Luke 4:25

“But I tell you of a truth, etc.] Or in truth: it answers to tmab, a phrase often used by the Jewish writers f230; and, which, they say f231, wherever, and of whatsoever it is spoken, it signifies a tradition of Moses from Mount Sinai, and so that which is most true, sure, and firm, and to be depended on; and such is what our Lord hereafter delivers; yea, the word, atwnmyh, “truth”, or “of a truth”, and which is the same as “in truth”, is used by the Jews f232, as h[wbç ˆwçl, “the form of an oath”: so that these words of Christ are a strong asseveration, and amount to a solemn oath with respect to what follows: many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias; or Elijah, the prophet; that is,…”

“But I tell you, &c.--falling back for support on the well-known examples of Elijah and Elisha (Eliseus), whose miraculous power, passing by those who were near, expended itself on those at a distance, yea on heathens, "the two great prophets who stand at the commencement of prophetic antiquity, and whose miracles strikingly prefigured those of our Lord. As He intended like them to feed the poor and cleanse the lepers, He points to these miracles of mercy, and not to the fire from heaven and the bears that tore the mockers" [STIER]. three years and six months--So Jam 5:17, including perhaps the six months after the last fall of rain, when there would be little or none at any rate; whereas in…”

“Of a truth - Truly, and therefore worthy of your credit. He calls attention to two cases where “acknowledged” prophets had so little honor in their own nation that they bestowed their favors on foreigners. So, says he, such is the want of faith in my own country, that I shall work no miracles here, but shall give the evidence of my divine mission to others. In Israel - In the land of Israel, or Judea. It was therefore the more remarkable, since there were so many in his own country whom he might have helped, that the prophet should have gone to a pagan city and aided a poor widow there. The days of Elias - The days of Elijah. See the account of this in 1 Kings 17:8-24. Three years and six…”

“When the heaven was shut up three years and six months - Such a proof had they that God had sent him. In Kg1 18:1, it is said, The word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: namely, reckoning not from the beginning of the drought, but from the time when he began to sojourn with the widow of Sarepta. A year of drought had preceded this, while he dwelt at the brook Cherith. So that the whole time of the drought was (as St. James likewise observes) three years and six months. Kg1 17:19; Kg1 18:44. Luke 4:27”

“4:25-26 widow of Zarephath: See 1 Kgs 17–18.”

“many: Luk 10:21; Isa 55:8; Mat 20:15; Mar 7:26-29; Rom 9:15, Rom 9:20; Eph 1:9, Eph 1:11 when the: Kg1 17:1, Kg1 18:1, Kg1 18:2, Elijah, Jam 5:17 Luke 4:26”