Elijah

== Biblical accounts ==
[[File:Kingdoms of Israel and Judah map 830.svg|thumb|Map of [[Israel]] as it was in the 9th&nbsp;century BC. '''Blue''' is the Kingdom of Israel. '''Golden yellow''' is the Kingdom of Judah.<ref name=Peraea-etc/>]]

According to the Bible, by the 9th&nbsp;century BC, the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel]], once united under [[Solomon]], had been divided into the northern [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and the southern [[Kingdom of Judah]] (which retained the historical capital of Jerusalem along with its [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]]). [[Omri]], King of Israel, continued policies dating from the reign of [[Jeroboam]], contrary to religious law, that were intended to reorient religious focus away from Jerusalem: encouraging the building of local temple altars for sacrifices, appointing priests from outside the family of the [[Levite]]s, and allowing or encouraging temples dedicated to [[Baal]], an important deity in [[ancient Canaanite religion]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kaufman |first= Yehezkel |year=1956 |article=The Biblical Age |pages=53–56 |editor=Schwarz, Leo W. |title=Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People |place=New York, NY |publisher=Modern Library}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Raven |first= John H. |year=1979 |title=The History of the Religion of Israel |pages=281 |place=Grand Rapids, MI |publisher=Baker Book House}}</ref> Omri achieved domestic security with a marriage alliance between his son [[Ahab]] and princess [[Jezebel]], a worshipper of Baal and the daughter of the king of [[Sidon]] in [[Phoenicia]].{{efn|[[Psalm 45]], sometimes viewed as a wedding song for Ahab and Jezebel, may allude to this union and its problems: "Hear, Oh daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house; and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him; the people of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts."<ref>{{bibleverse| |Psalms|45:10–12|HE}}</ref> See: Smith (1982)<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first= Norman H. |year=1982 |article=I Kings |editor1-link=George Arthur Buttrick |editor1=Buttrick, George A. |display-editors=etal |title=The Interpreter's Bible |volume=3 |page=144 |place=Nashville, TN |publisher=Abingdon Press}}</ref>}} These solutions brought security and economic prosperity to Israel for a time,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1= J.M. |last2=Hayes |first2= J.H. |year=2006 |title=A History of Ancient Israel and Judah |place=Louisville, KY |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press}}</ref> but did not bring peace with the Israelite prophets, who advocated a strict [[Deuteronomic Code|deuteronomic interpretation]] of the religious law.

Under Ahab's kingship tensions exacerbated. Ahab built a temple for Baal, and his wife Jezebel brought a large entourage of priests and prophets of Baal and [[Asherah]] into the country. In this context Elijah is introduced in 1 Kings 17:1 as Elijah "the [[Tishbite]]." He warns Ahab that there will be years of catastrophic [[drought]] so severe that not even [[dew]] will form, because Ahab and his queen stand at the end of a line of kings of Israel who are said to have "done evil in the sight of the Lord."

=== Books of Kings ===
No background for the person of Elijah is given except for his brief characterization as a Tishbite. His name in Hebrew means "My God is Yahweh," and may be a title applied to him because of his challenge to worship of Baal.<ref>{{cite book |title=New Bible Dictionary |year=1982 |edition=second |publisher=Tyndale Press |place=Wheaton, IL, US |isbn=0-8423-4667-8 |page=323}}</ref><ref name=jency>{{cite Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Elijah |last1=Hirsch |first1=Emil G. |first2=Eduard |last2=König |first3=Solomon |last3=Schechter |first4=Louis |last4=Ginzberg |first5=M. |last5=Seligsohn |first6=Kaufmann |last6=Kohler |volume=V |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=245&letter=E&search=Elijah |access-date=8 April 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Elijah |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Judaica |place=Jerusalem |publisher=[[Keter Publishing House]] |year=1971 |page=633}}</ref><ref>Cogan, Mordechai. ''The Anchor Bible: I Kings.'' New York: Doubleday, 2001. p. 425.</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1=Werblowsky, R.J.Z. |editor2=Wigoder, Geoffrey |year=1997 |title=Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-508605-8}}</ref>

As told in the Hebrew Bible, Elijah's challenge is bold and direct. [[Baal]] was the Canaanite god responsible for rain, thunder, lightning, and dew.
Elijah thus, when he initially announces the drought, not only challenges Baal on behalf of God himself, but he also challenges Jezebel, her priests, Ahab and the people of Israel.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Kings|18:17-19|NRSV}}</ref>
[[File:Washington Allston - Elijah in the Desert - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|''Elijah in the wilderness'', by [[Washington Allston]]]]

==== Widow of Zarephath ====
{{main|Raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath}}
After Elijah's confrontation with Ahab, God tells him to flee out of Israel, to a hiding place by the brook [[Chorath]], east of the [[Jordan river|Jordan]], where he will be fed by [[Cultural depictions of ravens|raven]]s.<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17}}</ref><ref name=Peraea-etc>{{cite web |title=The Peraea and the Dead Sea |publisher=The Madaba Mosaic Map |url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources017.html |access-date=13 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727182851/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources017.html |archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref> When the brook dries up, God sends him to a widow living in the town of [[Sarepta|Zarephath]] in [[Phoenicia]].

When Elijah finds her, he asks her for some water and a piece of bread, but she says that she does not have sufficient food to keep her and her own son alive. Elijah tells her that God will not allow her supply of flour or oil to run out, saying, "Do not be afraid ... For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of flour will not be used up, and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land."<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17:13,14|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version''</ref> She feeds him the last of their food, and Elijah's promise miraculously comes true.

[[File:ElijahByLouisHersent.JPG|thumb|right|''Elijah reviving the Son of the Widow of [[Sarepta|Zarephath]]'' by [[Louis Hersent]]]]
Some time later the widow's son dies and the widow cries, "You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!"<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17:18|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version''.</ref> Elijah prays that God might restore her son so that the trustworthiness of God's word might be demonstrated, and "[God] listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived."<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17:22|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version''</ref> This is the first instance of raising the dead recorded in Scripture. The widow cried, "the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth."<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|17:24|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version.''</ref>

After more than three years of drought and famine, God tells Elijah to return to Ahab and announce the end of the drought. While on his way, Elijah meets [[Obadiah (1 Kings)|Obadiah]], the head of Ahab's household, who had hidden a hundred Jewish prophets from Jezebel's violent purge. Obadiah fears that when he reports to Ahab about Elijah's whereabouts, Elijah would disappear, provoking Ahab to execute him. Elijah reassures Obadiah and sends him to Ahab.

==== Challenge to Baal ====
[[File:Elijahwindow.jpg|thumb|Elijah's offering is consumed by fire from heaven in a stained glass window at [[St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church]] in Charleston, South Carolina.]]

When Ahab confronts Elijah, he denounces him as being the "troubler of Israel" but Elijah retorts that Ahab himself is the one who troubled Israel by allowing the worship of [[false god]]s ([[shedim]]).

At Elijah's instruction, Ahab summons the people of Israel, 450 prophets of Baal, and 400 prophets of [[Asherah]] to [[Mount Carmel]]. Elijah then berates the people for their acquiescence in Baal worship: "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the {{lord}} is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him."<ref>{{Bibleverse|1|Kings|18:21|NRSV}}</ref>

Elijah proposes a direct test of the powers of Baal and Yahweh (both Asherah and her prophets disappear from the story entirely): he and Baal's prophets will each take one of two bulls, prepare it for sacrifice and lay it on wood, but put no fire to it. The prophets of Baal choose and prepare a bull accordingly. Elijah then invites them to pray for fire to light the sacrifice. They pray from morning to noon without success. Elijah ridicules their efforts. "At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, 'Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.'"<ref>{{Bibleref2|1 Kings|18:27|NRSV}}</ref> They respond by shouting louder and slashing themselves with swords and spears. They continue praying until evening without success.

Elijah then repairs Yahweh's altar with twelve stones, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Elijah digs a trench around it and prepares the other bull for sacrifice as before. He then orders that the sacrifice and altar be drenched with water from "four large jars" poured three times, filling also the trench.<ref>{{Bibleverse|1|Kings|18:33–34|NIV}}</ref> He asks Yahweh to accept the sacrifice. Fire falls from the sky, consuming the sacrifice, the stones of the altar itself, the earth and the water in the trench as well. When the people see this, they declare, "The {{lord}}{{em dash}}he is God; the {{lord}}{{em dash}}he is God."<ref>{{Bibleverse|1|Kings|18:39|NIV}}</ref> Elijah then orders them to seize the prophets of Baal, which they do, and Elijah brings them down to the [[Kishon River|River Kishon]] and slays them, at which the rains begin, signaling the end of the famine.

==== Mount Horeb ====
[[Jezebel (Bible)|Jezebel]], enraged that Elijah has killed the prophets of Baal, threatens to kill him.<ref>{{Bibleverse|1|Kings|19:1–13|HE}}</ref> Elijah flees to [[Beersheba]] in [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], continues alone into the wilderness, and finally sits down under a shrub, praying for death and eventually falling asleep. At length an [[angel of the Lord]] rouses him gently, telling him to wake up and eat. When he awakens he finds bread and a jar of water, eats, drinks, and goes back to sleep. The angel then comes to him a second time, telling him to eat and drink afresh, because he has a long journey ahead of him.

Elijah travels for forty days and forty nights to [[Mount Horeb]],<ref name=EB1911>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Elijah |volume=9 |pages=273–274 |first1=William Robertson |last1=Smith |first2=Stanley Arthur |last2=Cook}}</ref> where [[Moses]] had received the [[Ten Commandments]]. Elijah is the only person described in the Bible as returning to Horeb, after Moses and his generation had left Horeb several centuries before. He seeks shelter in a [[Cave of Elijah|cave]]. Elijah is told to "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the {{lord}}, for the {{lord}} is about to pass by."<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|19:11|NIV}}</ref> There comes a mighty wind, then an earthquake and then fire, but Yahweh is not in any of these, choosing to come instead as a [[1 Kings 19#Elijah's meeting with God on Horeb (19:9–18)|still, small voice]], which bids Elijah go forth again - this time to [[Damascus]] to anoint [[Hazael]] as king of [[Aram-Damascus|Aram]], [[Jehu]] as king of [[Israel]], and [[Elisha]] as the old prophet’s successor.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:JPF-Cave Of Elijah.JPG|A statue of Elijah in the Cave of Elijah, [[Mount Carmel]], Israel
File:Elijah's cave P3160005.JPG|The Cave of Elijah, [[Mount Carmel]], Israel
</gallery>

==== Vineyard of Naboth ====
Elijah encounters Ahab again in 1 Kings 21, after Ahab has acquired possession of a vineyard by murder. Ahab desires to have the vineyard of [[Naboth]] of [[Jezreel (city)|Jezreel]]. He offers a better vineyard or a fair price for the land. But Naboth tells Ahab that God has told him not to part with the land. Ahab accepts this answer with sullen bad grace. Jezebel, however, plots a method for acquiring the land. She sends letters, in Ahab's name, to the elders and nobles who lived near Naboth. They are to arrange a feast and invite Naboth. At the feast, false charges of cursing God and Ahab are to be made against him. The plot is carried out and Naboth is stoned to death. When word comes that Naboth is dead, Jezebel tells Ahab to take possession of the vineyard.

God again speaks to Elijah and sends him to confront Ahab with a question and a prophecy: "Have you killed, and also taken possession?" and, "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood."<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings|21:19|NRSV}} ''New Revised Standard Version''</ref> Ahab begins the confrontation by calling Elijah his enemy. Elijah responds by throwing the charge back at him, telling him that he has made himself the enemy of God by his own actions. Elijah tells Ahab that his entire kingdom will reject his authority; that Jezebel will be eaten by dogs within Jezreel; and that his family will be consumed by dogs as well (if they die in a city) or by birds (if they die in the country). When Ahab hears this he repents so sincerely that God stays his hand in punishing Ahab, choosing instead to vent his wrath upon Jezebel and her son by Ahab, [[Ahaziah of Israel|Ahaziah]].

==== Ahaziah ====
[[File:094.Elijah Destroys the Messengers of Ahaziah.jpg|thumb|Elijah destroying the messengers of Ahaziah (illustration by [[Gustave Doré]] from the 1866 ''La Sainte Bible'')|278x278px]]
Elijah's story continues now from Ahab to an encounter with [[Ahaziah of Israel|Ahaziah]] ([[2 Kings 1]]). The scene opens with Ahaziah seriously injured in a fall. He sends to the priests of [[Beelzebub|Baalzebub]] in [[Ekron]], outside the kingdom of Israel, to know if he will recover. Elijah intercepts his messengers and sends them back to Ahaziah with a message "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?"<ref name=EB1911/><ref>{{Bibleverse|2|Kings|1:6|NRSV}}</ref> Ahaziah asks the messengers to describe the person who gave them this message. They tell him he was a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist and he instantly recognizes the description as Elijah the Tishbite.

Ahaziah sends out three groups of soldiers to arrest Elijah. The first two are destroyed by fire which Elijah calls down from heaven. The leader of the third group asks for mercy for himself and his men. Elijah agrees to accompany this third group to Ahaziah, where he gives his prophecy in person. Ahaziah dies without recovering from his injuries in accordance with Elijah's word.<ref>[[2 Kings 1:17]]</ref>

==== Departure ====
[[File:Elijah Taken Up in a Chariot of Fire E11219.jpg|thumb|223x223px|''Elijah Taken Up in a Chariot of Fire'' by [[Giuseppe Angeli]], c. 1740]]
[[File:Cattedrale di Anagni - 4211OP7488.jpg|thumb|Elijah's chariot in the whirlwind. Fresco, [[Anagni Cathedral]], c. 1250|224x224px]]
According to 2 Kings 2:3–9, [[Elisha]] (Eliseus) and "the sons of the prophets" knew beforehand that Elijah would one day be assumed into heaven. Elisha asked Elijah to "let a double portion" of Elijah's "spirit" be upon him. Elijah agreed, with the condition that Elisha would see him be "taken".

Elijah, in company with Elisha, approaches the Jordan. He rolls up his [[mantle (vesture)|mantle]] and strikes the water.<ref>{{Bibleverse|2|Kings|2:8|HE}}</ref> The water immediately divides and Elijah and Elisha cross on dry land. Suddenly, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appear<ref name=EB1911/> and Elijah is lifted up in a whirlwind. As Elijah is lifted up, his mantle falls to the ground and Elisha picks it up.

=== Books of Chronicles ===
{{Main|Books of Chronicles}}
Elijah is mentioned once more in 2 Chronicles 21:12, which will be his final mention in the Hebrew Bible. A letter is sent under the prophet's name to [[Jehoram of Judah]]. It tells him that he has led the people of Judah astray in the same way that Israel was led astray. The prophet ends the letter with a prediction of a painful death.

This letter is a puzzle to readers for several reasons. First, it concerns a king of the southern kingdom, while Elijah concerned himself with the kingdom of Israel. Second, the message begins with "Thus says YHVH, God of your father David..." rather than the more usual "...in the name of [[YHWH|YHVH]] the God of Israel." Also, this letter seems to come after Elijah's ascension into the whirlwind.<ref>{{Cite web |last=CERC |first=Super |title=Elijah |url=https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/elijah.html |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=www.catholiceducation.org |language=en-gb}}</ref>

Michael Wilcock, formerly of [[Trinity College, Bristol]], suggests a number of possible reasons for this letter, among them that it may be an example of a better known prophet's name being substituted for that of a lesser known prophet.<ref>Myers, J. M. ''The Anchor Bible: II Chronicles.'' Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1965. pp. 121–23.</ref> [[John Van Seters]], however, rejects the letter as having any connection with the Elijah tradition.<ref>VanSeters, John. "Elijah." In Jones, Lindsay. Editor in Chief. ''Encyclopedia of Religion.'' Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005. p. 2764.</ref> However, Wilcock argues that Elijah's letter "does address a very 'northern' situation in the southern kingdom", and thus is authentic.<ref>IVP New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition, p. 410.</ref>

=== In Malachi ===
While the final mention of Elijah in the Hebrew Bible is in the Book of Chronicles, the [[Christian Bible]]’s reordering places the Book of Malachi (which prophesies a messiah) as the final book of the [[Old Testament]], before the [[New Testament]] [[gospels]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Heb-Xn-Bibles.htm|title=Jewish and Christian Bibles: Comparative Chart|website=catholic-resources.org}}</ref> Thus, Elijah's final Old Testament appearance is in the Book of Malachi, where it is written, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."<ref>{{bibleref2|Malachi|4:5-6|NRSV}}, ''New Revised Standard Version''</ref>