John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"And take with thee ten loaves, and cakes, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he will tell thee what shall become of the child." — 1 Kings 14:3 (ASV)
And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse
of honey, and go to him
It being usual to carry a present to a prophet when he was inquired of on any account, see (1 Samuel 9:7) and this being a plain present, and of such things as the country afforded, she might be taken for a plain countrywoman, and not for such a personage as she was: the ten loaves could not be large for a woman to carry, most probably made of wheat; the cracknels, according to the Greek version in Drusius, were for the prophet's children; they very likely were spiced, or were sweetened with honey, and might be somewhat like our simnels; they seem to have their name in Hebrew from having points and pricks in them for the sake of ornament; such as Plautus F8 calls "scribilitae", because as Turnebus F9 says, they were marked and pricked, and seemed as if they were written:
he shall tell you what shall become of the child ;
whether it should live or die, for that was all he wanted to know; he did not desire to know what should be done to the child for its recovery, nor to request the prophet's prayers for it.