Cherith, The Brook

The brook Cherith (Hebrew kerith, meaning cutting or ravine) was the torrent-stream or wadi where Elijah hid himself at God's command during the first part of the three-and-a-half-year drought in the reign of Ahab (1 Kings 17:3–7). God directed Elijah: Turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. There Elijah drank from the brook and was fed by ravens that brought him bread and meat morning and evening — a miraculous provision that sustained him during his withdrawal from public life. When the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land, God directed him to Zarephath.

The location of Cherith has been debated: the phrase east of the Jordan suggests a wadi in Transjordan, possibly Wadi Qelt or one of the wadis of Gilead. The feeding by ravens has been noted as the fulfillment of God's general promise to feed those who seek first his kingdom (Matthew 6:26) and as a particular sign of divine provision in a land suffering judgment for Ahab's Baalism.