Cherith

Cherith is the brook east of the Jordan where Elijah hid during the drought he had announced against Ahab. It is the setting of one short, vivid episode and is not mentioned again in scripture.

The Brook East of the Jordan

Yahweh's word to Elijah sends him to a hiding place identified by its water and its direction: "Go from here, and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan" (1 Kings 17:3). The provision there is twofold — the brook itself, and an unusual delivery: "And it will be, that you will drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there" (1 Kings 17:4).

Elijah obeys: "So he went and did according to the word of Yahweh; for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan" (1 Kings 17:5). The pattern of supply is daily and doubled: "And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook" (1 Kings 17:6).

The episode closes with the brook itself becoming a sign of the drought Elijah had pronounced: "And it came to pass after awhile, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land" (1 Kings 17:7). The drying of Cherith ends his stay there and moves the narrative on to Zarephath.