page_title: Raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath
section_title: Elijah, the widow and the widow's son
hierarchical_section_title: Raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath / Elijah, the widow and the widow's son
caption_attribution_description: English: Woodcut for "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860. Deutsch: Holzschnitt aus "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860. Français&#160;: Gravure en bois pour «Die Bibel in Bildern», 1860.
context_page_description: The raising of the widow of Zarephath's son is a miracle of the prophet Elijah recorded in the Hebrew Bible, 1 Kings 17.
context_section_description: 1 Kings 17:17-18 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him 18 And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to be to bring my sin and remembrance and to cause the death of my son!"
  Victor H. Matthews suggests that the woman "uses sarcasm which is designed to shame the prophet for being the cause of her son's death." Elijah does not try and rationalise with the grieving woman and takes the son up to his bedroom where he prays to God asking for his help. 
  1 Kings 17:21-22 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, "O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again". 22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
  He then takes the child downstairs again and presents him, living, to his mother. This causes her to declare "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God" (v24), Elijah therefore "regains his honor and his status."
  Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, also known as Rabbi Eliezer Hagadol, relates that the son raised by Elijah was none other than the prophet Jonah, most notably associated with the incident involving a giant fish. Commentators have noted verbal parallels with the raising of the son of the widow of Nain in the Gospel of Luke. The miracle is represented in the Dura synagogue murals.
caption: 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld
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