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ELIJAH

(Heb. ʾēlîyāhû)

A fiercely Yahwist prophet in the tradition of Moses. The Elijah cycle (1 Kgs. 17–19, 21; 2 Kgs. 1:1–2:18) is a collection of legends which circulated and were preserved within the prophetic community of which Elijah (“Yahweh is my God”) was a part, before being incorporated into the Deuteronomistic history. Portrayed as an individual of remarkable strength and energy, Elijah was active during the 9th century b.c.e. reign of King Ahab, politically one of the great rulers of the northern kingdom.

Having come from Gilead, east of the Jordan, where Yahwism had most likely preserved its separation from other cults, Elijah was appalled by the syncretism he encountered in Israel. Ahab’s wife Jezebel, a princess of Tyre, was a devotee of the Phoenician Baal. To make her feel at home, Ahab erected “a temple of Baal” in Samaria (1 Kgs. 16:32-33). The Canaanite fertility cult, ever a threat to Yahweh worship, now had a fanatical evangelist in Jezebel who imported a large number of Baal prophets from Phoenicia, supported them out of state funds (1 Kgs. 18:19), and began an enthusiastic campaign to make the Phoenician Baal the only deity of Israel. Although Ahab “served Baal a little” (2 Kgs. 10:18), he did not intend to reject Yahweh, as the names of his children — Ahaziah, Jehoram, Athaliah (all formed with the divine name, Yahweh) indicate. Rather, Ahab’s tolerant position was designed to allow his wife freedom of religion, just as Solomon had done with his foreign wives. But such collaborative, permissive ideas were incompatible with Yahweh’s claim for exclusive allegiance and led to the prophetic guilds’ trenchant criticism of the court’s “limping with two different opinions” (1 Kgs. 18:21). This was the prelude to a general persecution in which altars of Yahweh were torn down, prophets were killed, and loyal adherents were driven underground.

It was against this background of struggle between Yahwism and Baalism that Elijah appeared suddenly in Ahab’s court to announce, in the name of Yahweh, that there would be a paralyzing drought. Thus Elijah threw out a potent challenge to Baal in the arena of his expertise — fertility. Indeed, the crucial question behind all of the stories in 1 Kgs. 17 is, “Who has the power of life?” Although the worshippers of Baal believed their god was the possessor of that power, the series of vignettes in 1 Kgs. 17 is designed to show that the very power attributed to Baal is controlled by Israel’s God. It is Yahweh who has the power to assuage hunger (1 Kgs. 17:2-7, 8-16) and overcome death (vv. 9-24). It is noteworthy that Yahweh’s power is not confined to Israel. Rather, as Elijah’s replenishment of the food supply for the widow in Zarephath makes clear, Yahweh’s power extends to Phoenicia as well, the special preserve of Jezebel’s Baal. Further, while Baal’s concern is not with widows, but with the status quo, Yahweh defends the weak and gives life to those without social power.

As drought and famine devastated the country so that even the king was forced to scour the land for water and grass to keep the animals alive, Elijah received a divine order to confront Ahab again (1 Kgs. 18:1-18). After an angry exchange, the monarch agreed to a trial of strength between Elijah and Jezebel’s prophets of Baal and Asherah, i.e., between Yahweh and Baal. The description of the contest is one of the most dramatic biblical accounts. Meeting on Mt. Carmel, Elijah accused the people of syncretistic behavior, trying to keep one foot on Israel’s traditional path and the other in the worship of Baal (v. 21). Thus, the clear object of the contest was to determine who was really lord and controller of rain and fertility. The author delights in stressing the unevenness of the proceedings. After all, Elijah was outnumbered 450 to 1 (v. 22), and rain was Baal’s specialty. The scene on Mt. Carmel is dominated by the motifs of calling and answering, silence and responsiveness. Both parties agree to call on their deity, to perform their rites, with the understanding that “the god who answers by fire is indeed God” (v. 24). As Elijah satirically taunts their efforts, the Baal prophets rant, rave, and slash themselves (vv. 27-28). There is, however, “no voice, no answer, and no response” (v. 29). Then Elijah takes center stage, repairing an abandoned Yahweh altar and so reclaiming a cult site for Yahweh which had been under Phoenician control and used to stage Baal’s ritual dances. The prophet prepares his sacrifice and then commands the people to drench the altar with water, a priceless sacrifice during a drought (vv. 33-35). Elijah calls out to Yahweh, who responds by sending fire, the traditional symbol of God’s active historical presence, to consume the offering. Convinced by the spectacle, the people exclaim, “Yahweh indeed is God” (v. 39), and the Baal prophets are condemned to death (v. 40). It is important to note that the real climax of the narrative is the end of the drought (vv. 41-46). The descent of rain was proof that Yahweh, not Baal, controlled the productivity of the land and merited the people’s total allegiance. Although Yahweh’s resounding victory appeared definitive, royal policy was not swayed. A few years later there were enough Baal worshippers to fill a Baal temple (2 Kgs. 10:21).

When Jezebel heard of the outcome at Mt. Carmel, she swore an oath by the gods that she would do to Elijah what he had done to the Baal prophets (1 Kgs. 19:1-2). In fear, Elijah fled for his life, passing through Judah and beyond Beer-sheba into the wilderness. Broken and fatigued, Elijah fell asleep in the shade of a broom shrub, wondering how Yahweh could be sovereign when Jezebel’s power was undiminished (1 Kgs. 19:3-4). Touched by a messenger of God, Elijah was divinely provided with food, a sign that he had not been deserted by Yahweh. He was thus able to continue his journey for another “40 days and 40 nights,” i.e., a long time (1 Kgs. 19:5-8).

Elijah’s encounter with Yahweh at Horeb (1 Kgs. 19:9-19) is set off by an inclusion (“there” and “from there”), which highlights Elijah’s trip to and from the sacred space of Israel’s tradition. Although allusions to Moses pervade the account and seem to present Elijah as Moses redivivus — the place is the same, Horeb; the visitation is accompanied by earthquake, wind, and fire, the traditional phenomena of Yahweh’s revelation on the sacred mountain (Exod. 19) — it is also possible to see polemical motifs at work here. The prophet flees to Horeb, which is located in the south of Palestine, far away from Baal’s domain on Mt. Casius (Spn) in the north. Thus, Elijah announces that Spn is not the center for divine inspiration. Further, although wind, earthquake, and fire accompany Yahweh’s theophany, the deity is not in those violent elements. Unlike his rival, the storm-god Baal, Yahweh possesses all the attributes of a storm-god, but is not part of nature, rather above it and controlling it.

Yahweh’s words to Elijah take the form of a pronouncement that has been variously translated as “a low, muttering sound,” “the soft whisper of a voice,” “a sound of sheer silence,” “a still, small voice” (1 Kgs. 19:12). In complete contrast to the thunderous storm-god, Yahweh’s was a quiet speech that could be heard only if one devoted oneself to listening for it. Yahweh commissions Elijah to anoint Hazael king of Damascus, Jehu king of Israel, and Elisha his successor (1 Kgs. 19:15-18). Although Elijah performs only one of the three commissionings (1 Kgs. 19:19-21), their mention here makes it clear that because Yahweh acts in the sphere of history, the prophets cannot hide from those places where history is being made. They may journey back to Horeb for inspiration, but they are summoned to take their stand in the current situations in which the people of God find themselves.

The well-known story of Naboth’s vineyard is told as the setting for Elijah’s curse on King Ahab and his house (1 Kgs. 21:1-29). Here the clash between Yahwism and the Baal cult is seen in opposing views of kingship and social relationships. Naboth, whose vineyard Ahab wants, insists that he does not have the freedom to sell the inheritance of his ancestors. Although Ahab apparently accepts Naboth’s right of refusal, it is Jezebel’s appearance on the scene that brings a turning point. Her Baal religion placed no limitations on the exercise of royal power. Indeed, she viewed the king in oriental fashion as an absolute despot with rights to take whatever he wanted, including land. Thus, when Ahab refuses to assert himself, Jezebel takes the matter into her own hands. In Ahab’s name she orders a fast (something done only during a time of crisis) in Naboth’s town. Two scoundrels bring trumped-up charges against Naboth, that he “cursed God and the king” (v. 10), a particularly heinous crime since it was believed that the spoken word was immediately effective. To wipe out the curse, Naboth is executed (v. 13) and Ahab takes over the vineyard he covets (v. 16). Directed by Yahweh, Elijah meets Ahab at the vineyard and proclaims that such behavior is condemned by God. Divine judgment is pronounced that will eventually destroy Ahab’s house (vv. 21ff.).

It is interesting to note that according to 2 Kgs. 9:21-26, Ahab and not Jezebel was originally considered responsible for Naboth’s death. It has been suggested that during Nehemiah and Ezra’s fight against intermarriage (5th-4th centuries b.c.e.), responsibility was shifted from Ahab to Jezebel (1 Kgs. 21), the seductive, foreign woman, and through her all foreign women were stigmatized.

In the Baal cult, which supported the status quo with the aristocracy on top, there were no safeguards against a rapacious social policy of the strong against the weak. Elijah, however, proclaimed a deity who upholds a covenant community in which every person, rich or poor, king or commoner, stands equally before the law.

The Elijah cycle of stories ends with the prophet’s being taken up to heaven by a whirlwind, while horses and chariots of fire interpose between Elijah and his chosen successor, Elisha (2 Kgs. 2:1-18). Set between the obituary of King Ahaziah (2 Kgs. 1:17-18) and the accession of Jehoram (3:1-3), the narrative seems cut off from the usual flow of history. Its locale, across the Jordan which Elijah miraculously parts by striking it with his mantle, is also portrayed as removed from the ordinary world. The prophets of Jericho who were following Elijah and Elisha do not make the crossing. As during his life Elijah was depicted as an elusive wanderer, appearing and disappearing at a moment’s notice, so at the end it was told that he vanished, carried heavenward by fiery horses and a chariot. The watching Elisha was left empowered. He was given the legacy of a firstborn son, a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit as well as the prophet’s mantle which Elisha also uses to part the Jordan and so re-enter the historical sphere where the waiting prophets recognize him as their new leader (2 Kgs. 2:19-25).

The mystery of Elijah’s translation clearly made a profound impression on Israel’s imagination. Indeed, that Elijah was supposed not to have experienced death like ordinary people sets the foundation for the growing role he was to play in later OT, intertestamental, and NT traditions. Thus, in Mal. 4:5-6(MT 3:23-24), Elijah was expected to return as the forerunner of the coming Day of Yahweh. He was expected to reconcile humankind (Mal. 4:6[3:24]) and to come forth from the heavenly chambers “to restore the tribes of Jacob” (Sir. 48:10). In the early Christian community, Elijah was the acknowledged precursor of the Messiah (Mark 6:14-15; 8:27-28; Matt. 16:13-14; Luke 9:7-8). Jesus was thought to be Elijah by some (Matt. 16:14), and John the Baptist was asked whether he was Elijah (John 1:21, 25). Along with Moses, Elijah appears at Jesus’ transfiguration (Mark 9:4; Matt. 17:3; Luke 9:30), suggesting a tradition of two messianic forerunners (Mark 9:4-5; Rev. 11:3). In the Epistle of James, Elijah, “a human being like us,” is proposed as a model of prayer (Jas. 5:17).

Bibliography. L. Bronner, The Stories of Elijah and Elisha. Pretoria Oriental Series 6 (Leiden, 1968); W. Brueggemann, A Social Reading of the Old Testament (Minneapolis, 1994); J. Jeremias, “ªl(e)ías,” TDNT 2:928-41; A. Rofé, “The Vineyard of Naboth: The Origin and Message of the Story,” VT 38 (1988): 89-104.

Beth Glazier-McDonald

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ELIJAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)