Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
ELIJAH, PROPHESYING AGAINST AHAB, IS SENT TO CHERITH. (1 Kings 17:1-7)
Elijah the Tishbite--This prophet is introduced as abruptly as Melchisedek--his birth, parents, and call to the prophetic office being alike unrecorded. He is supposed to be called the Tishbite from Tisbeh, a place east of Jordan.
who was of the inhabitants of Gilead--or residents of Gilead, implying that he was not an Israelite, but an Ishmaelite, as MICHAELIS conjectures, for there were many of that race on the confines of Gilead. The employment of a Gentile as an extraordinary minister might be to rebuke and shame the apostate people of Israel.
said unto Ahab--The prophet appears to have been warning this apostate king how fatal both to himself and people would be the reckless course he was pursuing. The failure of Elijah's efforts to make an impression on the obstinate heart of Ahab is shown by the penal prediction uttered at parting.
before whom I stand--that is, whom I serve (Deuteronomy 18:5).
there shall not be dew nor rain these years--not absolutely; but the dew and the rain would not fall in the usual and necessary quantities. Such a suspension of moisture was sufficient to answer the corrective purposes of God, while an absolute drought would have converted the whole country into an uninhabitable waste.
but according to my word--not uttered in spite, vengeance, or caprice, but as the minister of God. The impending calamity was in answer to his earnest prayer, and a chastisement intended for the spiritual revival of Israel. Drought was the threatened punishment of national idolatry (Deuteronomy 11:16-17; Deuteronomy 28:23).
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
1 Kings 17:1
Jeremiah 15:19
Amos 4:7
Zechariah 4:11-12
Malachi 4:5
Luke 1:19
1 Timothy 4:5
James 5:17
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