The first verse of Chapter 17 begins the three years of drought and the first verse of Chapter 18 begins the end of the drought. From Chapter 18 one can deduce various results of the famine. However, Chapter 17 describes three separate stories involving Eliyahu during that drought, which, aside from their chronological link with the drought, raise many questions as to their placement in this chapter.

Courtesy of the Virtual Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Har Etzion