What Does 1 Kings 17:4 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there." 1 Kings 17:4, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”" 1 Kings 17:4, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
1 Kings 17:2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
1 Kings 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
1 Kings 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
1 Kings 17:5 So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
1 Kings 17:6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
A conversation built on it
When the arithmetic stops working, provision starts looking like something you have to manufacture. Elijah was sent to a hiding place with no income and no plan he could see, and fed twice a day by the least likely birds in Israel. Even the brook drying up turned out to be the next arrangement starting, not the end of the last one.
Questions people ask
What does 1 Kings 17:4 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: “And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”” The King James rendering most people know is: “And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.”
What is the context of 1 Kings 17:4?
The verses immediately around it read: (1 Kings 17:2) And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, (1 Kings 17:3) Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. (1 Kings 17:4) And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. (1 Kings 17:5) So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. (1 Kings 17:6) And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
How is 1 Kings 17:4 used in a conversation about this?
When the arithmetic stops working, provision starts looking like something you have to manufacture. Elijah was sent to a hiding place with no income and no plan he could see, and fed twice a day by the least likely birds in Israel. Even the brook drying up turned out to be the next arrangement starting, not the end of the last one.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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