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The name "Zarephath" comes from the story of Elijah, in the old testament of the Bible (1Kings, ch.17). In the story, there has been a famine, and Elijah is sent by God to Zarephath, where he is told a widow will sustain him. Upon arriving outside the gates of the city, he finds the woman gathering sticks, in order to prepare a last meal for herself and her son, for her supply of food is about to run out. Elijah encourages the woman to proceed with her preparations, but asks her to make him a little cake first. This she does, and the dwindling supply of oil and meal lasts "a long time".

The image on our label is that of the widow collecting sticks, and serves as a model for the individual seeking to live the spiritual life. The principle being expressed in the story seems to be that if we are responsive to God's commands, his providence will manifest itself. Of course, the key is hearing his commands in the first place, and then following them, instead of following our own will!

We find this story to be particularly appealing in its symbolism, in which everything in the story represents an idea: each idea provides a clue as to how we are to transcend our human conditioning and arrive at the clear light of truth. It is important to note that the value of these spiritual ideas are only revealed as we seek to put them into practice, just as the widow was not shown the outcome of her faith until she responded tangibly to Elijah's command.

The name Zarephath is composed of four Hebrew letters: Zain, Raysh, Phay, and Thav. While each letter carries a particular significance, according to the ancient art of Qabala, the word taken as a whole means "refinement", or purification, as in the way gold is refined with a high heat. Pronunciation of the first, second and last consonants (Z, R, Th) are as you would expect from the English equivalents, but the Ph consonant is pronounced as fay, but without the lips actually closing, resulting in a kind of blowing effect, for which there is, as you must know, no precise English equivalent. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible shows the pronunciation of Zarephath as tsaw-ref-ath'.