1 Kings 17:2

“And the word of the Lord came to him, etc.] The word of prophecy, as the Targum; this shows that by word, in the former verse, he means the word of the Lord by him: saying; as follows.”

“the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, &c.--At first the king may have spurned the prediction as the utterance of a vain enthusiast; but when he found the drought did last and increase in severity, he sought Elijah, who, as it was necessary that he should be far removed from either the violence or the importunities of the king, was divinely directed to repair to a place of retreat, perhaps a cave on "the brook Cherith, that is, before [east of] Jordan." Tradition points it out in a small winter torrent, a little below the ford at Beth-shan.”

“17:2-7 Kerith Brook provided a haven for Elijah during the divinely instituted drought (see 18:10). The supply of food and water assured Elijah of God’s protection. • When Elijah’s source of water dried up, a change of location was necessary.”

“Kg1 12:22; Ch1 17:3; Jer 7:1, Jer 11:1, Jer 18:1; Hos 1:1, Hos 1:2 3 Kings (1 Kings) 17:3”

“After the announcement of this judgment, Elijah had to hide himself, by the command of God, until the period of punishment came to an end, not so much that he might be safe from the wrath and pursuit of Ahab and Jezebel, as to preclude all earnest entreaties to remove the punishment. "For inasmuch as the prophet had said that the rain would come at his word, how would they have urged him to order it to come!" (Seb. Schm.) He was to turn קדמה, eastward, i.e., from Samaria, where he had no doubt proclaimed the divine judgment to Ahab, to the Jordan, and to hide himself at the brook Cherith, which is in front of the Jordan. The brook Cherith was in any case a brook emptying itself into the…”