Narrative Lectionary Program Year – “God’s Care for the Widow”
1 Kings 17:1-16 [17-24]
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Furthering the Power of God’s Story – Narrative Lectionary Commentary
by Rev. Dr. Clint Schnekloth
If Samuel offers us some of the greatest literature in all of Scripture, Kings in its depiction of Elijah offers similarly brilliant narrative that also describes in detail the man with the greatest claim to being the “first” prophet of Israel. Certainly Elijah is an arresting character. He rivals Solomon in splendor, except that the end of Solomon’s story is a sort-of all, whereas Elijah’s is a glorious ascent.
Elijah appears on the scene for the first time here in chapter 17. We have no introduction or explanation. Just, “Elijah the Tishbite.” We are offered an immediate juxtaposition, for whereas Elijah declares famine, he requires water and food. The widow he encounters a little water, and virtually no supplies to make bread.
Clearly, Elijah’s have power as the word of the Lord, for what he speaks functions as performative utterances (in the Austinian sense). Words do things. Speak one word… famine. Speak another word… a jar that does not run out.
The food does not run out… according to the word of the Lord.
In speech act theory, there are different kinds of speech. Some speech simply describes what is. Other speech creates what is. One might define a prophet as one who frequently speaks in the second sense, because the words they deliver are God’s word, which itself is creative and never returns empty.
It is also significant that the hospitality is provided by a widow, and it is the widow whose food does not run out. In this way, Elijah practices what is actually a core doctrine of all of Hebrew Scripture: to care for the widow and the orphan. Scripture tells us at least 24 times to care for the widow and the orphan. It’s one of the most frequent liturgical statements in all of Scripture.
That Elijah would embody this (admittedly, focused on this one widow) further illustrates the performative nature of his speech. Elijah’s actions match his words, because he matches his actions to God’s commands.
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Historical Exegetical Resources
1-2 Kings Overview: the Bible Project
1-2 Kings Commentary, Terence Fretheim
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Exegetical Links
Study Notes on 1 Kings 17:8-16
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Speech Acts in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Great Quotes
“Gathering sticks: her intention is to make a fire over which she can bake, Bedouin-style, the bit of flour she carries with her. -Robert Alter”
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Free Dramatic Reading For This Text (NRSV)
Readers: Narrator: Elijah, Lord, Widow
Narrator: Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab,
Elijah: As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.
Narrator: The word of the Lord came to him, saying,
Lord: Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.
Narrator: So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
Lord: Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.
Narrator: So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said,
Elijah: Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.
Narrator: As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said,
Elijah: Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.
Narrator: But she said,
Widow: As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
Narrator: Elijah said to her,
Elijah: Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.
Narrator: She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
[Narrator: After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. She then said to Elijah,
Widow: What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!
Narrator: But he said to her,
Elijah: Give me your son.
Narrator: He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. He cried out to the Lord,
Elijah: O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?
Narrator: Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord,
Elijah: O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.
Narrator: The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said,
Elijah: See, your son is alive.
Narrator: So the woman said to Elijah,
Widow: Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.]