life. This is not the word ruah (BDB 924) but a SYNONYM.

Notice in v. 22 the child's nephesh returns to him. For nephesh (BDB 659) see notes online at Gen. 35:18 and Lev. 17:11.

17:18 "to bring my iniquity to remembrance" It is common to view one's circumstances as revealing God's attitude toward that person. But this is not biblical. We are all sinners and deserve judgment but YHWH deals with us in mercy (i.e., Ps. 103:8-14). We all live in a fallen world! However, God has chosen to be in it with us.

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)

17:19 "the upper room" This was a structure on the roof which could be reached by stairs on the outside of the house. It was possibly used only in the hot months by the family.

The term (BDB 751; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 422) is used in a variety of ways.

1. upper room of a modest home ‒ here
2. upper room of a palace ‒ Jdgs. 3:20; 2 Kgs. 1:2; Isa. 28:8
3. upper floor of the temple ‒ 1 Chr. 28:11; 2 Chr. 3:9
4. upper room over a city's gate ‒ 2 Sam. 19:1
5. even of YHWH's dwelling place ‒ Ps. 104:3,13

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