Barrel

Barrel in the King James Version translates the Hebrew kad, a wide-mouthed vessel used for carrying and storing water, flour, or other provisions. The same word is translated pitcher elsewhere. In the account of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:12–16), the widow's barrel of meal and cruse of oil miraculously sustained her and Elijah through the drought — neither the barrel of meal wasted nor the cruse of oil failed, according to the word of God spoken through Elijah. The miracle became a touchstone of divine provision in the most extreme circumstances.

The vessel also appears in Gideon's stratagem at the battle with Midian (Judges 7:16), where each of the three hundred men carried a pitcher (kad) containing a torch — smashing the pitchers at the signal to create a sudden blaze of light and sound that routed the Midianite camp. In Genesis 24:14–20, Rebekah drew water from the well in her pitcher for Abraham's servant and his camels, the act by which she was identified as Isaac's destined wife.