Bible Strands
1 Kings 17:2
Then a revelation from the LORD came to Elijah:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text records God addressing Elijah immediately after Elijah pronounces a drought upon King Ahab. This divine response occurs at the precise moment Elijah completes his prophetic declaration.
The words — The phrase דְבַר יְהוָה (devar Yahweh) literally means "the word of Yahweh," while וַיְהִי (va-yehi) translates to "and it came." Together they frame the message as a direct divine transmission.
The thread — Similar divine communications appear in Jeremiah 11:1 and Jeremiah 18:1, though those passages employ distinct syntactic structures rather than this exact phrasing. The pattern also echoes the attribution style seen in 1 Kings 12:22, where a message is explicitly traced to God.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to recognize that prophetic authority originates from divine initiative rather than human announcement. It establishes that the subsequent instructions to Elijah are direct commands from God.
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 the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 11:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
- Jeremiah 18:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
- 1 Kings 12:22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:
- 1 Chronicles 17:3 But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
- Jeremiah 7:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
- Hosea 1:1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel.