1 Kings 17:23

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 17:23-24. Elijah said, See, thy son liveth — And see the power of prayer, and the power of him that hears and answers prayer, that kills and makes alive. The woman said, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God — Though she believed it before, and termed him a man of God, (1 Kings 17:18,) which she might well do, having been a daily witness of the miraculous increase of the meal and oil; yet, when she saw he did not cure her sick child, but suffered him to grow worse, and die, she began to doubt of it: but upon seeing her son revive, her faith revived with him, and was mightily confirmed. For, through the joy of having him restored to her again, this latter miracle appeared to her much greater than the former. The word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth — The God whom thou professest to believe in, is the only true God; and the doctrine and religion which thou teachest, is the only true religion; and therefore henceforth I wholly renounce the worship of idols.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:17-24 Neither faith nor obedience shut out afflictions and death. The child being dead, the mother spake to the prophet, rather to give vent to her sorrow, than in hope of relief. When God removes our comforts from us, he remembers our sins against us, perhaps the sins of our youth, though long since past. When God remembers our sins against us, he designs to teach us to remember them against ourselves, and to repent of them. Elijah's prayer was doubtless directed by the Holy Spirit. The child revived. See the power of prayer, and the power of Him who hears prayer.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He stretched himself upon the child three times - This action of Elijah is different from that of Elisha (marginal reference), and does not imply the use of any natural means for the restoration of suspended animation. It is nearly parallel to the "touch," through which our Lord performed similar miracles Matthew 9:25; Luke 7:14.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ki 17:17-24. He Raises Her Son to Life.

17-24. the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick—A severe domestic calamity seems to have led her to think that, as God had shut up heaven upon a sinful land in consequence of the prophet, she was suffering on a similar account. Without answering her bitter upbraiding, the prophet takes the child, lays it on his bed, and after a very earnest prayer, had the happiness of seeing its restoration, and along with it, gladness to the widow's heart and home. The prophet was sent to this widow, not merely for his own security, but on account of her faith, to strengthen and promote which he was directed to go to her rather than to many widows in Israel, who would have eagerly received him on the same privileged terms of exception from the grinding famine. The relief of her bodily necessities became the preparatory means of supplying her spiritual wants, and bringing her and her son, through the teachings of the prophet, to a clear knowledge of God, and a firm faith in His word (Lu 4:25).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house,.... Being come to life, he took it off of the bed in his bedchamber, and brought it down to the lower part of the house, where the woman was:

and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, see, thy son liveth; which no doubt was to her great surprise, and was a wonderful instance of divine power and goodness, and to which the apostle may have respect, Hebrews 11:35, Bunting (l) says, the inhabitants of this place now take upon them to show the chamber wherein the prophet Elias lived, when he raised the widow's child to life.

(l) Travels, &c. p. 205.

Geneva Study Bible

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 23. - And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house [Probably the עֲלִיָּה. was reached by an outside staircase, and did not directly communicate with the lower rooms. Cf. Matthew 24:17; Mark 2:4; 2 Kings 9:13] and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 1 Kings 17:23

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Lord heard this prayer: the boy came to life again; whereupon Elijah gave him back to his mother.