1 Kings 17:12. She said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel.
The kad was not what we understand by a barrel, a wooden vessel with staves and hoops, but a vessel made of clay. The same word is translated “pitcher” in several other places. It is still common in the East to keep grain in earthen jars. The same sort of vessel which was used for meal by this widow was afterward used for water on the occasion of Elijah’s sacrifice (1 Kings 18:33).