And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
The history of Elijah begins somewhat abruptly. Usually, when a prophet enters, we have some account of his parentage, are told whose son he was and of what tribe; but Elijah drops (so to speak) out of the clouds, as if, like Melchisedek, he were without father, without mother, and without descent, which made some of the Jews fancy that he was an angel sent...
Commenting on 1 Kings 17:1-7
And it came to pass after a while,.... Or "at the end of days" (x), perhaps a year, which sometimes is the sense of this phrase, see Exo 13:10, that the brook dried up; through the excessive heat, and for want of supplies from the springs and fountains with which it was fed, and for the following reason: because there had been no rain in...
The brook dried up - Because there had been no rain in the land for some time, God having sent this drought as a testimony against the idolatry of the people: see Deu 11:16, Deu 11:17.