1 Kings 17:22

1Ki 17:22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

Ver. 22. And the Lord heard.] The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availed much. {Jas 5:16}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 17:22. The soul of the child came into him again — The reader will easily observe, that this phraseology of the sacred historian, like that of the prophet in the former verse, (and they both spoke by inspiration of God,) plainly signifies the distinction between the rational soul and earthly body to be as real as that between the house and its inhabitant, and supposes the existence of the former in a state of separation from the body, and consequently its immortality: and, probably, as Grotius thinks, God might design by this miracle to give an evidence hereof for the encouragement of his suffering people. And he revived — As by an extraordinary and supernatural stroke of affliction, God had taken away the child’s life for the trial of the faith, both of the prophet and the woman; so, to strengthen the faith of both, as well as for the vindication of the true religion, and the manifestation of his own glory in opposition to idols, in that most dark and degenerate age, he restored the child to life, and thereby answered the prayer which he himself had inspired.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17:22-24 The miracle of the child’s raising rewarded the faith of Elijah and confirmed the mother’s initial confidence in God’s prophet. Her testimony may indicate that she put her faith in the Lord. Jesus cited her as an example of God’s concern for non-Israelites and as an indication that God’s messengers are often more easily received by others than by their own countrymen (Luke 4:24-26). The Scriptures repeatedly mention God’s care of widows as illustrating his care for needy people (Exod 22:21; Deut 10:18; 27:19; Ps 68:5; Isa 1:17; Jas 1:27).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. And the soul] נפש nephesh, of the child came into him again, על קרבו al kirbo, into the midst of him; and he revived, ויח vaiyechi, and he became alive. Did he not become alive from the circumstance of the immaterial principle coming again into him?

Although רוח ruach is sometimes put for the breath, yet נפש generally means the immortal spirit, and where it seems to refer to animal life alone, it is only such a life as is the immediate and necessary effect of the presence of the immortal spirit.

The words and mode of expression here appear to me a strong proof, not only of the existence of an immortal and immaterial spirit in man, but also that that spirit can and does exist in a separate state from the body. It is here represented as being in the midst of the child, like a spring in the centre of a machine, which gives motion to every part, and without which the whole would stand still.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. And the Lord heard [R.V. hearkened unto] the voice of Elijah] This is the more usual rendering of the verb followed by a preposition as here. Instead of this verse the LXX. (Vat.) has ‘and it was so, and the child cried out.’ The following words also, in 1Ki_17:23 ‘and Elijah took the child,’ are omitted in that version.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house,.... Being come to life, he took it off of the bed in his bedchamber, and brought it down to the lower part of the house, where the woman was:

and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, see, thy son liveth; which no doubt was to her great surprise, and was a wonderful instance of divine power and goodness, and to which the apostle may have respect, Heb 11:35, Bunting (l) says, the inhabitants of this place now take upon them to show the chamber wherein the prophet Elias lived, when he raised the widow's child to life.

(l) Travels, &c. p. 205.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

22. The soul of the child came into him again — That which leaves the body when it dies is sometimes called the soul (Gen_35:18) and sometimes the spirit, (Ecc_12:7,) and hence we may argue that, according to biblical psychology, soul and spirit are never separated from each other, though as regards their essential nature they may be distinguished. The question of the separate conscious existence and immortality of the disembodied soul is not involved in this text, but the distinction between soul and body is plainly recognised. More minute is the distinction between soul and spirit, the latter being the deathless, God-like principle in man, that distinguishes him from the whole irrational creation; the soul, the lower principle, the seat of the animal life and feeling, intermediate between spirit and body, and by the agency of which the spirit is able to control the movements of the body. “Plainly,” says Delitzsch, “according to Scripture, soul and spirit outlast the corruption of the body. Nevertheless, it is true of the soul, in a certain sense, that it dies. It dies so far as it was wont to centralize in itself the natural powers of the body, and to pervade the organs of the body with its own spirit-like life. It does not die, so far as it is of the spirit, (Mat_10:28;) but it dies, so far as it has become of the body. Its life that has emanated from the spirit endures; but its life that is immanent in the body perishes with the body itself.” — Biblical Psychology, p. 469.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again and he revived or recovered. (Cf. 2Ki_1:2 2Ki_8:8)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Into him again - This plainly supposes the existence of the soul in a state of separation, and consequently its immortality: probably God might design by this miracle to give an evidence hereof, for the encouragement of his suffering people.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah

Here "voice" represents what Elijah prayed. AT: "Yahweh answered Elijah's prayer" (See: Metonymy)

the life of the child returned to him, and he revived

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. AT: "the child came back to life" or "the child lived again" (See: Parallelism)

his room

Here "his" refers to Elijah.

See, your son is alive

The word "See" here alerts us to pay attention to the surprising information that follows.

the word of Yahweh in your mouth is true

"the message of Yahweh in your mouth is true." The word "mouth" represents what Elijah said. AT: "the message that you spoke from Yahweh is true" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

voice

know

word of God

true

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.