Elijah and the Widow
Let's look at how the literary form of the story. See what new meanings may jump out about the point of the story.
Biblical Literary Forms
INTRODUCTION - 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.
Literary structures have taken many different forms over the years. For instance, modern stories you read often place the key point towards the end of the story. Hebrew stories, however, sometimes use a technique that places a key point of the story at the very center of the story. This technique is called a chiasm and is a form of symmetry.
When a Hebrew writer uses a chiasm, the writer places key matching parts of the story on either side of the center. This is hard to explain, but easy to show. Take a look at the following story of Elijah, and think about how the chiastic pattern works.
A. WIDOW SPEAKS TO ELIJAH - And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”
B. ELIJAH SPEAKS TO WIDOW - And he said to her, “Give me your son.”
C. ELIJAH TAKES CHILD - And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.
D. ELIJAH’S PLEA TO GOD- And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?”
D. ELIJAH’S PLEA TO GOD HEARD - And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.
C. ELIJAH TAKES CHILD - And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother.
B. ELIJAH SPEAKS TO WIDOW - And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”
A. WIDOW SPEAKS TO ELIJAH - And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
“Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”
Discussion Questions
Why is E the center of the story? How has the widow's viewpoint changed in the two A panels? Why do the A panels make a good beginning and end to the story? How are the two C panels an exact mirror of each other. How does the D panel explain the relationship between the prophet and God?
What do you think about chiasms? What is the point or purpose of using them?