Widow of Zarephath

Biblical Account

The story of the widow of Zarephath appears in 1 Kings 17:8-24. During the reign of King Ahab, Elijah announced that no rain would fall, and a drought followed. Elijah had been staying by the brook Cherith, and when it dried up, he went at God's command to Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Sidon was a center of Baal worship and was Jezebel's homeland (1 Kings 16:31).

At the city gate Elijah met a widow gathering sticks and asked her for water and bread. She replied that she had only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruse, and that she intended to prepare a last meal for herself and her son so that they might eat it and die. Elijah told her first to make a small cake for him, delivering the word of the LORD that the meal and the oil would not run out until the rain came (1 Kings 17:14). The widow did as he said, and it came to pass according to that word.

Afterward the widow's son fell ill until there was no breath left in him. Elijah carried the child to an upper room, stretched himself upon him three times, and prayed, and the child revived. The widow confessed, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth" (1 Kings 17:24).

Significance Within Scripture

In Luke 4:25-26, Jesus refers to this widow in the synagogue at Nazareth. He observes that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's day, yet Elijah was sent only to the widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Together with Naaman the Syrian, Jesus cites her as an example of Gentiles who received God's grace. Those who heard Him were filled with wrath (Luke 4:28-29).

The statement in Hebrews 11:35 that "women received their dead raised to life again" is commonly understood to refer to this widow and to the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4). In Luke 7:11-17, when Jesus raises the son of the widow of Nain, the words "he delivered him to his mother" closely resemble 1 Kings 17:23, and the passage is often read alongside the Elijah narrative.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• The widow speaks of "the LORD thy God" (1 Kings 17:12). For this reason many interpreters regard her as a Gentile woman outside the faith of Israel who came to confess the LORD through these events.
• As to whether the child actually died, a minority view holds that he was merely near death. Most traditions, however, read the account as the raising of a dead person, and it is frequently presented as the first instance of the dead being restored to life recorded in Scripture.
• First Kings 18:1 refers to "the third year" in connection with the drought, whereas Luke 4:25 and James 5:17 speak of "three years and six months." Interpreters offer differing explanations of how to reconcile the two.
• Scripture records neither the widow's name nor anything about her later life. Some rabbinic literature is reported to contain a tradition identifying her son with the prophet Jonah, but this has no basis in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

In Korean preaching, the passage is frequently used to address obedience in giving up one's last remaining resources and God's provision. In particular, the instruction to make a cake for the prophet "first" is sometimes used in sermons encouraging offerings or the giving of firstfruits. Critics of this interpretation argue that the text's focus lies on grace extended to a Gentile and on the faithfulness of God's word, and that reading it as a promise that giving will be repaid comes close to prosperity theology. In Sunday school, the story of "Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath" is often used to teach the miracle of the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil.