1 Kings 17:4
in 1 Kings 17And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
KJV
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
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This verse in 1 Kings 17
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHave commanded - Or, I shall command, that is, effectually move them, by instincts which shall be as forcible with them, as a law or command is to men. God is said to command both brute creatures, and senseless things; when he causeth them to do the things which he intends to effect by them.
This site's exposition
hide thyself by the brook Cherith
on 1 Kings 17:3-4
The command sends Elijah east across Jordan to Cherith, away from Ahab's reach, where ravens rather than any human hand supply his bread and flesh morning and evening. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown defend the plain reading of raven against conjectures that would emend the word to Arabians or merchants, since a miraculous feeding needs no natural explanation for where the birds found food. The prophet who shut heaven by his own word now depends on a daily supply he did not arrange, the same lesson Zarephath will teach a widow's jar.
This site's exposition
I have commanded the ravens
The words I have commanded return at verse 9 for the widow of Zarephath. John Wesley reads the command to the ravens as an instinct laid on the birds, as binding on them as a law is on men. Birds and a widow receive the same order.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence · Written before 523.
proposed
Now although this meat is a burden unto the wise and prudent, yet was it given by promise unto Noah, and it was sent unto Elijah in a gift, and Abraham received God and His angels thereby, and Isaac was pleased to pour out blessings …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3264: “God's Care of Elijah” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
WHAT a mighty master of the art of prayer was Elijah the Tishbite! He was one of those who had the power to shut up Heaven so that it did not rain. He did not merely prophesy, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain but according to my word," but he prayed that it might be so—so that he was not only the messenger of the drought, but in some sense, the cause of it. It was his act that stopped the bottles of Heaven!
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3264: “God's Care of Elijah” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
WHAT a mighty master of the art of prayer was Elijah the Tishbite! He was one of those who had the power to shut up Heaven so that it did not rain. He did not merely prophesy, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain but according to my word," but he prayed that it might be so—so that he was not only the messenger of the drought, but in some sense, the cause of it. It was his act that stopped the bottles of Heaven! It was his prevailing prayer which brought down that heavy chastisement upon the sinful people. But perceive dear Friends, that though Elias was mighty in prayer, and could prevail with God, yet he did not therefore escape from suffering—no, his very prayer in its answer, brought him into suffering. If there should be a drought throughout all the land, he himself must feel the pinch as well as the rest of the people. If the brooks are dried up, they shall be dried up for him, and if there is no corn in the land, there shall be no corn for him, unless God shall be pleased to especially interpose on his behalf. Elijah suffers, then, in the common evil. The effect of his own prayer is, as it were, to bring down the house of the Philistines upon his own head, as well as upon theirs. Let us learn from this, dear Friends, that the highest degree of Grace cannot save us from affliction, no, that it even includes it! We may grow in Grace until our faith never staggers. We may progress in the art of wrestling with God until we know how to grapple with the Angel as Jacob did at Jabbok with, "I will not let You go except You bless me"—but the impartial hand of trial will knock at our door as well as at the door of the chief of sinners! We must still tread the path of sorrow. Still shall we have to go under the rod of the Covenant and feel Christ's yoke upon our shoulders.
I have commanded the ravens to feed thee - Thou shalt not lack the necessaries of life; thou shalt be supplied by an especial providence. See more on this subject at the end of the chapter, 1Ki 17:24 (note).
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The ravens - This is the translation of most of the ancient versions; others, omitting the points, which are generally allowed to have no authority, read “Arabians;” others, retaining the present pointing, translate either “merchants” (compare the original of Eze 27:9, Eze 27:27), or “Orbites.” Jerome took it in this last sense, and so does the Arabic Version.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֖ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מֵהַנַּ֣חַל | mehanachal | from the wadi | H5158 → | 141 times |
| תִּשְׁתֶּ֑ה | tishteh | you will drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעֹרְבִ֣ים | haorevim | the ravens | H6158 → | |
| צִוִּ֔יתִי | tziviti | I have commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| לְכַלְכֶּלְךָ֖ | lekhalkelkha | to supply you | H3557 → | 38 times |
| שָֽׁם׃ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
וְהָיָ֖הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
מֵהַנַּ֣חַלfrom the wadi
mehanachalH5158 →141 times
תִּשְׁתֶּ֑הyou will drink
tishtehH8354 →217 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָעֹרְבִ֣יםthe ravens
haorevimH6158 →
צִוִּ֔יתִיI have commanded
tzivitiH6680 →494 times
לְכַלְכֶּלְךָ֖to supply you
lekhalkelkhaH3557 →38 times
שָֽׁם׃there
shamH8033 →834 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
Matthew 4:4But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone,…
- Luke 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
- John 6:63
The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
- John 6:31–59
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
- Romans 15:4
For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
- Deuteronomy 8:3
Through
Psalms 147:9He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
it leads to
- Psalms 104:27–28
All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 104:27–28
Through
Job 38:41Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
it leads to
- Luke 12:24
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 12:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
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 Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3264: “God's Care of Elijah” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence.