You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
Parallel translations
- KJV And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
- BSB And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
- NKJV And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
- NASB And it shall be that you will drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide food for you there.”
- NLT Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God promises to sustain Elijah at the brook, commanding ravens to bring him food.
Overview
The Lord assures Elijah of provision: water from the brook and food delivered by ravens, birds normally regarded as unclean and scavenging. That God commands even ravens to serve His prophet displays His sovereign control over all creation. This wilderness provision recalls the manna of the exodus and foreshadows Jesus' teaching that the heavenly Father feeds the birds and will surely care for His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Kgs 17:9“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.”
- Ps 147:9He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.
- Job 38:41Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
- Matt 4:4But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
- 1 Kgs 19:5–8He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!”
- Ps 33:8–9Let all the earth fear Yahweh. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
- Matt 4:11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.
- Job 38:8–13“Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb,
- Job 34:29When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? Alike whether to a nation, or to a man,
- Num 20:8“Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.”
- Amos 9:3–4Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 17:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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