1 Kings 17:9 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Arise, get thee to Zarephath A city between Tyre and Sidon, called Sarepta by St. Luke 4:26, and others. Which belongeth to Zidon To the jurisdiction of that city, which was inhabited by Gentiles. And God's providing for his prophet, first, by an unclean bird, and then by a Gentile, whom the Jews esteemed unclean, was a presage of the calling of the Gentiles, and rejection of the Jews. So Elijah was the first prophet of the Gentiles. Commanded a widow woman That is, appointed or provided; for that she had as yet received no revelation or command of God about it, appears from 1 Kings 17:12.