Bible Strands
1 Kings 17:9
“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD issues this command directly to Elijah immediately after the Kerith Brook directive. The speech occurs at the moment Elijah requires sustenance and geographic direction for the next phase of his prophetic ministry.
The words — The paired imperatives ק֣וּם (kum) “arise” and לֵ֤ךְ (lekh) “go” demand immediate physical departure. The subsequent verb וְ/יָשַׁבְתָּ֖ (ve./ya.shav.Ta) “you will dwell” specifies a mandated stay rather than a temporary stop.
The thread — Zarephath resurfaces in Luke 4:26 as the location of Elijah’s Gentile ministry and in Obadiah 1:20 as a territorial marker for returning exiles. The provision motif aligns with the principle in 2 Corinthians 4:7 that divine power operates through human instruments.
Why it lands — The text requires Elijah to obey a precise geographic command before any means of sustenance is revealed. It demands immediate action on divine instruction without waiting for logistical guarantees.
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
Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
Cross-references
- Luke 4:26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon.
- Obadiah 1:20 And the exiles of this host of the Israelites will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7 Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
- 1 Kings 17:4 And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
- Matthew 15:21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
- Romans 4:17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.
- Judges 7:2 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
- Judges 7:4 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go. But if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”