Elijah

Elijah (?????????? "Whose/my God is the Lord", Standard Hebrew Eliyyáhu, Tiberian Hebrew ??liyy?hû), also Elias (NT Greek ?????), is a prophet of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. His name has been variously translated as "whose God is the Lord", "God the Lord", "the strong Lord", "God of the Lord", "my God is the Lord", "the Lord is my God", and "my God is Jehovah".

New Testament references

No one of the old prophets is so frequently referred to in the New Testament. The priests and Levites said to John the Baptist (John 1:25), "Why baptizest thou, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias?" Paul (Romans 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.)

Related Topics:
New Testament - Levites - John the Baptist - John - Paul - Romans - James - Luke

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Elijah was similar to John the Baptist in the sternness and power of his reproofs (Luke 9:8). According to Matthew 11:11, he was the Elijah that "must first come" (Matt. 11:11, 14). In John the Baptist one can see 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; )."

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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.

Related Topics:
Malachi - Mark

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Some Christian theologians of a conservative, pre-millennial perspective believe that Elijah must return to physically die here on earth eventually. This plays into many eschatological scenarios. Conservatives who come from amillennial or preterist positions would probably see John the Baptist as a fulfillment of this expectation, in the time of Jesus. Christian theologians of a more liberal persuasion would tend to interpret Elijah's eschatological significance in a less literal sense.

Related Topics:
Eschatological - Amillennial - Preterist - John the Baptist

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