Elijah

3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Elijah
       n : a Hebrew prophet in the Old Testament who opposed the
           worship of idols; he was persecuted for rebuking Ahab and
           Jezebel (king and queen of Israel); he was taken up to
           heaven in a chariot of fire (circa 9th century BC)



From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Elijah
     whose God is Jehovah. (1.) "The Tishbite," the "Elias" of the
     New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings
     17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is
     mention made of a town called Thisbe, south of Kadesh, but it is
     impossible to say whether this was the place referred to in the
     name given to the prophet.
     
       Having delivered his message to Ahab, he retired at the
     command of God to a hiding-place by the brook Cherith, beyond
     Jordan, where he was fed by ravens. When the brook dried up God
     sent him to the widow of Zarephath, a city of Zidon, from whose
     scanty store he was supported for the space of two years. During
     this period the widow's son died, and was restored to life by
     Elijah (1 Kings 17: 2-24).
     
       During all these two years a famine prevailed in the land. At
     the close of this period of retirement and of preparation for
     his work (comp. Gal. 1:17, 18) Elijah met Obadiah, one of Ahab's
     officers, whom he had sent out to seek for pasturage for the
     cattle, and bade him go and tell his master that Elijah was
     there. The king came and met Elijah, and reproached him as the
     troubler of Israel. It was then proposed that sacrifices should
     be publicly offered, for the purpose of determining whether Baal
     or Jehovah were the true God. This was done on Carmel, with the
     result that the people fell on their faces, crying, "The Lord,
     he is the God." Thus was accomplished the great work of Elijah's
     ministry. The prophets of Baal were then put to death by the
     order of Elijah. Not one of them escaped. Then immediately
     followed rain, according to the word of Elijah, and in answer to
     his prayer (James 5:18).
     
       Jezebel, enraged at the fate that had befallen her priests of
     Baal, threatened to put Elijah to death (1 Kings 19:1-13). He
     therefore fled in alarm to Beersheba, and thence went alone a
     day's journey into the wilderness, and sat down in despondency
     under a juniper tree. As he slept an angel touched him, and said
     unto him, "Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for
     thee." He arose and found a cake and a cruse of water. Having
     partaken of the provision thus miraculously supplied, he went
     forward on his solitary way for forty days and forty nights to
     Horeb, the mount of God, where he took up his abode in a cave.
     Here the Lord appeared unto him and said, "What dost thou here,
     Elijah?" In answer to his despondent words God manifests to him
     his glory, and then directs him to return to Damascus and anoint
     Hazael king over Syria, and Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to
     be prophet in his room (1 Kings 19:13-21; comp. 2 Kings 8:7-15;
     9:1-10).
     
       Some six years after this he warned Ahab and Jezebel of the
     violent deaths they would die (1 Kings 21:19-24; 22:38). He
     also, four years afterwards, warned Ahaziah (q.v.), who had
     succeeded his father Ahab, of his approaching death (2 Kings
     1:1-16). (See {NABOTH}.) During these intervals he
     probably withdrew to some quiet retirement, no one knew where.
     His interview with Ahaziah's messengers on the way to Ekron, and
     the account of the destruction of his captains with their
     fifties, suggest the idea that he may have been in retirement at
     this time on Mount Carmel.
     
       The time now drew near when he was to be taken up into heaven
     (2 Kings 2:1-12). He had a presentiment of what was awaiting
     him. He went down to Gilgal, where was a school of the prophets,
     and where his successor Elisha, whom he had anointed some years
     before, resided. Elisha was solemnized by the thought of his
     master's leaving him, and refused to be parted from him. "They
     two went on," and came to Bethel and Jericho, and crossed the
     Jordan, the waters of which were "divided hither and thither"
     when smitten with Elijah's mantle. Arrived at the borders of
     Gilead, which Elijah had left many years before, it "came to
     pass as they still went on and talked" they were suddenly
     separated by a chariot and horses of fire; and "Elijah went up
     by a whirlwind into heaven, "Elisha receiving his mantle, which
     fell from him as he ascended.
     
       No one of the old prophets is so frequently referred to in the
     New Testament. The priests and Levites said to the Baptist (John
     1:25), "Why baptizest thou, if thou be not that Christ, nor
     Elias?" Paul (Rom. 11:2) refers to an incident in his history to
     illustrate his argument that God had not cast away his people.
     James (5:17) finds in him an illustration of the power of
     prayer. (See also Luke 4:25; 9:54.) He was a type of John the
     Baptist in the sternness and power of his reproofs (Luke 9:8).
     He was the Elijah that "must first come" (Matt. 11:11, 14), the
     forerunner of our Lord announced by Malachi. Even outwardly the
     Baptist corresponded so closely to the earlier prophet that he
     might be styled a second Elijah. In him we see "the same
     connection with a wild and wilderness country; the same long
     retirement in the desert; the same sudden, startling entrance on
     his work (1 Kings 17:1; Luke 3:2); even the same dress, a hairy
     garment, and a leathern girdle about the loins (2 Kings 1:8;
     Matt. 3:4)."
     
       How deep the impression was which Elijah made "on the mind of
     the nation may be judged from the fixed belief, which rested on
     the words of Malachi (4:5, 6), which many centuries after
     prevailed that he would again appear for the relief and
     restoration of the country. Each remarkable person as he arrives
     on the scene, be his habits and characteristics what they may,
     the stern John equally with his gentle Successor, is proclaimed
     to be Elijah (Matt. 11:13, 14; 16:14; 17:10; Mark 9:11; 15:35;
     Luke 9:7, 8; John 1:21). His appearance in glory on the mount of
     transfiguration does not seem to have startled the disciples.
     They were 'sore afraid,' but not apparently surprised."
     
       (2.) The Elijah spoken of in 2 Chr. 21:12-15 is by some
     supposed to be a different person from the foregoing. He lived
     in the time of Jehoram, to whom he sent a letter of warning
     (comp. 1 Chr. 28:19; Jer. 36), and acted as a prophet in Judah;
     while the Tishbite was a prophet of the northern kingdom. But
     there does not seem any necessity for concluding that the writer
     of this letter was some other Elijah than the Tishbite. It may
     be supposed either that Elijah anticipated the character of
     Jehoram, and so wrote the warning message, which was preserved
     in the schools of the prophets till Jehoram ascended the throne
     after the Tishbite's translation, or that the translation did
     not actually take place till after the accession of Jehoram to
     the throne (2 Chr. 21:12; 2 Kings 8:16). The events of 2 Kings 2
     may not be recorded in chronological order, and thus there may
     be room for the opinion that Elijah was still alive in the
     beginning of Jehoram's reign.
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Elijah, God the Lord, the strong Lord