Why doesn't the widow of Zarephath acknowledge God's commandment in 1 Kings 17?

Question

It is said God had commanded the widow of Zarephath to feed Elijah during the drought

KJV 1 Kings 17 : 9

Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

But when the widow finally meets Elijah she doesn't acknowledge any commandment by God

KJV 1 Kings 17 : 10 - 12

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

The widow only speaks of herself and her son

Why doesn't the widow acknowledge God's commandment?

Answer 1

The word "command" has a broader sense of meaning which includes the concept of "ordained" (i.e. "chosen"). It could also mean "appoint."

For example, the following verse uses the same Hebrew word "tsavah" (צָוָה) often translated as "command."

And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed ^H6680 thee ruler over Israel; (1 Samuel 25:30, KJV)

The widow may have known nothing of God's plan. But God knew she would feed Elijah--and that God would provide her the means to do so.

Answer 2

The answer to this is less complicated than it appears. Not everything is necessarily even aware of the commands of God. For example, we see this verb, צָוָה (tsavah) used of other things as well:

• Ps 33:9 - For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it [the creation] stood firm.
• Ps 148:5 - Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created.
• Ps 78:23 - Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven,
• Isa 5:6 - I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
• Isa 45:12 - I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their [starry] host.

Thus, when God "commanded" (1 Kings 17:9) the widow of Zarephath to provide for Elijah, we are not told the mechanism, but the following options are consistent with other such commands:

• The widow received a dream with instructions
• The widow received a vision with instructions
• The widow received some kind of divinely provided premonition about Elijah's approach
• The widow received an impression by the Holy Spirit to be extra kind to the Jewish stranger without her knowing the origin of such an impulse

Again, we are not told how God commanded the widow, but the last of these options best fits the circumstances of the story. If this is true, the widow acted upon the kindness impression with wonderful consequences - it saved her life and the life of her son, twice! [A salutary lesson even today?]