Luke 4:26 But to none of them was Elias sent, save to Sarepta, a city of Sidon, to a woman that was a widow. The ruins of Sarepta are scattered over the plain, at intervals, for more than a mile: one group is on the coast, and may be the remains of the ancient harbour. These lie on a tongue of land which forms a small bay, and pleasantly varies the monotony of the otherwise unbroken coast line. Fine crops brighten part of the plain around, though only the small village of Surafend, the modern representative of the ancient town, is actually surrounded by green. Sarepta was famous for its wine in the early Christian centuries, but it got its name in the Hebrew Bible — Zarpath — from its being in still older days a chief centre of the glass works of Phoenicia — the word meaning "melting-houses." It belonged to the territory of Sidon, and must have been a large place, if we may judge from the number of rock-tombs at the foot of the hills. Its supreme interest, however, to all Bible readers lies in its connection with the great Prophet Elijah. A place is still shown at the old harbour where a Christian Church once stood, on the alleged site of the widow's house in which the prophet lived. But no value is to be attached to such a localization, though the spot is still called "The Grave of Eliiah," in the belief that he finally died there. During the reign of the Crusaders, Sarepta was strongly fortified, and made the seat of a bishop, who was subject to the Archbishop of Sidon; but as early as the end of the thirteenth century it had sunk into utter desolation. Legend has tried to identify it with the home of the Syrophcenician woman whose daughter Christ healed, but there is no ground for this fancy. Its fame must always rest, for Christians, on the noble lesson of faith in God taught by the prophet on the one hand, and by the great-hearted widow on the other. (C. Geikie, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. |
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