The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 380

the LXX. iy•·p••i/>lat. We g,ither from this to ono who wae denying the God of Isrnel] pitiful disrlosuro that the famine hnd The barrel of meal shall not waste, nelther already extrnded to Phoenicie., ae it shall the cruae or 011 fall, untll the day naturally wonld do, considering how de- that the Lord sendeth [Hob. giveth. For pendent tbnt country we.s on Israel for its iDl:l sec note on eh. vi. l!IJ raln upon the breadstu!Ts; Ree note on oh. v. 9, 11. Josephus earth. [Hob. on the face of the ground. Liko (Ant. nii. 13, 2) cites Mcnander as ntte.sting expression eh. xviii. 1 ; Gon. ii. 5. It hns t.o a year's drought in the reign of Ethbnnl), been said that there is not a syllable here to but an handful or meal In a [Heb. the] imply a miracle, and it has been contended barrel [i;i, probably conn<'cted with cad,111, tbnt this Sarepte.n household wo.s susto.ined cad en 11, &c.; bucket, pail], and a little oll In for over two yenrs simply by the blessing a cruse : and. behold, I am gathering two of God on the use of natural means. But sticks [i.e., n few sticks (Gesenius). We clearly, if thero was nothing else, there was may compare the German idiom cin Paar supernatural knowledge on Elijah's part. and our "two or three.'' But "two 11 in And it cannot be denied tha.t the literal con- this sense occurs nowhere else in the Bible strnction of the words points to a " super- -" two or three " is fouud in 2 Rings ix. natural 8Jld inexplicable multiplicntion of 32 ; lsn. xvii. 6 ; Amos iv. 8. According food" (Rawlinson), similar to those of to Roberts, the word is constantly used for which the Gospels tell. It is just possible "few" b:, the natives of India. Tllis widow that this was a figure of speech, whioh was end.cntly reduced to the greatest ex- practically mee.nt no more than the neces- tremities J, that I may go 1n and dress lt saries of life should somehow be provided, for me and my son [The LXX. ha.s ru.vo~ directly or indirectly, by God. Nor is here end in ver. 13, and ra ru.va in ver. this view effectually negatived, as Blihr 15. Bahr contends that Elijah first learnt contends, by Luke iv. 26; but, in view of from these words-the mention of a son 2 Kings iv. 44, Matt. xiv. 15-21, xv. and the absence of any mention of her 32-38, it is extremely improbable. It is husband-that he was addressing a "widow curious how many miracles of Elijo.h and womnn." But we read Gen. xx:xviii. 14, 19, Elisha foreshadowed those of ow: blessed of " _qarments of widowhood" (cf. Dent. Lord. mv. 17), and ver. 10, "a widow wom.e.n," Ver. 15.-And she went a.nd dfd according &c., almost implies that Elijah from the to the saying or Elljah [the echo of ver. first rerngnized her a.s such J, tha.t we may 13, " Go and do according to thy saying "]: ea.t lt, and die. &!l.d she, and he, [ or he and she, according VGr. 13.-And Elijah sa.1d llllto her [This to Chethib] and her house [probably her looks at first like a further test. But it is mends or poor rela.tives who came to partake pretty clear that the prophet now knew that of her plenty (Bii.hr)J, did eat many days. the mdow of whom God had spoken was [Heb. days, i.e., an indefinite period. See Lefore himJ, Fear not ; go and do as thou note on ver. 7. The word does not refer hast said [Heh. accordi11g to thy word] to the first baking (ver. 13), but it is to be but [Heb. only, however]: make me thereof explained by the next verse. [Heh. thence, i.e., of the oil D.S well as the Ver. 16.-And [Omit. This verse is ex- menl. The former took the place of butter. plicative, not additional] the barrel of meal Bread was sometimes baked in oil] a little wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fall, cake first, and brtng it 1lllto me, and after according to the word of the Lord, which make for thee and thy son. [The" first." He spake by [Heb. by the hand of] ElJja.h. and " afterwards " are emphntic by position. [Having received a prophet in the name of When Biilu- says thn.t Elijah would never e. prophet, she received a prophet's reward. have made this demand, and ths.t still less (Matt. x. 41, 42). Stanley suggests that our would the widow have paid any attention to Lord, when He spoke of the " cup of cold it, ho.d slle been a heathen, he appears to water," may have had this incident in his forget the words that followed (ver. 14). mind. When one in the garb of a prophet swore, Ver. 17.-And lt ea.me to pass after these as this inan did, by the sacred name, a things, that the son of the woman, the lleathen, with the belief of the heathen in mistress of the house, fell alck ; and his miracles, might well be persuaded that the Blclmeas was so sore, that there was no word wo.s truth. Elija.b's manner alone breath left In him. [Does tllis mean that would carry conviction with it.] he was dead 7 Keil thinks it perfectly clear Ver. 14.-Por thUB aalth the Lord Go4 of that it does. Biihr is as firmly persuaded larael [The words," God of Israel," if any- that it does not. He justly remarks (1) thing, favour the supposition that he was that the same expression occurs in Dan. speaking to one who was not of !Erael. See x. 17 (cf. 1 Kings x. 5) where it does not on ver. 1. There the words wei.-e addressed imply death. (2) That o.s tho text does not OR, XVII, 1-24.] THE FIIlST BOOK OF KINGS. 387