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Trinity/After Pentecost · The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

1 Kings 17:8-16

The Widow of Zarephath

September 13, 2026

The Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta, Bernardo Strozzi
The Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta, Bernardo Strozzi, 1630sKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
A Genoese painting of the moment before the miracle. The widow holds out a nearly empty jar; Elijah's gesture is argumentative rather than serene, as if the conversation is still going on.It is this reading exactly, at the point where the woman has not yet agreed.Bernardo StrozziA Genoese painter who was a Capuchin friar before he was a full-time artist, and who later worked in Venice. His handling is thick and quick.Kunsthistorisches Museum, ViennaThe Habsburg collection, assembled over four centuries and housed in a purpose-built palace on the Ringstrasse since 1891.Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Historic One-Year Lectionary
GospelMatt. 6:24-34Mt 6:24-34
EpistleGal. 5:25-6:10Gal 5:25-6:10
Old Testament1 Kings 17:8-161 Kgs 17:8-16
PsalterPs. 146Ps 146

Overview & Insights

“The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord.” (1 Kings 17:16)

We have lacked a prophet to address the house of Omri, but now a prophet bursts onto the scene with a vengeance. His announcement of doom on this house will, however, be delayed until 1 Kings 21:21–24. His first task is to tackle the problem of the Baal-worship that Ahab has introduced into Israel (16:31–32), so as to demonstrate beyond all doubt that Baal is no more a god in any real sense than Jeroboam’s calves are. Chapter 17 provides the context in which the climactic demonstration of this truth will take place (18:16–40): the divinely ordained drought of 17:1. It also prepares us for the demonstration by showing us that it is the LORD, and not Baal (nor any other “god”), who controls both life and death, both fertility and infertility. It is thus the LORD, and not any other, who is God—as Elijah’s name (Hb. ʾēlîyāhû , “the LORD is God”) itself proclaims.

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Take it further: 1 Kings 17:8-16

Commentary

Enduring Word Bible Commentary 1 Kings Chapter 17Enduring Word Bible Commentary 1 Kgs Chapter 17 Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik on Elijah, the ravens and the widow of Zarephath's jar of meal that would not run out.

1 Kings 17:8 Commentaries1 Kgs 17:8 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentators on Elijah sent to a foreign widow during the drought.

1 Kings 17 Commentary1 Kgs 17 Commentary Precept Austin

A verse by verse study with maps, word notes and cross references on Elijah's early ministry.

1 Kings 17:8-24 Commentary1 Kgs 17:8-24 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

A Reformed preaching commentary setting the miracle on Baal's home turf of Sidon.

Commentary on 1 Kings 17:8-16Commentary on 1 Kgs 17:8-16 Working Preacher

Corrine Carvalho reads the economics of drought and the discipline of waiting on God, the Ordinary 10 reading.

Background & Word Study

1 Kings 17:8 Interlinear1 Kgs 17:8 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew word by word for the reading, useful for the widow's handful of meal and jar of oil.

I Kings 17 Sefaria

The Hebrew text with Jewish commentaries and cross links for the whole chapter.

The Church Fathers

Commentary on 1 Kings 17 from the Church FathersCommentary on 1 Kgs 17 from the Church Fathers Catena

Patristic comment on Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.

Questions preachers ask

What happens at Zarephath?

Elijah asks a starving widow for bread; trusting the Lord’s word, she feeds him first, and her flour and oil do not run out through the famine (1 Kings 17:8–16), a sign of God’s provision.

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