Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 17

The name Elijah means “Yahweh is my God.” It is expressive of the truth which his whole life preached.

The two words rendered “Tishbite” and “inhabitant” are in the original (setting aside the vowel points) “exactly alike.” The meaning consequently must be either “Elijah the stranger, of the strangers of Gilead,” or (more probably) “Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbi of Gilead.” Of Tishbi in Gilead there is no further trace in Scripture; it is to be distinguished from another Tishbi in Galilee.

In forming a conception of the great Israelite prophet, we must always bear in mind that the wild and mountainous Gilead, which bordered on Arabia and was half-Arab in its customs, was the country where he grew up.

His abrupt appearance may be compared with the similar appearances of Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29), Jehu (1 Kings 16:1), Shemaiah (2 Chronicles 11:2), Azariah (2 Chronicles 15:1), and others. It is clear that a succession of prophets was raised up by God, both in faithful Judah and in idolatrous Israel, to witness to Him before the people of both countries and leave them without excuse if they forsook His worship.

At this time, a grosser and more deadly idolatry than had been practiced before was introduced into Israel by the authority of Ahab, and the total apostasy of the ten tribes was consequently imminent. In response, two prophets of unusual vigor and force of character, endowed with miraculous powers of an extraordinary kind, were successively raised up so that the wickedness of the kings might be boldly met and combated, and, if possible, a remnant of faithful men preserved in the land.

The unusual outpouring of miraculous energy at this time was suitable for the unusual emergency and in very evident proportion to the spiritual necessities of the people.

As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand — This solemn formula, here first used, was well adapted to impress the king with the sacred character of the messenger and the certain truth of his message. Elisha adopted the phrase with very slight modifications in 2 Kings 3:14 and 2 Kings 5:16.

Drought was one of the punishments threatened by the Law if Israel forsook Yahweh and turned after other gods (Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 28:23; Leviticus 26:19, etc.).

Brook Cherith - This refers to “the torrent course,” one of the many ravines that carry the winter rains from the highlands into the Jordan River.

The ravens - This is the translation of most of the ancient versions. Others, omitting the vowel points (which are generally considered to have no authority), read “Arabians.” Still others, retaining the current pointing, translate the word as either “merchants” (compare the original text in Ezekiel 27:9 and 27:27) or “Orbites.” Jerome interpreted it in this last sense, as does the Arabic Version.

The inscriptions of Sennacherib indicate that Zarephath (Sarepta) was dependent on Sidon. These records mention that the city belonged to Luliya (Elulaeus), king of Sidon, and submitted to the Assyrian monarch when Luliya fled from his capital.

Elijah may have been sent to this location, so near the city of Jezebel’s father, precisely because it was a place he was least expected to visit.

As the Lord your God liveth—The words do not prove that the woman was an Israelite or a worshipper of the true God. Any Phoenician, recognizing in Elijah’s appearance the garb and manner of a prophet of the LORD, might have addressed him this way, for Baal-worshippers would have admitted Yahweh to be “a” living God. The woman does not say, “as the Lord my God liveth.”

That we may eat it and die—Phoenicia always depended for its grain supplies on the harvests of Palestine (see the note on 1 Kings 5:9), and it is evident that the famine was afflicting the Phoenicians at this time no less than the Israelites.