1 Kings 17:16
in 1 Kings 17The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The jar of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake by Elijah.
KJV
And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
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This verse in 1 Kings 17
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. There being a continual increase and supply of both, through the mighty power of God working a continued miracle; just as the loaves and fishes were increased while the disciples were eating, Mat 14:19.
This site's exposition
did eat many days
on 1 Kings 17:15-16
The widow obeys, and she, he, and her house eat many days on a supply that never runs out. Henry calls the widow's own faith as great a miracle in the kingdom of grace as the oil's increase was in the kingdom of providence, since believing the promise came before seeing it kept. Gill compares the standing increase to the loaves and fishes multiplied in the disciples' own hands while they were still distributing them, a later miracle worked on the same pattern.
This site's exposition
according to the word that the LORD
Matthew Henry reads the widow's reward in the light of Matthew 10:41, where whoever receives a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. She gave Elijah a room, and he supplied her household with food. The flour and oil answered the word spoken through Elijah.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"She went and did as Elijah said." Consider the faith of the widow, her obedience and charity, and then meditate on the greatness of the reward that he granted her. Indeed it is written, "The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
There is nothing lost by being kind to God's people and ministers; she that received a prophet had a prophet's reward; she gave him house-room, and he repaid her with food for her household. Christ has promised to those who open their doors to him that he will come in to them, and sup with them, and they with him, Rev. iii.
Wasted not - See how the reward answered the service. She made one cake for the prophet and was repaid with many for herself and her son. What is laid out in charity is set out to the best interest, an upon the best securities.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Meeting, at his entrance into the town, the very woman who was appointed by divine providence to support him, his faith was severely tested by learning from her that her supplies were exhausted and that she was preparing her last meal for herself and son.
IN the midst of wrath God remembers mercy. Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it shines in the midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of the thunder-clouds; bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so bright is love in the midst of wrath. In the present instance, God had sent an all-consuming famine upon the lands of Israel and Sidon.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
IN the midst of wrath God remembers mercy. Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it shines in the midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of the thunder-clouds; bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so bright is love in the midst of wrath. In the present instance, God had sent an all-consuming famine upon the lands of Israel and Sidon. The two peoples had provoked the Most High, the one by renouncing him, and the other by sending forth their queen Jezebel, to teach idolatry in the midst of Israel. God therefore determined to withhold both dew and rain from the polluted lands. But while he did this, he took care that his own chosen ones should be secure. If all the brooks are dry, yet shall there be one reserved for Elijah; and if that should fail, God shall still preserve for him a place of sustenance; nay, not only so, for God had not simply one Elijah, but he had a remnant according to the election of grace, who were hidden by fifties in a cave, and though the whole land was subject to famine, yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from Ahab’s table, too, by his faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah. Let us from this draw this inference, that come what may God’s people are safe. If the world is to be burned with fire, among the ashes there shall not be found the relics of a saint. If the world should again be drowned with water, (as it shall not) yet should there be found another ark for God’s Noah. Let convulsions shake the solid earth, let all its pillars tremble, let the skies themselves be rent in twain, yet amid the wreck of worlds the believer shall be as secure as in the calmest hour of rest. If God cannot save his people under heaven, he will save them in heaven. If the world becomes too hot to hold them, then heaven shall be the place of their reception and their safety.
The barrel of meal wasted not - She continued to take out of her jar and out of her bottle the quantity of meal and oil requisite for the consumption of her household; and without carefully estimating what was left, she went with confidence each time for a supply, and was never disappointed.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
This is the first recorded miracle of its kind - a supernatural and inexplicable multiplication of food (compare 2Ki 4:42-44; Mat 14:15-21; Mat 15:32-38). The sacred record does not explain these miracles; but if the explanations sometimes suggested - that there was a transformation of previously existing matter into meal, oil, fish, and bread - be the true one, the marvel of the thing would not be much greater than that astonishing natural chemistry by which, in the growth of plants, particles of water, air, and earth are transmuted into fruits and grains of corn, and so fitted to be human food. There would be a difference in the agency employed and in the time occupied in the transmutation, but the thing done would be almost the same.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כַּ֤ד | kad | [the] jar of | H3537 → | 18 times |
| הַקֶּ֙מַח֙ | hakemach | <the> flour | H7058 → | 14 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כָלָ֔תָה | khalatah | it was at an end | H3615 → | 208 times |
| וְצַפַּ֥חַת | vetzapachat | and [the] jug of | H6835 → | 7 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֖מֶן | hashemen | <the> oil | H8081 → | 193 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָסֵ֑ר | chaser | it was lacking | H2637 → | |
| כִּדְבַ֣ר | kidvar | according to [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֖ר | diber | he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| בְּיַ֥ד | beyad | by [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אֵלִיָּֽהוּ׃ פ | ʾeliyahu | Elijah | H452 → | 71 times |
כַּ֤ד[the] jar of
kadH3537 →18 times
הַקֶּ֙מַח֙<the> flour
hakemachH7058 →14 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
כָלָ֔תָהit was at an end
khalatahH3615 →208 times
וְצַפַּ֥חַתand [the] jug of
vetzapachatH6835 →7 times
הַשֶּׁ֖מֶן<the> oil
hashemenH8081 →193 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
חָסֵ֑רit was lacking
chaserH2637 →
כִּדְבַ֣רaccording to [the] word of
kidvarH1697 →1440 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֖רhe spoke
diberH1696 →1141 times
בְּיַ֥דby [the] hand of
beyadH3027 →1618 times
אֵלִיָּֽהוּ׃ פElijah
ʾeliyahuH452 →71 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
it leads to
- Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
- Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
- Jeremiah 32:17
“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
- Luke 18:27
But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
- Matthew 19:26
Through
Luke 1:45Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”
it leads to
- John 20:29
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
- John 11:40
Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
- Luke 11:27–28
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!”
- John 20:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 290: “The Inexhaustible Barrel” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 17:2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.