Bible Strands
1 Kings 17:1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elijah, identified as a Tishbite and a resident alien of Gilead, delivers a direct declaration to King Ahab. This is the opening of his confrontation, immediately preceding the LORD's command to flee to the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:2).
The words — הַתִּשְׁבִּי (ha-tishbi), "the Tishbite," is the epithet that marks him as a man from Tishbe, an outsider in the northern kingdom. תּוֹשָׁבִים (toshavim), "resident aliens," reinforces this: he is a sojourner among the people of Gilead, not a native.
The thread — James 5:17 and Luke 4:25 both connect this event to Elijah's prayer, framing the drought as a result of his earnest intercession rather than a mere natural cycle.
Why it lands — The verse forces the reader to hold a single human speaker accountable for a phenomenon that will starve a nation. It asks whether you can hear a word spoken under divine oath as something that does not merely describe the world but acts on it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Luke 4:25 But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.
- James 5:17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
- Luke 1:17 And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
- 1 Kings 22:14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”
- 2 Kings 3:14 Then Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not for my regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or acknowledge you.
- Deuteronomy 10:8 At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.
- 1 Kings 18:1 After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.”
- Matthew 7:29 because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
- Luke 1:19 “I am Gabriel,” replied the angel. “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
- Luke 9:30 Suddenly two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with Jesus.