1 Kings 17:1

And Elijah the Tishbite, [who] was of the inhabitants of Gilead,.... Which belonged partly to the Reubenites and Gadites, and partly to the half-tribe of Manasseh on the other side Jordan, where this

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

1 KINGS CHAPTER 17 Elijah foretelleth, Ahab that there shall be a great drought; is sent to Cherith, where the ravens feed him, . He is sent to Zarephath to a widow, who feedeth him with meal and oil, which wasted not, . Her son dieth, and he raiseth him, . She acknowledgeth him to be a prophet, . Elijah was the most eminent of the prophets, , who is here brought in, like Melchisedek, , without any mention of his father, or mother, or beginning of his days; like a man dropped out of the clouds, and raised by God’ s special providence as a witness for himself in this most degenerate time and state of things; that by his zeal, and courage, and power of miracles, he might give some check to their various and abominable idolatries, and some reviving to that small number of the Lord’ s prophets and people who yet remained in Israel, as we shall see. The Tishbite; so called, either from the place of his birth or habitation, or for some other reason not now known. Of the inhabitants of Gilead; which was the land beyond Jordan. See . Said unto Ahab; having doubtless admonished him of his sin and danger before this; and now, upon his obstinacy in his wicked courses, he proceeds to declare and execute the judgment of God upon him. As the Lord God of Israel liveth: I swear by the God of Israel, who, is the only true and living God; when the gods whom thou hast joined with him, or preferred before him, are dead and senseless idols. Before whom I stand; either, 1. Whose minister I am, (as this phrase is oft used, as 17:12 18:5) not only in general, but especially in this threatening, which I now deliver in his name and authority, and not from my own imagination or passion. Or, 2. Who is now present with me, and a witness of what I say; and let him punish me severely, if I speak not the truth. There shall not be dew nor rain: this was a prediction, but was seconded with his prayer, that God would verify it, as it is recorded, . And this prayer of his was not voluntary and malicious, but necessary, and (all things considered) truly charitable; that by this sharp and long affliction God’ s honour, and the truth of his word and threatenings, (which was now so horribly and universally contemned,) might be vindicated, and the Israelites (whom their present impunity and prosperity had hardened in their idolatry) might hereby be awakened to see their own wickedness, and the vanity of their calves and other idols, and their dependence upon God, and the necessity of returning to the true religion. These years, i.e. these following years, which were three and a half, . But according to my word, i.e. until I shall declare that this judgment shall cease, and shall pray to God for the removal of it.

1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, [who was] of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, [As] the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.Ver. 1. And Elijah the Tishbite.] So he is called of his country. The Hebrews tell us of another name that he had before that acclamation drawn by him from the people, "The Lord he is God, the Lord he is God." Elijah signifieth, "My God, he is the Lord." This wonder working prophet - who comes to our knowledge as, another Melchizedek, "without father or mother, or descent" - observing Ahab’ s and Hiel’ s height of wickedness, and desperate obdurateness, denounceth with great boldness the ensuing judgment upon the whole land of drought and famine. Said unto Ahab.] Who might sit in his ivory palace, having gold, and silver, and jewels in every place; but is here given to know that he was not out of the reach of God’ s rod; and that since he had done what he ought not, done evil as he could, he should now hear what he would not, and share deeply in the common calamity. Before whom I stand.] As a servant; as a suppliant; as one who will stand to and for the Lord, though I stand alone. There shall not be dew nor rain.] The drought, it seems, was begun already, but lengthened out by Elijah’ s prayer, as St James first telleth us. But according to my word,] i.e., According to my prediction, and my prayer; which seems to have been the same in effect with that of Luther, Fiat voluntas mea; mea, inquam, Domine, quia tua voluntas: Let my will herein be done; mine, I say, Lord, because the same with thy holy will. In Genesi, magn. cap. 37.

(1) Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead.—The most probable rendering of this disputed passage is that of the LXX., and virtually of Josephus, “Elijah the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead,” the last words being added to distinguish the place from a Tishbe (or Thisbe) in Naphtali, referred to, though the reading is rather doubtful, in Tob 1:2. The word here rendered “inhabitants” (properly “sojourners”) is evidently of the same derivation as the word rendered “Tishbite.” The only alternative would be to render “the stranger of the strangers of Gilead,” which has been adopted by some, as suggesting a startling and impressive origin of the great prophet. But it is doubtful whether the Hebrew will bear it.Gilead—properly “the rocky region” that lay on the east of Jordan, between the Hieromax and the valley of Heshbon (although the name is often more widely used). Open to the desert on the east, and itself comparatively wild, with but few cities scattered through it, it suited well the recluse dweller in the wilderness.The Lord God of Israel before whom I stand.—This adjuration (repeated in 18:15, and with some alteration by Elisha in 2 Kings 3:14; 2 Kings 5:16) is characteristic. Elijah is the servant of God standing to be sent whither He wills.This is evidently not the first appearance of Elijah. In James 5:17, the withholding of rain, foretold again and again as a penalty on apostasy (see Leviticus 26:19, Deuteronomy 11:17; and comp. 1 Kings 8:35), is noted as an answer to the prophet’s prayer, calling down judgment on the land. Evidently there had been a struggle against the Baal-worship of the time, and, no doubt, previous warnings from Elijah or from some one of the murdered prophets. This chapter introduces us suddenly to the catastrophe.

CHAPTER XVII Elijah's message to Ahab concerning the three years' drought, 1. He is commanded to go to the brook Cherith; where he is fed by ravens, 2-7. He afterwards goes to a widow's house at Zarephath, and miraculously multiplies her meal and oil, 8-16. Her son dies, and Elijah restores him to life, 17-24. NOTES ON CHAP. XVII Verse 1. Elijah the Tishbite] The history of this great man is introduced very abruptly; his origin is enveloped in perfect obscurity. He is here said to be a Tishbite. Tishbeh, says Calmet, is a city beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Gad, and in the land of Gilead. Who was his father, or from what tribe he sprang, is not intimated; he seems to have been the prophet of Israel peculiarly, as we never find him prophesying in Judah. A number of apocryphal writers have trifled at large about his parentage, miraculous birth, of his continual celibacy, his academy of the prophets, c., c., all equally worthy of credit. One opinion, which at first view appears strange, bears more resemblance to truth than any of the above, viz., that he had no earthly parentage known to any man that he was an angel of God, united for a time to a human body, in order to call men back to perfect purity, both in doctrine and manners, from which they had totally swerved. His Hebrew name, which we have corrupted into Elijah and Elias, is אליהו Alihu, or, according to the vowel points, Eliyahu and signifies he is my God. Does this give countenance to the supposition that this great personage was a manifestation in the flesh of the Supreme Being? He could not be the Messiah; for we find him with Moses on the mount of transfiguration with Christ. The conjecture that he was an angel seems countenanced by the manner of his departure from this world; yet, in James 5:17, he is said to be a man ομοιοπαθης, of like passions, or rather with real human propensities: this, however, is irreconcilable with the conjecture. There shall not be dew nor rain these years] In order to remove the abruptness of this address, R. S. Jarchi dreams thus: - "Elijah and Ahab went to comfort Hiel in his grief, concerning his sons. And Ahab said to Elijah, Is it possible that the curse of Joshua, the son of Nun, who was only the servant of Moses, should be fulfilled; and the curse of Moses, our teacher, not be fulfilled; who said, Deuteronomy 11:16-17: If ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them, then the Lord's wrath shall be kindled against you; and he will shut up the heaven that there be no rain? Now all the Israelites serve other gods, and yet the rain is not withheld.

Chap. 1 Kings 17:1-7. Elijah the Tishbite. His prophecy of a drought and its fulfilment (Not in Chronicles) 1. And Elijah the Tishbite] Elijah comes suddenly upon the scene and throughout the history his appearances are rare, sudden and brief. His history is most probably drawn from some independent narrative of the work of the prophets, and introduced here abruptly as soon as it begins to touch upon the reign of Ahab. The schools of the prophets seem to have had their origin in Samuel’s day, and were founded in various parts of the land, and in connexion with them Elijah appears in Israel. He is called the Tishbite because he was born at Thisbe in the tribe of Naphtali, a place known afterwards as the birthplace of Tobit (Tob 1:2). Josephus (Ant. viii. 13, 2) says he was ἐκπόλεωςθεσβώνηςτῆςΓαλααδίτιδοςχώρας, as if his birthplace had been in Gilead. For the connected history of Elijah, the student would do well to consult Mr (now Sir Geo.) Grove’s Article, Elijah, in Smith’s Dict. of the Bible. who was of the inhabitants [R.V. sojourners] of Gilead] The Hebrew noun is found frequently in the phrase ‘a stranger and sojourner,’ cf. Genesis 23:4; Leviticus 25:35; Leviticus 25:47; and does not imply that the person spoken of was a native of the place mentioned thus. Hence there is no difficulty in understanding that Elijah, a native of the tribe of Naphtali, was a dweller for a time in Gilead. Such a man was likely to retire from the world and dwell alone among the mountain fastnesses. The Fathers (Epiphanius, Dorotheus, Isidore) represent Elijah as of a priestly family, but there is no warrant for the statement. As the Lord God of Israel liveth] Elijah prefaces his message with his authority. He does not come in his own name, nor will the drought be of his bringing. He is but sent as the bearer of Jehovah’s word, the word of Him whom Israel had forsaken, but who alone was worthy to be called the Living God. but according to my word] i.e. As God shall proclaim through me; cf. 1 Kings 18:41; 1 Kings 18:44. Josephus, having in mind the disappearance of Elijah after this message and his reappearance to Ahab before the coming of the rain, makes the prophet say that there should be no rain ‘except on his appearance’ εἰμὴφανέντοςαὐτοῦ. He also states that this drought is mentioned by Menander in his history of Ethbaal, the king of the Tyrians. It endured, he says, for a whole year, but after that time, on the king’s earnest prayer, there came down abundant thunder showers. In Luke 4:25 and James 5:17, the duration of the drought in Israel is said to have been three years and six months. By such long-continued want of rain there the neighbouring countries must also have been affected. The LXX. rendering εἰμὴδιὰστόματοςλόγουμου, is a literal translation of the Hebrew.

The name Elijah means “Yahweh is my God.” It is expressive of the truth which his whole life preached.

ELIJAH THE , 1 Kings 17:1-24. 1. Elijah the Tishbite — “This wonder-working prophet,” says Doran, (in Kitto’s Cyclopaedia,) “is introduced to our notice like another Melchizedek, (Genesis 14:18;