Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 17:10
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
10. gathering of sticks ] R.V. modernizes the language by omitting the preposition. The abject poverty of the widow is seen from her coming forth to pick up any chance bits of wood which might have fallen from the trees outside the city walls.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He called to her; knowing by Divine suggestion that this was the woman designed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
So he arose, and went to Zarephath,…. Which, according to Bunting f, 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” g, which he had with him, and made use of at the brook Cherith.
f Ut supra, (Travels, &c.) p. 203. g “in hoc vase”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When Elijah arrived at the city gate, he met a widow engaged in gathering wood. To discover whether it was to her that the Lord had sent him, he asked her for something to drink and for a morsel of bread to eat; whereupon she assured him, with an oath by Jehovah, that she had nothing baked ( = , , a cake baked in hot ashes), but only a handful of meal in the (a pail or small vessel in which meal was kept) and a little oil in the pitcher, and that she was just gathering wood to dress this remnant for herself and her son, that they might eat it, and then die. From this statement of the widow it is evident, on the one hand, that the drought and famine had spread across the Phoenician frontier, as indeed Menander of Ephesus attests;
(Note: Josephus gives this statement from his Phoenician history: ( sc., ) ( Ant. viii. 13, 2). Hyperberetaeus answers to Tishri of the Hebrews; cf. Benfey and Stern, die Monatsnamen, p. 18.)
on the other hand, the widow showed by the oath, “as Jehovah thy God liveth,” that she was a worshipper of the true God, who spoke of Jehovah as his God, because she recognised the prophet as an Israelite.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
10. He came to the gate An old tradition points out the spot on the south of the ancient city where Elijah first saw the widow, and the crusaders built a small chapel over the reputed spot of the widow’s house.
Gathering of sticks A scene that often meets the traveller’s eye in Palestine.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(10) So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. (11) And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. (12) And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. (13) And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. (14) For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. (15) And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
What a most beautiful and interesting history this is, independent of the sacred and spiritual sense of it. See how the Lord in his providence overruled the events, that this widow should be coming to the gate of the city as Elijah entered it. See how graciously the Lord directed the mind of the prophet to speak to her. See how the same gracious God influenced the widow’s mind, not only to attend to the call of the prophet, but, in the midst of such a pressing famine, to be ready to give to a stranger. And see what strong faith she had in the words of a stranger, as upon first sight to believe what Elijah said, that the Lord by a miracle would keep her stock undiminished. And only conceive what sweet living that must have been, kept up as it was daily by faith, both for Elijah, and the widow, and her whole house for many days, and which many days, as appears by the calculation of the time Elijah was there, could not have been less than two whole years. But when the Reader hath paid all due attention to those many interesting things in the account as an history, I beg of him to look at one feature of it in a spiritual sense, and then say, whether it is not in this point of view beautifully enhanced. Make me a little cake first (said the prophet) and after, for thyself and son. And doth not Jesus say the same to his people in the exercise of their faith and dependence upon him? Our stock is low, and all supplies are seemingly over. Nevertheless, faith, real, lively, active faith, like this widow, hears Jesus command, Let me be first supplied, and hastens to do it. For when brought down to the lowest state, and the soul casts herself, and all she hath upon Jesus; acting faith upon the naked promises of God in Christ: this is precious, precious faith. And every poor believer that is enabled to do this will find, like the widow’s cruse, that seeking first Jesus and his righteousness, all other things necessary will be added thereto. Thus saith Jesus himself, and thus as the prophet here, the authority is backed in the name of the Lord God of Israel.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
Ver. 10. Gathering of sticks. ] a Which showeth her low condition. God chooseth “the poor in this world rich in faith.” Jam 2:5
A little water in a vessel.
a Ea nempe ligna quae prima obviam habebat. – Vat.
Fetch me: Gen 21:15, Gen 24:17, Joh 4:7, 2Co 11:27, Heb 11:37
Reciprocal: Jdg 4:19 – Give me Eze 12:19 – with carefulness Oba 1:20 – Zarephath Heb 13:2 – not
1Ki 17:10-12. Behold, the widow woman was gathering sticks He knew, by some secret divine intimations, that this was the woman that was to sustain him. Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water Water, in consequence of the long drought, was doubtless scarce there as well as in the land of Israel; yet, being a pious woman, and therefore ready to succour a stranger in distress, she readily goes to fetch it. He called and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand This he probably said chiefly to try her, and to make way for what follows. She said, As the Lord thy God liveth By this she discovers, that though she was a Gentile, yet she owned the God of Israel as the true God. I am gathering two sticks A few sticks, that number being often used indefinitely for any small number. That we may eat it and die For having no more provision, we must needs perish with hunger. Although the famine was chiefly in the land of Israel, yet the effects of it were felt in Tyre and Sidon, which were supported by the corn of that land. But what a poor supporter was this widow likely to be! who had no fuel, but what she gathered in the streets, and nothing to live upon herself, but a handful of meal and a little oil! To her Elijah is sent, that he might live upon Providence, as much as he had done when the ravens fed him.
17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there {e} gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
(e) All this was to strengthen the faith of Elijah, to the intent that he would look for nothing worldly, but only trust God’s providence.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes