ELIKA

the Israelitish law (Lv IS", Nu 368) ijg refvisea to sell hia property to the king. But Jezebel is equal to the occasion; at her suggestion false witnesses are bribed to swear that Naboth has cursed God and the king. The citizens, thus deceived, stone their fellow-townsman to death. Ahab, on his way to take possession of his ill-gotten estate, meets his old antagonist, who pronounces the judgment of God upon him: *In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine,' is the prophet's greet-ing. For Ahab's sins, every male child of his house will be swept off by an awful fate (1 K 21"- '^- "). By the ramparts of Jezreel itself, the dogs will devour the body of Jezebel (v.^^). These predictions, although delayed for a time on account of the repentance of Ahab, were aU fulfilled (1 K 2238, 2 K 9=5'- sot. IQW-).

Ahaziah is a true son of Ahab and Jezebel. Meeting with a serious accident, after his fall he sends a messenger to Ekron to inquire of Baal-zebub, the fly-god, concerning his recovery. Elijah intercepts the emissaries of the king, bidding them return to their master with this word from Jehovah: ' Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.' Ahaziah recognizes the author of this message, and sends three captains of fifties to capture the prophet, who calls down fire from heaven on the first two. ,' The third approaches him in a humble spirit, and at God's bidding Elijah accompanies the soldier to the palace and reiterates the message of doom (2 K 1^.

Like all the great events of hia life, the death of this great man of God was dramatic. Accompanied by his faithful follower Elisha, he passes from Bethel to Jericho, and from thence they cross the Jordan, after Elijah has parted the waters by striking them with his mantle. As they go on their way, buried in conversation, there suddenly appears a chariot of fire with horses of fire, which parts them asunder; and Elijah goes up by a whirlwind to heaven (cf. Elisha).

In the history of prophecy Elijah holds a prom-inent position. Prophetism had two important duties to perform: (1) to extirpate the worship of heathen deities in Israel, (2) to raise the religion of Jehovah to ethical purity. To the former of these two tasks Elijah addressed himself with zeal; the latter was left to his successors in the eighth century. In his battle against Baal, he struggled for the moral rights and freedom of man, and introduced 'the cate-gorical imperative into prophecy.' He started a move-ment which finally drove the Phoenician Baal from Israel's confines.

Elijah figures largely in later Scriptures; he is the harbinger of the Day of the Lord (Mai 4») ; in the NT he is looked upon as a type of the herald of God, and the prediction of his coming in the Messianic Age is fulfilled in the advent of John the Baptist (Mt ll'™). On the Mount of Transfiguration he appears as the representative of OT prophecy (Mt IT', Mk 9', Lk 98«). The prophet whose 'word burned like a torch' (Sir 48') was a favourite with the later Jews; a host of Rabbinical legends grew up around his name. According to the Rabbis, Elijah was to precede the Messiah, to restore families to purity, to settle controversies and legal disputes, and perform seven miracles (cf. JE, sm.\ Lightfoot, Har. Heb. onMt 17»°; Schoettgen, Hor. Heb. ii. S33 ff.). Origen mentions an apocryphal work. The Apocalypse of Elijah, and maintains that 1 Co 2» is a quotation from it. Elijah is found also in the Koran (vi. 85, xxxvii. 123-130), and many legends concerning him are current in Arabic literature.

2. A Benjamlte chief (1 Ch 8"). 3. 4. A priest and a layman who had married foreign wives (Ezr 10"- ").

James A. Kelso.

ELIKA.— One of David's 'Thirty' (2 S 23i»).

ELUyi. — One of the stations in the wanderings of the children of Israel (Ex 16", Nu 33«); apparently the fourth station after the passage of the Red Sea, and the first place where the IsraeUtes met with fresh water. It was also marked by an abundant growth of palm trees (cf. Ex 15", twelve wells and seventy palms). If the traditional site of Mt. Sinai be correct, the likeliest place for Elim is the Wady Gharandel, where there is a good

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deal of vegetation, especially stunted palms, and a number of water-holes in the sand ; but some travellers have pushed the site of Elim farther on, and placed it almost a day's journey nearer to Sinai, in the Wady Tayibeh, where there are again palm trees and a scanty supply of brackish water.

ELIMELECH.— The husband of Naomi and father of Mahlon and ChiUon, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-Judah (cf. 1 S 17"). He is spoken of as if he were the head of a clan in the tribe of Judah (cf. Ru 2i- '). This would be the Hezronites (1 Ch 2», cf. Gn 461^).

ELIOENAI.— 1. A Simeonite chief (1 Ch 4m). 2. A Benjamlte (1 Ch 7*). 3. A descendant of David who lived after the Exile (1 Ch 3». 24). 4. A son of Pashhur who had married a foreign wife (Ezr lO^^); called in 1 Es 922 Elionas. 5. A son of Zattu who had committed the same offence (Ezr 10^'); called in 1 Es Q^s Eliadas. 6. A priest (Neh 12").

ELIONAS.— 1. Es 922=Ezr 1022 Elioenai. 2. 1 Es 9'2=Ezr lO'i Eliezer.

ELIPHAL.— One of David's mighty men (1 Ch W^), called in 2 S 23^ Eliphelet.

ELIPHALAT.— 1. 1 Es 8M = Ezr 8" Eliphelet. 2. 1 Es 983=Ezr lO^a Eliphelet.

ELIPHAZ. — 1. Eliphaz appears in the Edomite genealogy of Gn 36 (and hence 1 Ch l^i) as son of Esau by Adah (vv. *■ 1°), and father of Amalek by his Horite concubine Timnah (w. 12. 22). 2. See Job [Book of).

ELIPHELEHU.— A doorkeeper (1 Ch IS's. Ji).

ELIPHELET.— 1. One of David's sons (2 S 5", 1 Ch 14' (AV Eliphalet), 1 Ch 3«- »= Elpelet of 1 Ch 14'). The double occurrence of the name in Chronicles, as if David had had two sons named Eliphelet, is probably due to a scribal error. 2. One of David's mighty men (2 S 23« = Eliphal of 1 Ch 11»). 3. A descendant of Jona-than (1 Ch 8"). 4. One of the sons of Adonikam who returned from exile (Ezr 81' = Eliphalat of 1 Es S^'). 5. A son of Hashum who had married a foreign wife (Ezr 10'8 = Eliphalat of 1 Es 9»).

ELISABETH.— The wife of Zacharias and mother of John the Baptist (Lk 1™). The Hebrew form of the name is Elisheba (Ex 6"). Elisabeth was of a priestly family, 'the kinswoman' of Mary (Lk 1»), whom she greeted as the mother of the Messiah (v.«).

J. G. Taskeb.

ELISEUS.— The AV form of Elisha (wh. see) in NT.

ELISHA, — EUsha was a native of Abel-meholah, which was situated in the Jordan valley 10 Roman miles from ScythopoUs, probably on the site of the modern ' Ain Helweh. His father was a well-to-do farmer, and so Elisha is a representative of the newer form of Hebrew society. On his return from Horeb, Elijah cast his mantle upon the youth, as he was direct-ing his father's servants at their ploughing. The young man at once recognized the call from God, and, after a hastily-devised farewell feast, he left the parental abode (1 K 19"- "), and ever after he was known as the man 'who poured water on the hands of EUjah' (2 K 3"). His devotion to, aivd his admiration for, his great master are apparent in the closing scenes of the latter's life. A double portiom. of Elijah's spirit (cf. the right of the firstborn to a double portion of the patrimony) is the summum bonvm which he craved. In order to receive this boon he must be a witness of the translation of the mighty hero\of Jehovah; and as Elijah is whirled away in the charidt of fire, his mantle falls upon his disciple, who Immediately makes use of it in parting the waters of the Jorfian. After Elisha has recrossed the river, he is greeted) by the sons of the prophets as their leader (2 K 2"). I

After this event it is impossible to r«duce the incidents