מלכים א, פרק י״ט, פסוק ח׳

Elijah embarks on a long, lonely journey through the desert toward the place where the Torah was given. Prior to this, he was profoundly weak and near death from starvation, but a single miraculous meal granted him the supernatural strength needed to endure [רלב״ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Commentators offer different explanations for how this single meal sustained him for so long. One approach suggests that his natural digestive process was completely suspended. The food remained in his stomach without digesting, allowing it to continuously provide physical nourishment over an extended period [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. This highlights a clear distinction between Elijah's experience and that of Moses; while Moses survived without any food or water at all, Elijah did eat, but the physical effects of his meal were miraculously prolonged [רד״ק].

Another perspective argues against the idea of undigested food, proposing instead that the meal itself was divine in origin. Because of its spiritual essence, the nourishment it provided was vast, granting an energy that completely defied the laws of nature [אברבנאל]. Beyond mere physical survival, this spiritual sustenance served to purify Elijah's body throughout his travels, preparing him for a profound revelation from God, much like the purification Moses experienced [מלבי״ם].

The journey's duration of forty days and forty nights presents a practical question, as the route from the Land of Israel to Mount Sinai normally takes no more than fifteen days. This is resolved by understanding that the forty-day period covers more than just the initial travel. Because Elijah was older and physically weak, the trek to the mountain took about twenty days. He then remained there for a single day before making the journey back. The power of that one miraculous meal sustained him through the entire round trip [אברבנאל]. Ultimately, his destination was Mount Horeb, widely recognized as the sacred mountain where the Torah was originally given to Israel [רלב״ג, מצודת דוד].