John Gill Commentary 1 Kings 17:10

"So 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, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." — 1 Kings 17:10 (ASV)

So he arose, and went to Zarephath
Which, according to Bunting ^F6 , was one hundred miles from the brook Cherith:

and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was
there gathering sticks :
perhaps out of an hedge just without the city this shows her to be a poor woman, who had no other way of coming at fuel but this, and no servant to fetch it for her: Bunting tells us, that now before the gate of the city there is showed a certain chapel, where they say Elias first spoke with the widow:

and he called to her, and said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water
in a vessel, that I may drink ;
being thirsty through travelling, and supposing this to be the woman he was directed to, made trial of her this way; some render it, "in this vessel" ^F7 , which he had with him, and made use of at the brook Cherith.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F6: Ut supra, (Travels) p. 203.
• F7: (ylkb) "in hoc vase", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.