4<\/strong>. thou shalt drink of the brook<\/em> ] The drought had not yet dried it up, but soon it would do so.<\/p>\n I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there<\/em> ] Just as in 1Ki 13:28<\/span> the appetite of the lion which had slain the false prophet was supernaturally checked, so that he tare neither the corpse nor the ass, so here the greedy birds were to bring into the valley enough food to suffice for the prophet’s wants as well as for their own. Their nests would be in the caves among which Elijah would find his best hiding-place. Many attempts have been made to explain away this verse by putting different vowel points to the word to interpret it as (1) merchants<\/em>. This some Jews favoured as the raven was an unclean bird. But it is answer sufficient to this, that Elijah was not told to eat the ravens. (2) Arabians<\/em>, interpreting it of travelling caravans from whom the prophet obtained what he needed to live on. But caravans keep as far away as they can from wild torrent-beds.<\/p>\n The ravens – <\/B>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<\/span>, Eze 27:27<\/span>), or Orbites. Jerome took it in this last sense, and so does the Arabic Version.<\/P><\/p>\n Verse 4<\/span>. I have commanded the ravens to feed thee<\/B><\/I>] 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. 1Kg 17:24<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n i.e. I have decreed or appointed. Or, I shall command<\/I>, i.e. effectually move them, by instincts and inclinations which I shall put into them, which shall be as forcible with them as a law or command is to men. God is said to command both brute creatures, as Amo 9:3<\/span>; Jon 2:10<\/span>, and senseless things, as Job 38:11<\/span>,12<\/span>; Psa 78:23<\/span>; Isa 5:6<\/span>; 45:12<\/span>, when he causeth them to do the things which he intends to effect by them. <\/P> I have commanded the ravens; <\/B>which he names, and chooseth for this work; partly to succour the prophets faith against human infirmity, by the credibility of the thing; there being many ravens in those parts, and those delighting to reside near brooks of water; and that sort of creatures being apt and accustomed to seek provisions, and to carry them away to the places of their abode; and partly to show his care and power in providing for the prophet by those creatures, which are noted for their greediness in monopolizing provision to themselves, and for their malignity and unnaturalness towards their own young; that by this strange and noble experiment he might be taught to trust God in those many and great difficulties to which he was likely to be exposed. <\/P> Object.<\/B> The ravens were unclean, Lev 11:15<\/span>. <\/P> Answ.<\/B> They were unclean for meat, but not for the touch. But howsoever, that ceremonial law was overruled by necessity, and by the Lawgivers dispensation. <\/P> <\/p>\n And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook<\/strong>,…. The water of that was to be his drink:<\/p>\n and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there<\/strong>; whereby he should be provided with food to eat; by whom are meant not angels in the form of ravens, as some; nor, as others, Arabians, for there were none of that people near him; nor, as others, merchants, the word being sometimes used of them, for this was not a likely method for privacy; nor, as others, the inhabitants of a place called Oreb, or Orbo; so the Arabic version calls them Orabimi; but we read of no such place near Jordan; the Jews s speak of a city of this name near Bethshean, from whence these Orebim came; and some of them t think they had their name from Oreb, in Jud 7:25<\/span> it seems better to interpret them of ravens, as we do, these creatures delighting to be in solitary places, in valleys, and by brooks; nor need it be any objection that they were unclean creatures by the law, since Elijah did not feed upon them, but was fed by them; and supposing any uncleanness by touch, the ceremonial law might be dispensed with in an extraordinary case, as it sometimes was; though it is very remarkable that such creatures should be employed in this way, which are birds of prey, seize on anything they can, live on carrion, and neglect their own young, and yet feed a prophet of the Lord; which shows the power and providence of God in it. Something like this Jerom u relates, of a raven bringing a whole loaf of bread, and laying it before the saints, Paulus and Antonius.<\/p>\n s Bereshit Rabba, sect. 33. fol. 29. 1. t T. Bab. Cholin. fol. 5. 1. Menasseh Ben Israel Conciliat. in Lev. quaest. 3. u In Vita Paul Erem. fol. 82. C.<\/p>\n (4) The ravens.<\/strong>Of the accuracy of this rendering, which is that of almost all the ancient versions and of Josephus, there can be little doubt. The singularly prosaic interpretations, substituted for this striking and significant record of miracle by some ancient and modern writers (adopting slight variations of the Hebrew vowel points)such as Arabs, merchants, inhabitants of a city Orbi or the rock Orebseem to have arisen simply from a desire to get rid of what seemed a strange miracle, at the cost (be it observed) of substituting for it a gross improbability; for how can it be supposed that such regular sustenance by human hands of the persecuted prophet could have gone on in the face of the jealous vigilance of the king? But it is idle to seek to explain away one wonder in a life and an epoch teeming with miracles. It is notable, indeed, that the critical period of the great Baal apostasy, and of the struggle of Elijah and Elisha against it, is the second great epoch of recorded miracle in the Old Testamentthe still more critical epoch of Moses and Joshua being the first. It is hardly less idle to determine that this or that miracle is so improbable, as to introduce any difficulty of acceptance which does not apply to miracles in general.<\/p>\n 4<\/strong>. <\/strong> I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there <\/strong> This plain and positive statement defies all attempts to explain the facts stated in 1Ki 17:6<\/span> on nationalistic or naturalistic principles.<\/p>\n “<\/strong> And it shall be, that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” <\/p>\n There he would be able to drink water from the Wadi, regularly refreshing himself, and he was promised that YHWH would send the ravens (or wandering Arabs) to feed him. This is not strictly comparable with Exodus 16<\/span>, although it similarly indicates that YHWH can feed His people how He wills. <\/p>\n 1Ki 17:5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> So he went and did according to the word of YHWH, for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, which is before the Jordan.’ <\/p>\n Unlike Israel Elijah obeyed the word of YHWH. He went and dwelt by the Wadi Cherith by the Jordan, was fed and was content. <\/p>\n 1Ki 17:6<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And the ravens brought him food and flesh in the morning, and food and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.’ <\/p>\n And there he received food and flesh which was brought to him by large scavenger birds (or wandering Arabs) both morning and evening. If we wish to rationalise we should consider that there would be so many dead beasts around, due to the drought, that the scavenging birds would be collecting larger amounts of food than normal and may well have dropped some by Elijah as they flew by or even have come to rest nearby. Presumably it was as popular site for ravens. Thus YHWH may well have used this natural situation in order to feed Elijah. Palestinian ravens could be sixty five centimetres (two feet) long and only scavenged for meat that was comparatively fresh. They would thus carry reasonably sized pieces of comparatively fresh meat which would be edible to human beings. <\/p>\n 1Ki 17:7<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And it came about after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.’ <\/p>\n But inevitably after a while as a result of the lack of rain the Wadi began to dry up. Elijah would now have to look elsewhere for water. <\/p>\n 1Ki 17:4<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> Some interpreters, discontented with this miracle, have sought out a different mode of solving it, and have averted, that the word orbim <\/em>rendered ravens <\/em>might with propriety be rendered Arabs <\/em>or merchants; <\/em>who, they suppose, supplied Elijah with necessary food. But Bochart has satisfactorily proved, that the original word never signifies merchants, <\/em>and that there were no Arabians <\/em>inhabiting the coasts where Elijah lay concealed: and it can hardly be imagined, but that the place of his retreat would have soon been discovered to Ahab, had either merchants or other inhabitants of the country been at any time acquainted with it. Besides, the immediate order of God was, that he should retreat and hide himself where he might be absolutely concealed. And as the whole of the affair was miraculous, why should we not readily believe, that he who is able to do all things appointed these birds to bring bread <\/em>and meat <\/em>daily to the prophet? Though we should allow, that they are creatures voracious and unnatural to their young ones; yet, the more unfit instruments they seemed to be, the more they magnified the almighty power of him who controuled their natural appetites while he employed them; and if, as Saint Chrysostom fancies, there was a moral instruction in it, the more they might mollify the prophet’s heart towards the deluded Israelites, by seeing those very creatures which were cruel to their young, kind to him. Though we should allow that they were creatures legally unclean, yet as it was for the meat, and not for the touch, that they were accounted so, we must grant, that this was a case extraordinary, wherein the ceremonial law was over-ruled by necessity, and by the law-giver’s dispensation. There is this to be said, however, for the choice of ravens, <\/em>that as they are solitary birds, and delight to live about brooks of water, so are they accustomed to seek out for provisions, and to carry them to the places of their abode; on which account they were no improper creatures for God to employ upon this service. For more on the subject, see Scheuchzer on the place, and Bochart’s Hieroz. pars 2: lib. 2. <\/p>\n REFLECTIONS.<\/strong>Elijah is now raised up to warn the idolatrous king, and in these days of apostacy with fervent zeal to testify against the wickedness of Israel. Note; <\/em>God will have his witnesses in the worst of times, and will endue them with proportionable gifts and graces for the difficulties that they are called to struggle with. We have, <\/p>\n 1. Elijah’s solemn denunciation on Ahab. Probably, he had before in vain warned him of his wickedness, and, finding him incorrigible, declares the famine which, in zeal for God, he had prayed might come as a just judgment upon Israel, see Jam 5:17<\/span>.; and, to affect the king with a sense of the hand from whence it came, he informs him, that the Lord Jehovah, the God of Israel, whom he had dishonoured, the living God, whom he had rejected for dumb idols, had commissioned him for this message; and that neither dew nor rain should fall, but according to his word. <\/p>\n 2. As he might well expect that his boldness would offend such impudent sinners as Ahab and Jezebel, God bids him hide himself by the brook Cherith, and Elijah, without hesitation, obeys. There, during the approaching famine, God promises to take care for his provision, and by a wonderful means supplies him; for, while the brook afforded him water to drink, ravens brought him morning and evening bread and flesh to eat. There, unknown, unnoticed, he abode, till, the water of the brook failing, God opened a new supply. Note; <\/em>(1.).They who dare to be bold for God, may safely trust to him for protection. (2.) It is a bad sign for a people, when God’s prophets are driven into corners. (3.) Obscurity becomes duty, when God calls us to it. (4.) God will take care that, however precarious may be their apparent subsistence, his faithful ministers shall not want; though often, like Elijah, he is pleased to feed them but from hand to mouth, to exercise their faith and patience. (5.) When God would work, he will never want means. (6.) They who give good advice, and live in bad practices, like these ravens, bring others wholesome food, and feed on carrion themselves. (7.) Every source of earthly comfort may in time run dry; but they who live upon an all-sufficient God, will find living waters of consolations that never fail. <\/p>\n 1Ki 17:4 And it shall be, [that] thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.<\/p>\n Ver. 4. Thou shalt drink of the brook.<\/strong> ] Adam’s ale (water) he had, and food cooked by the angels, likely; though the Rabbis tell us – but who told them? – that the ravens pillaged it out of king Ahab’s kitchen. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And I have commanded the ravens,<\/strong> ] i.e., <\/em> I have prepared them, and put this instinct into them. All creatures are ready to serve the saints. God hath taken the best of them, and bound them over to cater for his people. Hos 2:22-23 Peter Martyr observeth, that the ravens especially did owe the Lord this service, for the benefit which they singularly above other fowls enjoy by his providence when they are young; according to Job 38:41 Psa 147:9<\/span> . See Trapp on “<\/em> Job 38:41 “<\/em> See Trapp on “<\/em> Psa 147:9 “<\/em> <\/p>\n I have commanded. Elijah miraculously fed three times: (1) by ravens (1Ki 17:6); (2) by a widow (1Ki 17:9); (3) by an angel (1Ki 19:5, 1Ki 19:6). <\/p>\n ravens. Note “I have commanded”. All things possible when He speaks. Almighty power is a better and easier explanation than all rationalistic inventions. <\/p>\n there. Nowhere else. Note the special lesson. Any-where but in God’s appointed place he would have perished. <\/p>\n I have commanded: 1Ki 17:9, 1Ki 19:5-8, Num 20:8, Job 34:29, Job 38:8-13, Job 38:41, Psa 33:8, Psa 33:9, Psa 147:9, Amo 9:3, Amo 9:4, Mat 4:4, Mat 4:11 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 8:7 – a raven Lev 11:15 – General 1Ki 13:28 – the lion had 1Ki 17:14 – The barrel of meal Jer 37:21 – and that Mat 6:34 – for Mat 17:27 – and take Rev 2:20 – that woman<\/p>\n 17:4 And it shall be, [that] thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the {c} ravens to feed thee there.<\/p>\n (c) To strengthen his faith against persecution, God promises to feed him miraculously.<\/p>\n And it shall be, [that] thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 4. thou shalt drink of the brook ] The drought had not yet dried it up, but soon it would do so. I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there ] Just as … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 17:4”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"