Ancient Sources: Phoenicia and Galilee: 1. Sarephtha the Long Village where a child was resuscitated that day

Ancient Sources

Phoenicia and Galilee

1. Sarephtha the Long Village where
a child was resuscitated that day - (Sarafand)

ORIGINAL TEXTS
Saraptha Sidoniae, quod scriptum est, in ipsa Fenice, Secunda Syria, iuxta montem Carmelum. XII milia habet de Saraptha usque in Sidona et propter hoc dicta est Saraptha Sidoniae, quia ipso tempore metropolis erat Sidona a Saraptha, et modo Saraptha est metropolis. Ubi sanctus Helias missus est ad viduam illam, quae eum pasceret, et filium eius suscitavit, ibi ecclesia sancti Heliae est, nam nomen mulieris non dicitur nisi tan-tummodo vidua.
(Theodosius, De situ Terrae Sanctae, 23)
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Theodosius, De situ Terrae Sanctae, 23 (ca. 530 A.D.)
The 'Zarephath Sidon' of Scripture is in Phoenice, or Syria Secunda, near Mount Carmel. Zarephath is twelve miles away from Sidon, and was called 'Zarephath Sidon' because at that time Sidon was the capital city over Zarephath, though today Zarephath itself is a capital. Where Saint Elijah was sent to the widow who gave him food, and he healed her son, is the Church of Saint Elijah, since no name is mentioned for the woman, apart from her being 'the widow'.

BIBLICAL BACKGROUND
1 Kings 17:9-10.17-24 The prophet Elijah and the widow of Zarephath
"Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink."
... After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. She then 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!" But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. He cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again." The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." So 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."

Luke 4:25-27 "Elijah was sent... to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon"
But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.

MORE ANCIENT SOURCES
Josephus, Antiquities 8.13.2 (1st cent. A.D.)
(319) There was now a prophet of God Almighty, of Thesbon, a country in Gilead, that came to Ahab, and said to him, that God foretold he would not send rain nor dew in those years upon the country but when he should appear. And when he had confirmed this by an oath, he departed into the southern parts, and made his abode by a brook, out of which he had water to drink; for as for his food, ravens brought it to him every day; (320) but when that river was dried up for want of rain, he came to Zarephath, a city not far from Sidon and Tyre, for it lay between them, and this at the command of God, for [God told him] that he should there find a woman, who was a widow, that should give him sustenance: (321) so when he was not far off the city, he saw a woman that labored with her own hands, gathering of sticks: so God informed him that this was the woman who was to give him sustenance; so he came and saluted her, and desired her to bring him some water to drink; but as she was going so to do, he called to her, and would have her to bring him a loaf of bread also; (322) whereupon she affirmed upon oath, that she had at home nothing more than one handful of meal and a little oil, and that she was going to gather some sticks, that she might knead it, and make bread for herself and her son; after which, she said, they must perish, and be consumed by the famine, for they had nothing for themselves any longer.-Hereupon he said, "Go on with good courage, and hope for better things; and first of all make me a little cake, and bring it to me, for I foretell to thee that this vessel of meal and this cruise of oil shall not fail until God send rain." (323) When the prophet had said this, she came to him and made him the before-named cake: of which she had part for herself, and gave the rest to her son, and to the prophet also; nor did anything of this fail until the drought ceased. (324) Now Menander mentions this drought in his account of the acts of Ethbaal, king of the Tyrians; where he says thus: "Under him, there was a want of rain from the month Hyperberetaeus till the month Hyperberetaeus of the year following; but when he made supplications, there came great thunders. This Ethbaal built the city Botrys, in Phoenicia, and the city Auza, in Libya."-By these words he designed the want of rain that was in the days of Ahab; for at that time it was that Ethbaal also reigned over the Tyrians, as Menander informs us.

Anonymus Placentinus, Itinerarium 4 (ca. 570 A.D.)
From Sidon we came to Sarepta, a small city full of Christians. The chamber which was made for Elijah is there, and in it is the very bed on which he lay, and the marble vessel which was filled by the widow woman. Many offerings are made there, and many miracles take place. Leaving Sarepta we came to the city of Tyre, and altogether it is seven miles between Sidon, Tyre and Sarepta.

EPISCOPAL CITY

Bishops' list
Gabriel (A.D. 1699)

Map Section 1 Places Discussion

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1. Sarephtha the Long Village where a child was resuscitated that day - (Sarafand)

ORIGINAL TEXTS Saraptha Sidoniae, quod scriptum est, in ipsa Fenice, Secunda Syria, iuxta montem Carmelum. XII milia habet de Saraptha usque in Sidona et propter hoc dicta est Saraptha Sidoniae, quia ipso tempore metropolis erat Sidona a Saraptha, et modo Saraptha est metropolis. Ubi sanctus Helias missus est ad viduam illam, quae eum pasceret, et filium eius suscitavit, ibi ecclesia sancti Heliae est, nam nomen mulieris non dicitur nisi tan-tummodo vidua. (Theodosius, De situ Terrae Sanctae, 23)	ENGLISH TRANSLATION *Theodosius, De situ Terrae Sanctae, 23* (ca. 530 A.D.) The 'Zarephath Sidon' of Scripture is in Phoenice, or Syria Secunda, near Mount Carmel. Zarephath is twelve miles away from Sidon, and was called 'Zarephath Sidon' because at that time Sidon was the capital city over Zarephath, though today Zarephath itself is a capital. Where Saint Elijah was sent to the widow who gave him food, and he healed her son, is the Church of Saint Elijah, since no name is mentioned for the woman, apart from her being 'the widow'.
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND 1 Kings 17:9-10.17-24 The prophet Elijah and the widow of Zarephath "Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink." ... After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. She then 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!" But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. He cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again." The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." So 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." Luke 4:25-27 "Elijah was sent... to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon" But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.
MORE ANCIENT SOURCES *Josephus, Antiquities* 8.13.2 (1st cent. A.D.) (319) There was now a prophet of God Almighty, of Thesbon, a country in Gilead, that came to Ahab, and said to him, that God foretold he would not send rain nor dew in those years upon the country but when he should appear. And when he had confirmed this by an oath, he departed into the southern parts, and made his abode by a brook, out of which he had water to drink; for as for his food, ravens brought it to him every day; (320) but when that river was dried up for want of rain, he came to Zarephath, a city not far from Sidon and Tyre, for it lay between them, and this at the command of God, for [God told him] that he should there find a woman, who was a widow, that should give him sustenance: (321) so when he was not far off the city, he saw a woman that labored with her own hands, gathering of sticks: so God informed him that this was the woman who was to give him sustenance; so he came and saluted her, and desired her to bring him some water to drink; but as she was going so to do, he called to her, and would have her to bring him a loaf of bread also; (322) whereupon she affirmed upon oath, that she had at home nothing more than one handful of meal and a little oil, and that she was going to gather some sticks, that she might knead it, and make bread for herself and her son; after which, she said, they must perish, and be consumed by the famine, for they had nothing for themselves any longer.-Hereupon he said, "Go on with good courage, and hope for better things; and first of all make me a little cake, and bring it to me, for I foretell to thee that this vessel of meal and this cruise of oil shall not fail until God send rain." (323) When the prophet had said this, she came to him and made him the before-named cake: of which she had part for herself, and gave the rest to her son, and to the prophet also; nor did anything of this fail until the drought ceased. (324) Now Menander mentions this drought in his account of the acts of Ethbaal, king of the Tyrians; where he says thus: "Under him, there was a want of rain from the month Hyperberetaeus till the month Hyperberetaeus of the year following; but when he made supplications, there came great thunders. This Ethbaal built the city Botrys, in Phoenicia, and the city Auza, in Libya."-By these words he designed the want of rain that was in the days of Ahab; for at that time it was that Ethbaal also reigned over the Tyrians, as Menander informs us. Anonymus Placentinus, Itinerarium 4 (ca. 570 A.D.) From Sidon we came to Sarepta, a small city full of Christians. The chamber which was made for Elijah is there, and in it is the very bed on which he lay, and the marble vessel which was filled by the widow woman. Many offerings are made there, and many miracles take place. Leaving Sarepta we came to the city of Tyre, and altogether it is seven miles between Sidon, Tyre and Sarepta. EPISCOPAL CITY Bishops' list** Gabriel (A.D. 1699)