1 Kings 17:12
New International Version
“As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

New Living Translation
But she said, “I swear by the LORD your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

English Standard Version
And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

Berean Standard Bible
But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

King James Bible
And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

New King James Version
So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

New American Standard Bible
But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have no food, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

NASB 1995
But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

NASB 1977
But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

Legacy Standard Bible
But she said, “As Yahweh your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”

Amplified Bible
But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar. See, I am gathering a few sticks so that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it [as our last meal] and die.”

Christian Standard Bible
But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”

American Standard Version
And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And she said: “Living is LORD JEHOVAH your God, I have nothing except a handful of flour in a jug and a little oil in a horn, and behold, I am gathering two sticks that I will go and I will make for me and for my son, and we will eat and we will die!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the woman said, As the Lord thy God lives, I have not a cake, but only a handful of meal in the pitcher, and a little oil in a cruse, and, behold, I am going to gather two sticks, and I shall go in and dress it for myself and my children, and we shall eat it and die.

Contemporary English Version
The widow answered, "In the name of the living LORD your God, I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour and a little olive oil. I'm on my way home now with these few sticks to cook what I have for my son and me. After that, we will starve to death."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse: behold I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

English Revised Version
And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in the barrel, and a little oil in the cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
She said, "I solemnly swear, as the LORD your God lives, I didn't bake any bread. I have one handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I'm gathering wood. I'm going to prepare something for myself and my son so that we can eat it and then die."

Good News Translation
She answered, "By the living LORD your God I swear that I don't have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a bowl and a bit of olive oil in a jar. I came here to gather some firewood to take back home and prepare what little I have for my son and me. That will be our last meal, and then we will starve to death."

International Standard Version
"As the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have so much as a muffin, just a handful of flour in a bowl and some oil left in a bottle. Now I'm going to find some sticks so I can cook a last meal for my son and for me. Then we're going to eat it and die."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And she said: 'As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, only a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse; and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.'

Literal Standard Version
And she says, “Your God YHWH lives, I do not have a cake, but the fullness of the hand of meal in a pitcher, and a little oil in a dish; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, and have gone in and prepared it for myself, and for my son, and we have eaten it—and died.”

Majority Standard Bible
But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

New American Bible
She said, “As the LORD, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.”

NET Bible
She said, "As certainly as the LORD your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I'm going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation."

New Revised Standard Version
But she said, “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.”

New Heart English Bible
She said, "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have anything baked, except a handful of flour in a jar, and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

Webster's Bible Translation
And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

World English Bible
She said, “As Yahweh your God lives, I don’t have anything baked, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jar. Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

Young's Literal Translation
And she saith, 'Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but the fulness of the hand of meal in a pitcher, and a little oil in a dish; and lo, I am gathering two sticks, and have gone in and prepared it for myself, and for my son, and we have eaten it -- and died.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Widow of Zarephath
11And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread.” 12But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread— only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.” 13“Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from what you have, and bring it out to me. Afterward, make some for yourself and your son,…

Cross References
Matthew 26:7
a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He reclined at the table.

Genesis 21:15
When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

Genesis 21:16
Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, "I cannot bear to watch the boy die!" And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.

1 Kings 17:1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As surely as the LORD lives--the God of Israel before whom I stand--there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!"

1 Kings 17:11
And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread."

1 Kings 17:13
"Do not be afraid," Elijah said to her. "Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from what you have, and bring it out to me. Afterward, make some for yourself and your son,

2 Kings 4:2
"How can I help you?" asked Elisha. "Tell me, what do you have in the house?" She answered, "Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil."


Treasury of Scripture

And she said, As the LORD your God lives, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

As the Lord

1 Kings 17:1
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

1 Samuel 14:39,45
For, as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him…

1 Samuel 20:3,21
And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death…

but an handful

2 Kings 4:2-7
And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil…

Matthew 15:33,34
And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? …

that we may eat it

Genesis 21:16
And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

Jeremiah 14:18
If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.

Lamentations 4:9
They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.

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Bake Barrel Bowl Bread Cake Cruse Die Dress Eat Flour Gathering Handful Jar Little Meal Oil Sticks
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1 Kings 17
1. Elijah, having prophesied against Ahab,
3. is sent to Cherith where the ravens feed him.
8. He is sent to the widow of Zarephath
17. He raises the widow's son
24. The woman believes him














(12) I have not a cake.--The famine may have already extended to Ph?nicia; for there, according to Menander, it lasted for a year; or, since the country depended upon Israel for supplies, the distress may have been only the reflex effect of the famine in Israel.

As the Lord thy God liveth.--The phrase indicates a recognition of Elijah as a prophet of Jehovah the God of Israel, but probably (as, indeed, seems to be implied by the use of the words "thy God") no acknowledgment of Him as yet by the woman herself, such as the neighbouring heathen (as, for example, Hiram in the days of Solomon) often yielded.

Verse 12. - And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth [Bahr, Keil, al. conclude from this formula that the woman was a worshipper of the God of Israel. Bahr is extremely positive on this point, affirming that, had she been a heathen, the words would have been positively hypocritical, and more, that Elijah would never have been sent (Luke 4:26) to an idolater. He further suggests that possibly she was an Israelite by birth, who had been married to a Phoenician. But all this is extremely doubtful. In the first place, it is noteworthy that the words are, "Jehovah thy God," words which show that she recognized Elijah, perhaps by his Jewish face, probably by his prophetic dress (2 Kings 1:8) as a worshipper of Jehovah. But had she also been the same, it is probable that she would have said "my God," for that form would not only have given greater force to her obtestation, but would have established a bond of sympathy - such as Jews in a foreign land were only too glad to recognize - between them. And the remark that it is hypocrisy to swear by a god in whom one does not believe is disposed of by the consideration that she may well have believed in the Lord as well as in Baal. See note on 1 Kings 5:7. The Tyrians knew nothing of monotheism], I have not a cake [מָעונֹ, the synonym of עֻגָּה (ver. 13), the smallest kind of bread. It was baked in the ashes; hence the LXX. ἐγρυφίας. We gather from this pitiful disclosure that the famine had already extended to Phoenicia, as it naturally would do, considering how dependent that country was on Israel for its breadstuffs; see note on 1 Kings 5:9,11. Josephus (Ant. 8:13, 2) cites Menander as attesting to a year's drought in the reign of Ethbaal], but an handful of meal in a [Heb. the] barrel [כַּד, probably connected with cadus, cadeau, etc.; bucket, pail], and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks [i.e., a few sticks (Gesenius). We may compare the German idiom ein Paar and our "two or three." But "two" in this sense occurs nowhere else in the Bible - "two or three" is found in 2 Kings 9:32; Isaiah 17:6; Amos 4:8. According to Roberts, the word is constantly used for "few" by the natives of India. This widow was evidently reduced to the greatest extremities], that I may go in and dress it for me and my son [The LXX. has τέκνοις here and in ver. 13, and τὰ τέκνα in ver. 15. Bahr contends that Elijah first learnt from these words - the mention of a son and the absence of any mention of her husband - that he was addressing a "widow woman." But we read Genesis 38:14, 19, of "garments of widowhood" (cf. Deuteronomy 24:17), and ver. 10, "a widow woman," etc., almost implies that Elijah from the first recognized her as such], that we may eat it, and die.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
But she replied,
וַתֹּ֗אמֶר (wat·tō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“As surely as the LORD
יְהוָ֤ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

your God
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ (’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

lives,
חַי־ (ḥay-)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life

I
לִ֣י (lî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew

have
יֶשׁ־ (yeš-)
Adverb
Strong's 3426: Being, substance, existence, is

no
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

bread—
מָע֔וֹג (mā·‘ō·wḡ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4580: A cake of bread, parasite

only
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

a handful
מְלֹ֤א (mə·lō)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4393: Fullness, that which fills

of flour
קֶ֙מַח֙ (qe·maḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7058: Flour, meal

in a jar
בַּכַּ֔ד (bak·kaḏ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 3537: A pail, earthenware, a jar

and a little
וּמְעַט־ (ū·mə·‘aṭ-)
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4592: A little, fewness, a few

oil
שֶׁ֖מֶן (še·men)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8081: Grease, liquid, richness

in a jug.
בַּצַּפָּ֑חַת (baṣ·ṣap·pā·ḥaṯ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6835: A jar, jug

Look,
וְהִנְנִ֨י (wə·hin·nî)
Conjunctive waw | Interjection | first person common singular
Strong's 2005: Lo! behold!

I am gathering
מְקֹשֶׁ֜שֶׁת (mə·qō·še·šeṯ)
Verb - Piel - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 7197: To forage for, straw, stubble, wood, to assemble

a couple of
שְׁנַ֣יִם (šə·na·yim)
Number - md
Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number)

sticks
עֵצִ֗ים (‘ê·ṣîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6086: Tree, trees, wood

to go in
וּבָ֙אתִי֙ (ū·ḇā·ṯî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

and prepare
וַעֲשִׂיתִ֙יהוּ֙ (wa·‘ă·śî·ṯî·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

for myself
לִ֣י (lî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew

and my son,
וְלִבְנִ֔י (wə·liḇ·nî)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 1121: A son

so that we may eat it
וַאֲכַלְנֻ֖הוּ (wa·’ă·ḵal·nu·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common plural | third person masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

and die.�
וָמָֽתְנוּ׃ (wā·mā·ṯə·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common plural
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill


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OT History: 1 Kings 17:12 She said As Yahweh your God lives (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg)
1 Kings 17:11
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