3 "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
3 "Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.
3 "Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River.
3 "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.
3 "Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 17:3
Commentary on 1 Kings 17:1-7
(Read 1 Kings 17:1-7)
God wonderfully suits men to the work he designs them for. The times were fit for an Elijah; an Elijah was fit for them. The Spirit of the Lord knows how to fit men for the occasions. Elijah let Ahab know that God was displeased with the idolaters, and would chastise them by the want of rain, which it was not in the power of the gods they served to bestow. Elijah was commanded to hide himself. If Providence calls us to solitude and retirement, it becomes us to go: when we cannot be useful, we must be patient; and when we cannot work for God, we must sit still quietly for him. The ravens were appointed to bring him meat, and did so. Let those who have but from hand to mouth, learn to live upon Providence, and trust it for the bread of the day, in the day. God could have sent angels to minister to him; but he chose to show that he can serve his own purposes by the meanest creatures, as effectually as by the mightiest. Elijah seems to have continued thus above a year. The natural supply of water, which came by common providence, failed; but the miraculous supply of food, made sure to him by promise, failed not. If the heavens fail, the earth fails of course; such are all our creature-comforts: we lose them when we most need them, like brooks in summer. But there is a river which makes glad the city of God, that never runs dry, a well of water that springs up to eternal life. Lord, give us that living water!