1 Kings 17 · Verse 6

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.
1 Kings 17:6, King James Version

1 Kings 17:6 in other translations

BSBThe ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he would drink from the brook.
WEBThe ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
ASVAnd the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
YLTand the ravens are bringing to him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and of the brook he drinketh.
DARBYAnd the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent.
BBEAnd the ravens took him bread in the morning and meat in the evening; and the water of the stream was his drink.
WebsterAnd the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

What does 1 Kings 17:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. the ravens brought him bread--The idea of such unclean and voracious birds being employed to feed the prophet has appeared to many so strange that they have labored to make out the Orebim, which in our version has been rendered "ravens," to be as the word is used (in Eze 27:27) "merchants"; or Arabians (2Ch 21:16; Ne 4:7); or, the citizens of Arabah, near Beth-shan (Jos 15:6; 18:18). But the common rendering is, in our opinion, preferable to these conjectures. And, if Elijah was miraculously fed by ravens, it is idle to inquire where they found the bread and the flesh, for God would direct them. After the lapse of a year, the brook dried up, and this was a new trial to Elijah's faith. 1Ki 17:8-16. He Is Sent to a Widow of Zarephath.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh - The Septuagint, in the Codex Vaticanus, and some ancient fathers, read the passage thus: - Και οἱ κορακες εφερον αυτῳ αρτους το πρωΐ, και κρεα το δειλης, And the crows brought him bread in the morning, and flesh in the evening: but all the other versions agree with the Hebrew text. This is the first account we have of flesh-meat breakfasts and flesh-meat suppers; and as this was the food appointed by the Lord for the sustenance of the prophet, we may naturally conjecture that it was the food of the people at large.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 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…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 17:1-7 →

1 Kings 17:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהָעֹרְבִ֗יםve.ha.'o.re.Vimand the ravensH6158
מְבִיאִ֨יםme.vi.'Im[were] bringingH935
ל֜וֹloto him
לֶ֤חֶםLe.chembreadH3899
וּבָשָׂר֙u.va.Sarand meatH1320
בַּבֹּ֔קֶרba.Bo.kerin the morningH1242
וְלֶ֥חֶםve.Le.chemand breadH3899
וּבָשָׂ֖רu.va.Sarand meatH1320
בָּעָ֑רֶבba.'A.revin the eveningH6153
וּמִן\־u.min-and fromH4480
הַנַּ֖חַלha.Na.chalthe wadiH5158
יִשְׁתֶּֽה\׃yish.Tehhe drankH8354

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Kings 17:6

  • Psalms 78:23-24

    Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

  • Matthew 6:31-33

    Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

  • Jeremiah 37:21

    Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

  • Psalms 78:15-16

    He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

  • Matthew 14:19-21

    And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

  • Matthew 19:26

    But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

  • Luke 22:35

    And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.

  • Judges 15:18-19

    And he was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En–hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

  • Psalms 34:9-10

    O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

  • Psalms 37:19

    They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

  • Isaiah 33:16

    He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

  • Hebrews 6:18

    That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 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.

  • 1 Kings 17:7

    And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

Read all of 1 Kings 17

1 Kings 17:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y los cuervos le traían pan y carne por la mañana, y pan y carne á la tarde; y bebía del arroyo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et les corbeaux lui apportaient du pain et de la chair le matin, et du pain et de la chair le soir, et il buvait du torrent.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und die Raben brachten ihm Brot und Fleisch am Morgen, und Brot und Fleisch am Abend, und er trank aus dem Bache.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Corvi quoque deferebant ei panem et carnes mane, similiter panem et carnes vesperi, et bibebat de torrente.