No background for the person of Elijah is given except for his brief characterization as a Tishbite. 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." 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. Under Ahab's kingship tensions exacerbated. These solutions brought security and economic prosperity to Israel for a time, but did not bring peace with the Israelite prophets, who advocated a strict deuteronomic interpretation of the religious law. 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. 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 Levites, and allowing or encouraging temples dedicated to Baal, an important deity in ancient Canaanite religion. Īccording to the Bible, by the 9th century BC, the Kingdom of Israel, once united under Solomon, had been divided into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah (which retained the historical capital of Jerusalem along with its Temple). ĭue to his importance to Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians, Elijah has been venerated as the patron saint of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1752.īiblical accounts Map of Israel as it was in the 9th century BC. According to accounts in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, Elijah appeared with Moses during the Transfiguration of Jesus.Įlijah in Islam appears in the Quran as a prophet and messenger of God, where his biblical narrative of preaching against the worshipers of Baal is recounted in a concise form. The Christian New Testament notes that some people thought that Jesus was, in some sense, Elijah, but it also makes clear that John the Baptist is "the Elijah" who was promised to come in Malachi 3:1 4:5. According to some Jewish interpretations, Elijah will return during the End of Times. He appears in numerous stories and references in the Haggadah and rabbinic literature, including the Babylonian Talmud. In Judaism, Elijah's name is invoked at the weekly Havdalah rite that marks the end of Shabbat, and Elijah is invoked in other Jewish customs, among them the Passover Seder and the brit milah (ritual circumcision). References to Elijah appear in Sirach, the New Testament, the Mishnah and Talmud, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, and Baháʼí writings. The Book of Malachi prophesies Elijah's return "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the L ORD," making him a harbinger of the Messiah and of the eschaton in various faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible. God also performed many miracles through Elijah, including resurrection, bringing fire down from the sky, and entering heaven alive "by fire." He is also portrayed as leading a school of prophets known as "the sons of the prophets." Following his ascension, Elisha, his disciple and most devoted assistant, took over his role as leader of this school. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worship of the Hebrew God over that of the Canaanite deity Baal. Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of AkkaĮlijah ( / ɪ ˈ l aɪ dʒ ə/ il- EYE-jə Hebrew: אֵלִיָּהוּ, romanized: ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh / YHWH" Greek form: Elias / ɪ ˈ l aɪ ə s/ il- EYE-əs) was, according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC).
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