1Ki 17:1-7, Isa 13:19-21, 19:5-10, 34:9-10, 42:15, 44:27, 50:2 | TSK | STEP | Elijah, having prophesied against Ahab, is sent to Cherith where the ravens feed him. He is sent to the widow of Zarephath. He raises the widow's son. The woman believes him. A.M. 3094. B.C. 910. Elijah. Heb. Elijahu. Elias. As the Lord God. before whom. dew nor rain.

19:9; Pr 3:5; Mt 16:24; Joh 15:14Many learned men have raised doubts on those parts of the Inspired Word, which may, by the perverseness of their argument and the ingenuity of their surmise, be made to appear inconsistent with fact. In this case, they are not satisfied with being expressly told by God that the ravens supplied Elijah with food, while the brook gave him drink, but apparently to mystify a manifest miracle, they suggest whether these ravens might not be merchantmen, or the inhabitants of a neighbouring town. Let any unprejudiced reader and lover of the Bible take the whole history of Elijah, and he will find that his life was almost a daily illustration of the power of God in his miraculous interpositions. Instance the supply of provision in the unwasting barrel of meal and cruse of oil, after the prophet had removed to Zarephath: the power communicated to him to raise the widow's son from death: the wonderful interposition of the Lord to prove the folly of Baal's worshippers, in sending down fire from heaven to consume Elijah's sacrifice and lick up the water, although the sacrifice had been saturated therewith, and the altar surrounded by a deep trench to prevent its running away. The prayer for rain is another instance: the sojourn in Horeb forty days and forty nights, after having eaten of the cake: the destruction of Ahaziah's messengers twice: the smiting of the waters at Jordan: the fall of the mantle on Elisha: and finally, in the closing scene of life, he was taken to glory without tasting the pains of death, the sting was taken away.

the ravens.

Ex 16:35; Nu 11:23; Jud 14:14; 15:18,19; Ps 34:9,10; 37:3,19

Ps 78:15,16,23,24; Isa 33:16; Jer 37:21; 40:4; Hab 3:17,18

Mt 6:31-33; 14:19-21; 19:26; Lu 22:35; Heb 6:18; 13:5,6

A.M. 3095. B.C. 909. after a while. Heb. at the end ofdays. the brook.

Isa 40:30,31; 54:10

Isaiah 13:19-21

Babylon.Babylon, whose destruction and utter ruin are here predicted, was situated in the midst of a large plain, having a very deep and fruitful soil, on the Euphrates, about 252 miles south-east of Palmyra, and the same distance north-west of Susa and the Persian gulf, in lat. 32 degrees 30' N. and long. 44 degrees 20' E. According to Herodotus, it formed a perfect square, each side of which was 120 stadia, and consequently its circumference 480 stadia, or sixty miles; inclosed by a wall 200 cubits high, and fifty wide, on the top of which were small watch towers of one story high, leaving a space between them, through which a chariot and four might pass and turn. On each side were twenty-five gates of solid brass; from each of which proceeded a street, 150 feet broad, making in all fifty streets; which, crossing each other at right angles, intersected the city into 676 squares, extending four stadia and a half on each side, along which stood the houses, all built three or four stories high, and highly decorated towards the street; the interior of these squares being employed as gardens, pleasure grounds, etc. Its principal ornaments were the temple of Belus, having a tower of eight stories, upon a base of a quarter of a mile square; a most magnificent palace; and the famous hanging gardens, or artificial mountains raised upon arches, and planted with large and beautiful trees. Cyrus took it by diverting the waters of the Euphrates, which ran through the midst, and entering by the channel; and the river being never restored to its proper course, overflowed the whole country, and made it a morass. Darius Hystaspes afterwards depopulated the place, lowered the walls, and demolished the gates; Xerxes destroyed the temples; the building of Seleucia nearly exhausted it of its inhabitants; a king of the Parthians carried a number of them into slavery, and destroyed the most beautiful parts; so that modern travellers describe it as a mass of shapeless ruins, the habitation of wild beasts.

14:4-6,12-15; Jer 51:41; Da 2:37,38; 4:30

when God overthrow. Heb. the overthrowing of.

Ge 19:24; De 29:23; Jer 49:18; 50:40; Zep 2:9

14:23; Jer 50:3,13,21,39,45; 51:25,29,43,62-64; Re 18:21-23

But.

34:11-15; Re 18:2

wild beasts. Heb. Ziim. doleful creatures. Heb. Ochim.owls. or, ostriches. Heb. daughters of the owl.