This illustration, made in the early 20th century by an unidentified artist, was inspired by the life of the Biblical figure, Elijah. Recognized as a prophetic holy man by the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), Elijah was said to have lived around the 9th century BC, and was active during the reigns of Kings Ahab and Ahaziah of Israel. As the story goes, the prophets proclaimed that the Abrahamic God was extremely displeased with King Ahab, one of the main reasons being that the king (along with many of his predecessors) allowed the worship of Baal, Astarte, Asherah, and other Canaanite (or West Semitic) gods to exist in the kingdom. Therefore, in the events preceding the scene in the painting above, Elijah was sent by God to tell Ahab that Israel would soon be punished with a long drought. According to the tale, no rain fell in the region for three years. Elijah, fortunately, did not experience the hardships that such a drought would bring, as God provided for all of the prophet’s needs during the three-year period. The painting above shows one of the ways that God reportedly sustained Elijah during that time of hardship. The tale is told in the biblical First Book of Kings:
“The word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.’ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi” (1 Kings 17:2-6, NRSV translation).
Such is the scene that the illustration re-creates. It shows Elijah in the wilderness, being brought food by a raven. As the story goes, Elijah would stay at the wadi (a valley or ravine stream), with the ravens bringing him food, until the dwindling water eventually ran dry. God then sent Elijah to his next supply station—the home of a widow—which became the prophet’s headquarters for the remainder of the drought.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2017&version=NRSVUE
- The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version With The Apocrypha (Fifth Edition, Fully Revised), edited by Michael D. Coogan and associates. Oxford University Press, 2018.
- The Oxford Companion to the Bible, edited by Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan. Oxford University Press, 1993.
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elijah-Hebrew-prophet
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ahab
- https://www.si.edu/object/elijah-fed-ravens:saam_1986.65.294
