ELIEL

head of a family of exiles that returned (Ezr 8*) ; called in 1 Es 8S1 Eliaonias.

ELIEL.— 1. A Korahite (1 Ch e"), prob. = Eliab of V." and Elihu of 1 S 1'. 2. 3. 4. Mighty men in the service of David (lChH«" 12"). 5. A chief of eastern Manasseh (1 Ch S^*). 6. 7. Two Benjamite chiefs (1 Ch 820. 22), 8. A Levite mentioned in connexion with the removal of the ark from the house of Obed-edom (1 Ch 15'- "). 9. A Levite in time of Hezekiah (2 Ch 31").

ELIENAI.— A Benjamite (1 Ch S^').

ELIEZEB (cf. Eleazas).— 1. Abraham's chief ser-vant, a Damascene (Gn IS^ AV, RVm. The con-struction here is difficult, but the words can hardly be rendered as a double proper name as RV, ' Dammesek Eliezer.' Whatever the exact construction, the words, unless there is a corruption in the text, must be intended to suggest that Eliezer was in some way connected with Damascus). This same Eliezer is prob. the servant referred to in Gn. 24. 2. A son of Moses by Zipporah;%o named to commemorate the deliverance of Moses from Pharaoh (Ex 18', 1 Ch 23«- "). 3. The son of Becher, a Benjamite (1 Ch 7'). 4. The son of Zichri, captain of the tribe of Reuben in David's reign (1 Ch 27").

5. The son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, who prophesied the destruction of the fleet of ships which Jehoshaphat built in co-operation with Ahaziah (2 Ch 20^'). 6. One of the 'chief men' whom Ezra sent to Casiphia to find Levltes and Nethinim to join the expedition to Jerusalem (Ezr S'"- [=1 Es 8" Eleazar]). 7. 8. 9. A priest, a Levite, and a son of Harim, who had married 'strange women' (Ezr lO's- [=1 Es Q" Eleazar] ^s- " [=lEs9^Elionas]). 10. One of the priests appointed to blow with the trumpets before the ark of God when David brought it from the house of Obed-edom to Jerus. (lChl5!M). 11. ALevite(lCh26»). 12. An ancestor of our Lord (Lk 3").

ELIHOREFH.— One of Solomon's scribes (1 K 4').

ELIHU.— 1. An ancestor of Samuel (1 S l'); called In 1 Ch 6» Eliel, and In 1 Ch 6" Eliab. 2. A variation in 1 Ch 2718 jor Eliab, David's eldest son (1 S 16«). 3. A Manassite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Ch 122"). 4. A Korahite porter (1 Ch 26'). 5. See Job [Book of].

6. An ancestor of Judith (Jth 8'). ELIJAH. — 1. Elijah, the weirdest figure among the

prophets of Israel, steps across the threshold of history when Ahab is on the throne (c. B.C. 876-854), and is last seen in the reign of Ahaziah (854-853), although a posthumous activity is attributed to him in 2 Ch 21'^-. A native of Thisbe in Gilead (1 K 17'), he appears on the scene unheralded ; not a single hint is given as to his birth and parentage. A rugged Bedouin In his hairy mantle (2 K 1'), Elijah appears as a representative of the nomadic stage of Hebrew civilization. He is a veritable incarnation of the austere morals and the purer religion of an earlier period. His name ('Jah is God') may be regarded as the motto of his life, and expresses the aim of his mission as a prophet. Ahab had brought on a religious crisis in Israel by marrying Jezebel, a daughter of the Tyrian king Ethbaal, who, prior to his assuming royal purple, had been a priest of Melkart, the Tyrian Baal, and in order to ascend the throne had stained his hand with his master's blood. True to her early training and environment, Jezebel not only persuaded her husband to build a temple to Baal in Samaria (1 K le'^), but became a zealous propa-gandist, and developed into a cruel persecutor of the prophets and followers of Jehovah. The foreign deity, thus supported by the throne, threatened to crush all allegiance to Israel's national God in the hearts of the people.

Such was the situation, when Elijah suddenly appeals before Ahab as the champion of Jehovah. The hearts of the apostate king 9.nd people are to be chastened by a drought (17^). It lasts three years; according to a state-ment of Menander ciuoted by Josephus {Ant. viii, xiii. 2),

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ELIJAH

in the reign of Ithobal, the Biblical Ethbaal, Phoenicia suffered from a terrible drought, which lasted one year. Providence first guides the stern prophet to the brook Cherith iWady Kelt in the vicinity of Jericho), where the ravens supply him with food. Soon the stream becomes a bed of stones, and Elijah flees to Zarephath in the territory of Zidon. As the guest of a poor widow, he brings blessings to the household (cf. Lk i\ Ja 5"). The barrel of meal did not waste, and the cruse of oil did not fail. Like the Great Prophet of the NT, he brings gladness to the heart of a bereaved mother by restoring her son to life (1 K it**-, of. Lk 7'").

The heavens have been like brass for months upon months, and vegetation has disappeared. The hearts of Ahab's sub-jects have been mellowed, and many are ready to return to their old allegiance. The time is ripe for action, and Elijah throws down the gauntlet to Baal and his foUowere. Ahab and his chief steward, Obadiah, a devoted follower of the true God, are traversing the land in different directions in search of grass for the royal stables, when the latter en-counters thestrange figure of Jehovah's relentless champion. Obadiah, after considerable hesitation and reluctance, is persuaded by the prophet to announce him to the king (1 K 18'-i5). As the two meet, we have the firat skirmish of the battle. 'Art thou he that troubleth Israel?' is the monarch's greeting: but the prophet's reply puts the matter in a true light; 'I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house.' At Elijah's suggestion the prophets of Baal are summoned to Carmel to a trial by fire. The priests of the Tyrian deity, termed 'prophets' because they practised the mantic art, select a bullock and lay it upon an altar without kindling the wood. From mom till noon, and from noon till dewy eve, they cry to Baal for fire, but all in vain. Elijah cuts them to the quick with his biting sarcasm: 'Cry aloud; for he is a §od: either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or per-adventure he sleepeth and must be awaked.' Towards evening a dismantled altar of Jehovah is repaired, and a trench is dug round it. After the sacrificial animal has been prepared, and laid upon the wood, water is poured over it, until everythingabout the altaris thoroughly soaked and the trench is full. At the prayer of Elijah, fire falls from heaven, devouring the wood, stone, and water as well as the victim. The people are convinced, and shout, 'Jehovah, he is God; Jehovan, he is God.' That evening, Kishon's flood, as of old (Jg S^O, is red with the blood of Jehovah's enemies. The guilt of the land has been atoned for, and the long hoped for rain arrives. Elijah, in spite of his dignified position, runs before the chariot of Ahab, indicating that ne is willing to serve the king as well as lead Jehovah's people (1 K 18^1"'^). The fanatical and implacable Jezebel now threatens the life of the prophet who has dared to put her minions to death. Jehovah's successful champion loses heart, and flees toBeer-sheba on the extreme south of Judah. Leaving his servant, he plimges alone into the desert a day's journey. Now comes the reaction, so natural after an achievement like that on Carmel, and Elijah prays that he may be permitted to die. Instead of granting his request, God sends an angel who ministers to the prophet's physical needs. On the strength of that food he journeys forty days until he reaches Horeb, where he receives a new revelation of Jehovah (1 K 19i;8). Elijah takes refuge in a cave, perhaps the same in which Moses hid (Ex 33^), and hears the voice of Jehovah,' What doest thou here, Elijah?' The prophet repUes, 'I have been very jealous for Jehovah, God of Hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.' Then Jehovah reveals His omnipotence in a great wind, earthquake, and fire; but we read that Jehovah was not in these. Then followed a still small voice (Heb. lit. 'a sound of gentle stillness'), in which God made known His true nature and His real purpose (1 K 19^-"). After hearing his complaint, Jehovah gives His faithful servant a threefold commission: Hazael is to be anointed king of Syria, Jehu of Israel; and Elisha is to be his successor in the prophetic order. Elijah is further encouraged with information that there are still 7000 in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal (1 K 19" "). As far as we know, only the last of these three commissions was executed by the prophet himself, who, after this sublime incident, made his headquarters in the wilderness of Damascus (v.") ; the other two were carried out either by Elisha or by members of the prophetic guilds (2 K 8™- 9").

Elijah is also the champion of that civic righteousness which Jehovah loved and enjoined on His people. Naboth owns a vineyard in the vicinity of Jezreel. In the spirit of