And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there, х haa`orªbiym (H6158); Septuagint, tois koraxin]. The idea of such unclean and voracious birds being employed to feed the prophet has not only been a fertile subject of ridicule to infidels, but appeared to many believers so strange that they have laboured to make out the Orebim, which in our version has been rendered ravens, to be-as the word is used, Ezekiel 27:27 - merchants, or Arabians (2 Chronicles 21:16; Nehemiah 4:7), or the citizens of Arabah, a town alleged, on Rabbinical authority, to have been near Beth-shah (Joshua 15:6; Joshua 18:18). Jerome states that the inhabitants of this town supplied the prophet with food; and the testimony of this writer, who lived in the fourth century of our era, is considered all the more valuable that he spent several years in Palestine for the purpose of acquiring an accurate acquaintance with the Hebrew language, and with the manners of the people, with a view to the exposition of the Scriptures.
In the common printed editions of the Vulgate, corvi, ravens, is the word used in this passage; but in 2 Chronicles 21:16 and Nehemiah 4:7, Jerome with propriety renders the original word Arabians. The Arabic version considers Orebim, in this passage, as denoting a people, and not ravens. To these authorities may be added the opinion of the Jewish Commentator Jarchi, who interprets the term in the same manner, conceiving it to be impossible for the Lord's prophet to receive food from creatures declared unclean by the law, of whose authority he was a zealous upholder and unflinching defender. These considerations have seemed in the minds of many to carry so much weight that they have considered the only probable interpretation of the passage is, that the Orebim who brought to Elijah bread in the morning and flesh in the evening, with unbroken regularity for a whole year, were not ravens, but the inhabitants of the city Orbo, or traveling merchants belonging to the caravans from Arabia. [As to the latter hypothesis, Ezekiel 27:27 has, wª`orªbeey (H6148) ma`ªraabeek (H4627), and the occupiers of thy merchandise.]
But the word is here closely connected with that which follows, so as to be dependent for its meaning upon the association; and `orªbiym (H6148) is never used by itself to denote merchants. Besides, the position of Elijah's retreat refutes the supposition. The caravan route of the Arabian traders did not lie in the direction of the Wady Kelt; and as their travels were made only at distant periodical intervals, it is evident that they could not be the parties who brought the prophet big daily supplies. As little could it be some kind inhabitants of the town of Orbo; because, admitting the existence of such a town, of which, however, there is no historical evidence, its people would, according to the genius of the Hebrew language, have been called, not Orebim, but Arabaiim; and then, how could the prophet be said to "hide himself," if he were dependent for his daily subsistence on the friendly attentions of benevolent persons in the neighbourhood?
The secret of his retreat must inevitably have transpired; and yet it is said that, notwithstanding Ahab sought for him with untiring industry in all quarters, his hiding-place could not be discovered. It would have been impossible, while a system of vigilant espionage was maintained in every part of the country, and tempting rewards would be held out to any who would volunteer the much-wished-for information, that Elijah could have remained concealed, had his supplies of food been derived either from Arabian merchants or the inhabitants of a neighbouring town. The common rendering, then, in our opinion, is preferable to either of 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. "He commanded the ravens to feed" the prophet. In the Scripture history of God's providence, such commands are frequently represented as given to the lower animals. The serpents, the locusts, the fish, the billows of the sea, and the clouds of heaven, are all severally represented as acting at the mandate of God. and being employed in his service (2 Chronicles 7:13; Psalms 78:23; Isaiah 14:12; Jonah 2:10; Amos 9:3). 'Properly speaking,' says Dr. Paxton, 'the inanimate and irrational parts of creation cannot receive and execute the commands of the Almighty: they are only passive instruments employed by Him, in His providential dispensations, to produce certain effects. To command the ravens, then, is to make use of them in providing for the necessities of his servant-to impart for a time an instinctive care to supply him with food, to which they were by nature entire strangers, and which they ceased to feel when the end was accomplished.'
Of course, the flesh was suited to the taste of ravenous birds; and as the distance between Jerusalem and Cherith was not very great, it is possible, as some have suggested, that the fowls might have snatched it from the altar at the temple and carried it in their talons to the prophet's hiding-place. But as to the bread, that was not food adapted to their instincts; so that their being instinctively stimulated to carry a portion of it daily along with the meat was a strong proof of a miraculous influence being exerted over them. But the ravens are solitary birds; it is the rooks which are gregarious, flying abroad in flocks, morning and evening; and hence, as a single raven could not bring a sufficient quantity of the viands, a difficulty is felt by some to account for the fact of the prophet's continued subsistence through such agency. As an attempt at removing this difficulty, we subjoin the following remarks by the editor of 'Calmet,' without committing ourselves to the adoption of his theory:
The original word "raven" includes the whole genus corvus; and, consequently, it may have been the rook, as Taylor conjectures, not an unclean bird, which was employed on this occasion.' The same learned writer conjectures that the support of Elijah was obtained in some such way as this-`Let us suppose,' says he, 'for a moment that Elijah was concealed in some rocky and mountainous spot where passengers never strayed, and that here a number of voracious birds had built their nests on the trees which grew around it, or on the projections of the rocks. These flying every day to procure food for their young, the prophet availed himself of a part of what they brought; and while they, obeying the dictates of nature, designed only to provide for their offspring, Divine Providence directed them to provide at the same time for the wants of Elijah; so that he gathered, whether from their nests, what they dropped or brought to him, or occasionally from both means enough for his daily support. But I rather think, there being a good many of them, some might furnish him with bread (i:e., grain) and others flesh, and vice versa, at different times; so that a little from each made up his solitary but satisfactory meal. To such straits was the exiled prophet driven, and such, was the dependence of this zealous man of God.' After the lapse of a year the brook dried up, and this was a new trial to Elijah's of this zealous man of God.' After the lapse of a year the brook dried up, and this was a new trial to Elijah's faith.