Which tribe did elijah come from

Then, penetrating the dead silence which followed these manifestations, came the fourth mysterious symbol — "the still small voice. To him, no less unmistakably than to Moses centuries before, it was proclaimed that Jehovah was "merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. It is in the same words as before, and so is his answer; but with what different force must the question have fallen on his ears, and the answer left his lips!

He had thought that the earthquake, the fire, the wind, must be the great witnesses of the Lord. But He was not in them; not they, but the still small voice had that awe in it which forced the prophet to cover his face with his mantle. What a conclusion of all the past history! What an interpretation of its meaning! Not in the persecutions of Ahab and Jezebel, nor in the slaughter of the prophets of Baal, but in the unknown worshippers who had not bowed the knee to Baal, was the assurance that Elijah was not alone as he had seemed to be.

Three commands were laid on him — three changes were to be made. Instead of Ben-hadad, Hazael was to be king of Syria; instead of Ahab, Jehu the son of Nimshi was to be king of Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat was to be his own successor.

These per. Of these three commands, the first two were reserved for Elisha to accomplish; the last only was executed by Elijah himself. It would' almost seem as if his late trials had awakened in him a yearning for that affection and companionship which had hitherto been denied him.

His first search was for Elisha. Apparently he soon found him; we must conclude at his native place, Abel-meholah, probably somewhere about the center of the Jordan valley. Elisha was ploughing at the time, and Elijah "passed over to him" — possibly crossed the river — and, without uttering a sword, cast his mantle, the well-known sheepskin cloak, upon him, as if, by that familiar action which was also a symbol of official investiture , claiming him for his son.

A moment of hesitation — but the call was quickly accepted; and then commenced that long period of service and intercourse which continued till Elijah's removal, and which after that time procured for Elisha one of his best titles to esteem and reverence — "Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.

For about six years from this calling of Elisha we find no notice in the sacred history of Elijah, till God sent him once again to pronounce sore judgments upon Ahab and Jezebel for the murder of unoffending Naboth 1Ki , etc.

How he and his associate in the prophetic office employed themselves during this time we are not told. We may conceive, however, that they were much engaged in prayer for their country, and in imparting knowledge in the schools of the prophets, which were at Jericho and Beth-el.

Ahab and Jezebel now probably believed that their threats had been effectual, and that they had seen the last of their tormentor. At any rate, this may be inferred from the events of chapter Foiled in his wish to acquire the ancestral plot of ground of Naboth by the refusal of that sturdy peasant to alienate the inheritance of his fathers, Ahab and Jezebel proceed to possess themselves of it by main force, and by a degree of monstrous injustice which shows clearly enough how far the elders of Jezreel had forgotten the laws of Jehovah, how perfect was their submission to the will of their mistress.

At her orders Naboth is falsely accused of blaspheming God and the king, is with his sons 2Ki ; romp. Jos stoned and killed, and his vineyard then — as having belonged to a criminal-becomes at once the property of the king. Ahab loses no time in entering on his new acquisition. Apparently the very next day after the execution he proceeds in his chariot to take possession of the coveted vineyard. Behind him — probably in the back part of the chariot — ride his two pages Jehu and Bidkar 2Ki But the triumph was a short one.

Elijah had received an intimation from Jehovah of what was taking place, and rapidly as the accusation and death of Naboth had been hurried over, he was there to meet his ancient enemy, and as an enemy he does meet him — as David went out to meet Goliath — on the very scene of his crime; suddenly, when least expected and least wished for, he confronts the miserable king.

Then follows the curse, in terms fearful to any Oriental — peculiarly terrible to a Jew, and most of all significant to a successor of the apostate princes of the northern kingdom — "I will take away thy posterity; I will cut off from thee even thy very dogs; I will make thy house like that of Jeroboam and Baasha; thy blood shall be shed in the same spot where the blood of thy victims was shed last night; thy wife and thy children shall be torn in this very garden by the wild dogs of the city, or as common carrion devoured by the birds of the sky" — the large vultures which in Eastern climes are always wheeling aloft under the clear blue sky, and doubtless suggested the expression to the prophet.

How tremendous was this Scene we may gather from the fact that after the lapse of at least twenty years Jehu was able to recall the very words of the prophet's burden, to which he ,and his companion had listened as they stood behind their master in the chariot.

The whole of Elijah's denunciation may possibly be recovered by putting together the words recalled by Jehu, 2Ki ,36,7, and those given in 1Ki Fearing that these predictions would prove true, as those about the rain and fire had done, Ahab now assumed the manner of a penitent; and, though subsequent acts proved the insincerity of his repentance, yet God rewarded his temporary abasement by a temporary arrest of judgment.

We see, however, in after parts of this sacred history, how the judgments denounced against him, his abandoned consort, and children took effect to the very letter.

A space of three or four years now elapses compare 1Ki ,51; 2Ki before we again catch a glimpse of Elijah. The denunciations uttered in the vineyard of Naboth have been ,partly fulfilled. Ahab is dead, and his son and successor, Ahaziah, has met with a serious accident, after a troubled reign of less than two years 2Ki ; 1Ki Fearing a fatal result, as if to prove himself a worthy son of an idolatrous parentage, he sends to an oracle or shrine of Baal at the Philistine town of Ekron to ascertain the issue of his illness.

But the oracle is nearer at hand than the distant Ekron. An intimation is conveyed to the prophet, probably at that time inhabiting one of the recesses of Carmel, and, as on the former occasions, he suddenly appears on the path of the messengers, without preface or inquiry utters his message of death, and as rapidly disappears.

The tone of his words is as national on this as on any former occasion, and, as before, they are authenticated by the name of Jehovah — "Thus saith Jehovah, Is it because there is no God in Israel that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron? They were possibly strangers; at any rate they were ignorant of the name of the man who had thus interrupted their journey. But his appearance had fixed itself in their minds, and their description at once told Ahaziah, who must have seen the prophet about his father's court or have heard him described in the harem, who it was that had thus reversed the favorable oracle which he was hoping for from Ekron.

But, ill as he was, this check only roused the wrath of Ahaziah, and, with the spirit of his mother, he at once seized the opportunity of possessing himself of the person of the man who had been for so long the evil genius of his house.

A captain was dispatched, with a party of fifty, to take Elijah prisoner. The officer approached and addressed the prophet by the title which, as before noticed, is most frequently applied to him and Elisha — "O man of God, the king hath spoken: come down.

And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. The altered tone of the leader of a third party, and the assurance of God that his servant need not fear, brought Elijah down.

But the king gained nothing. The message was delivered to his face in the same words as it had been to the messengers, and Elijah, so we must conclude, was allowed to go harmless. This was his last interview with the house of Ahab.

It was also his last recorded appearance in person against the Baal-worshippers. It was this occasion to which the fiery sons of Zebedee alluded Lu in a proposal that brought out from the lips of the Savior the contrast with his own benign mission Trench, Miracles, chapter 4.

It must have been shortly after the death of Ahaziah that Elijah made a communication with the southern kingdom. It is the only one of which any record remains, and its mention is the first and last time that the name of the prophet appears in the Books of Chronicles.

Mainly devoted, as these books are, to the affairs of Judah, this is not surprising. The alliance between his enemy Ahab and Jehoshaphat cannot have been unknown to the prophet, and it must have made him regard the proceedings of the kings of Judah with more than ordinary interest. This letter has been considered as a great difficulty, on the ground that Elijah's removal must have taken place before the death of Jehoshaphat from the terms of the mention of Elisha in 2Ki , and therefore before the accession of Joram to the throne of Judah.

But, admitting that Elijah had been translated before the expedition of Jehoshaphat against Moab, it does not follow that Joram was not at that time, and before his father's death, king of Judah, Jehoshaphat occupying himself during the last eight or ten years of his life in going about the kingdom 2Ch , and in conducting some important wars, amongst others that in question against Moab, while Joram was concerned with the more central affairs of the government 2Ki , etc.

That Joram began to reign during the lifetime of his father Jehoshaphat is stated in 2Ki According to one record 2Ki , which immediately precedes the account of Elijah's last acts on earth, Joram was actually on the throne of Judah at the time of Elijah's interview with Ahaziah; and though this is modified by the statements of other places 2Ki ; 2Ki , yet it is not invalidated, and the conclusion is almost inevitable that Joram ascended the throne as viceroy or associate some years before the death of his father.

The ancient Jewish commentators get over the apparent difficulty by saying that the letter was written and sent after Elijah's translation. Others believed that it was the production of Elisha, for whose name that of Elijah had been substituted by copyists. The first of these requires no answer.

To the second, the severity of its tone, as above noticed, is a sufficient reply. Josephus Ant. See Lightfoot, Chronicle, etc. In its contents the letter bears a strong resemblance to the speeches of Elijah, while in the details of style it is very peculiar, and quite different from the narrative in which it is imbedded Bertheau, Chronik, ad loc.

The prophet's warfare being now accomplished on earth, God, whom he had so long and so faithfully served, will translate him in a special manner to heaven. Conscious of this, he determines to spend his last moments in imparting divine instruction to, and pronouncing his last benediction upon, the students in the colleges of Bethel and Jericho; accordingly, he made a circuit in this region 2Ki , etc. It was at Gilgal q. He was at the time with Elisha, who seems now to have become his constant companion.

Perhaps his old love of solitude returned upon him, perhaps he wished to spare his friend the pain of a too sudden parting, or perhaps he desired to test the affection of the latter; in either case he endeavors to persuade Elisha to remain behind while he goes on an errand of Jehovah. The event which was about to happen had apparently been communicated to the sons of the prophets at Bethel, and they inquire if Elisha knew of his impending loss. His answer shows how fully he was aware of it.

Again Elijah attempts to escape to Jericho, and again Elisha protests that he will not be separated from him. Again, also, the sons of the prophets at Jericho make the same unnecessary inquiries, and again he replies as emphatically as before. Elijah makes a final effort to avoid what they both so much dread. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets ascend the abrupt heights behind the town — the same to which a late tradition would attach the scene of our Lord's temptation — and which command the plain below, to watch with the clearness of Eastern vision what happens in the distance.

Talking as they go, the two reach the river, and stand on the shelving bank beside its swift brown current. But they are not to stop even here. It is as if the aged Gileadite cannot rest till he again sets foot on his own side of the river.

What follows is best told in the simple words of the narrative. He saw him no more; but his mantle had fallen, and this he took up — at once a personal relic and a symbol of the double portion of the spirit of Elijah with which he was to be clothed.

Little could he have realized, had it been then presented to him, that he whose greatest claim to notice was that he had "poured water on the hands of Elijah" should hereafter possess an influence which had been denied to his master — should, instead of the terror of kings and people, be their benefactor, adviser, and friend, and that over his death-bed a king of Israel should be found to lament with the same words that had just burst from him on the departure of his stern and silent master, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!

Traditionary Views and Character. Three different theories regarding Elijah's origin are presented in the Haggadah: 1 he belonged to the tribe of Gad Gen. That Elijah was a priest is a statement which is made by many Church fathers also Aphraates, "Homilies," ed. Wright, p. Migne, xiv. Amsterdam , seems nevertheless to be very old see Epiphanius, l.

See Melchizedek. If the deeds which the Scripture records of Phinehas be disregarded, Elijah is first met with in the time of Ahab, and on the following occasion: God bade the prophet pay a visit of condolence to Hiel, who had suffered the loss of his sons because of his impiety. Elijah was unwilling to go, because profane words always angered and excited him. Only after God had promised to fulfil whatever words the prophet might utter in his righteous indignation did Elijah go to Hiel.

Here the prophet met Ahab and warned him that God fulfils the maledictions of the godly, and that Hiel had been deprived of his sons because Joshua had anathematized the rebuilding of Jericho. The king derisively asked: Is Joshua greater than his teacher Moses? For Moses threatened all idolaters with hunger and distress, and yet he—Ahab-was faring very well.

At this Elijah said I Kings xvii. God sent ravens to supply the wants of the prophet during the famine. Some think "'ore-bim" ravens refers to the inhabitants of Oreb Gen. The ravens brought meat to Elijah from the kitchen of the pious Jehoshaphat Tan. Buber, iv. God, however, who is merciful even toward the impious, sought to induce Elijah to absolve Him from His promise, so that He might send rain. He accordingly caused the brook from which the prophet drew water to dry up, but this was of no avail.

God finally caused the death of the son of the widow in whose house the prophet lived, hoping thereby to overcome the latter's relentless severity. When Elijah implored God to revive the boy compare Jonah in Rabbinical Literature , God answered that this could only be accomplished by means of "the heavenly dew," and that before He could send the dew it would be necessary for the prophet to absolve Him from His promise Yer.

Elijah now saw that it would be necessary to yield, and took the opportunity to prove before Ahab, by a second miracle, the almighty power of God. He arranged with the king to offer sacrifices to God and Baal at one and the same time, and to see which would turn out to be the true God.

The bulls, which were selected for sacrifice by lot, were twins which had grown up together. But while Elijah brought his bull quickly to the place of sacrifice, the priests of Baal labored in vain to induce the other to move a step.

The animal even began to speak, complaining that while it was his twin brother's glorious privilege to be offered upon the altar of God, he was to be offered to Baal.

Only after the prophet had convinced him that his sacrifice would also be for the glorification of Godcould the priests of Baal lead him to the altar Tan. They then commenced to cry "Baal! In order to confound them utterly, "God made the whole world keep silent as if it were void and waste"; so that the priests of Baal might not claim that the voice of Baal had been heard Ex. These proceedings consumed much time, and Elijah found it necessary to make the sun stand still: "Under Joshua thou stoodst still for Israel's sake; do it now that God's name be glorified!

Toward evening Elijah called his disciple Elisha and made him pour water over his hands. Then a miracle took place: water commenced to flow from the fingers of Elijah as from a fountain, so that the ditch around the altar became full Tanna debe Eliyahu R. The prophet prayed to God that He would send fire down upon the altar, and that the people might see the miracle in its proper light and not regard it as sorcery Ber.

In his prayer he spoke of his mission as the precursor of the Messiah, and petitioned God to grant his request that he might be believed in future Midr. Shir ha-Shirim, ed. In the same cave where God once appeared to Moses and revealed Himself as gracious and merciful, Elijah was summoned to appear before God.

By this summons he perceived that he should have appealed to God's mercy instead of becoming Israel's accuser. The vision in which God revealed Himself to Elijah gave him at the same time a picture of the destinies of man, who has to pass through "four worlds. Three years after this vision Seder 'Olam R. Elijah was "translated. But as early as the middle of the second century, when the notion of translation to heaven was abused by Christian theologians, the assertion was made that Elijah never entered into heaven proper Suk.

In mystic literature Elijah is an angel, whose life on earth is conceived of as a merely apparitional one, and who is identified with Sandalfon. The cabalists speak also of the struggle between Elijah and the Angel of Death, who asserts his right to all children of men, and who endeavored to prevent, Elijah from entering heaven Zohar Ruth, beginning, ed. Warsaw, , 76a. The taking of Elijah into heaven or supramundane regions did not mean his severance from this world; on the contrary, his real activity then began.

From Biblical times there is his letter to Jehoram, written seven years after his translation Seder 'Olam R. But it is mainly in post-Biblical times that Elijah's interest in earthly events was most frequently manifested, and to such an extent that the Haggadah calls him "the bird of heaven" Ps. His appearing among men is so frequent that even the irrational animals feel it: the joyous barking of the dogs is nothing else than an indication that Elijah is in the neighborhood B.

To men he appears in different forms, sometimes while they are dreaming, sometimes while they are awake, and this in such a way that the pious frequently know who is before them.

Thus he once appeared to a Roman officer in a dream and admonished him not to be lavish of his inherited riches Gen. Once a man came into a strange city shortly before the beginning of the Sabbath, and not knowing to whom to entrust his money which he was not allowed to carry on the Sabbath , he went to the synagogue, where he saw some one with phylacteries on his forehead, praying. To this man he gave all that he had for keeping, but when he asked for its return at the end of the Sabbath, he found that he had to deal with a hypocrite and impostor.

When the poor man fell asleep Elijah appeared to him, and showed him how to obtain his money from the wife of the swindler. Elijah appeared to many while they were awake, and this in various ways.

He often elected to appear in the guise of an Arab or, more exactly, in that of an Arab of the desert see Arabia in Rabbinical Literature. In this manner he once appeared to a poor but pious man, and asked him whether he wished to enjoy the six good years which were appointed him now, or at the end of his life.

The pious man took him for a sorcerer, and made no reply. But when Elijah came the third time, the man consulted his wife as to what he should do. They concluded to tell the Arab that they wished to enjoy the good years at once; they had hardlyexpressed their wish when their children found a great treasure.

The pious couple made good use of their riches, and spent much money for benevolent purposes. After six years the Arab returned and told them that the end of their prosperity had come. The woman, however, said to him: "If you can find people who will use with more conscientiousness what you give unto them, then take it from us and give it to them.

Buber, near end. To the pious, Elijah is in many cases a guardian angel, for whom no place is too remote, and who leaves nothing undone to help them in their distress or to save them from misery. Thus, Nahum of Gimzo was once sent on a political mission to Rome and given certain gifts to carry to the emperor; on the way he was robbed of these, but Elijah replaced them, and procured for Nahum riches and honor Sanh.

During the religious persecutions under Hadrian he saved another tanna, Eleazar ben Prata, from the Roman government, which wished to sentence him to death, by removing those who were to testify against him and by bringing him to a place miles distant 'Ab. Zarah 17b. He acted as witness for the amora Shila, when he was accused of exercising jurisdiction according to Jewish law Ber.

As physician he helped Simi b. Ashi Shab. Judah I. He then appears in Judges , as a priest with power to predict the future, during the battle with Benjamin after the rape and death of the concubine at Gibeah. Since this is the final story in Judges, and the book of Judges spans hundreds of years, this would suggest longevity worthy of primordial times. In addition, as James Kugel points out, Pinchas, unlike his fellow wilderness and conquest period heroes, has no burial notice. The intuitive connection between Pinchas and Elijah based on their longevity is expressed clearly, if idiosyncratically, in the gloss of Rabbi Levi ben Gershon , known as Ralbag or Gersonides, on 1Kings Combining the immortality factor with the zealotry factor, the idea developed in early post-biblical times that both characters are just different names for the same immortal being, who lived on earth among the Israelites for hundreds of years.

But this was not a unanimous tradition in rabbinic literature. Some sages suggested that Elijah was from the tribe of Gad or Benjamin, and thus could not possibly have been Pinchas, since Pinchas was a Levite from the priestly family of Aaron Exod Although not the dominant opinion, various piyyutim liturgical poems and authorities such as the Tosafot Franco-German rabbis from the 12 th to 13 th cents.

Radak, Rabbi David Kimhi c. At first glance, the question of what tribe Elijah was from and whether he and Pinchas were the identical person appears to be an academic or obscure issue.

And yet, a genizah fragment [12] ENA The fragment, originally written in Judeo-Arabic, [13] testifies to an event that took place one Saturday evening in a synagogue in Egypt, probably in the early 13 th century. The text begins with a cantor reciting a Havdalah liturgical poem to mark the end of the Sabbath:.

These two accounts bear witness to a pivotal moment that encapsulate the tensions between the Babylonian and Palestinian tradition. When the first cantor came to the synagogue, it was a given in that community that Elijah should be identified with Pinchas, the tradition adopted by the Babylonian Talmud, the Bavli.

It took an outsider to call their attention to it. The reintroduction of this tradition to the Judeo-Arabic speaking community may be seen in the context of immigration of French rabbis and scholars to Egypt and to the land of Israel during the 13th century, who brought along with them their traditions and their piyyutim. The visiting cantor whose recitation of Yah Chizki set off the first heated debate, was likely a French or Provencal immigrant.

This synagogue debate also likely reflects the growing power of rationalism among medieval exegetes, as seen in the following comments:. Faithful to this view, ibn Ezra also avoided this identification in the Havdalah poetry he wrote on the subject. The character of Elijah in the Jewish collective memory swings between the poles of zealot and angry prophet to the kind, loving, and caring savior. The performance of liturgical poetry in the synagogue was a popular method used to share views, traditions, and perspectives.

This is the line that the visiting cantor recited, which describes Elijah as Pinchas, holding the spear in his hand. This version avoids the portrayal of Elijah as Phineas, and any reference to the offending spear, while maintaining an aspect of his zealous behavior; declaring drought can be understood as zealous behavior. This variant builds on the end of the story, when Elijah finally brings rain three years later 1Kings The phrasing favors the image of the loving, caring Elijah, with no hint of zealotry.

Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. The tension expressed in Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer and in the debate about the two Havdalah piyyutim is as relevant now as it was then. Which Elijah do we wish to invite to join our celebrations?? Do we want the spear-wielding zealot, the man who brought drought to all of Israel, or perhaps, the man whose voice can bring rain and dew?

Please support us. We would like to thank Shana Strauch-Schick for help in translating and editing this article. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman; Philadelphia: JPS, , []. Friedman : 2—11; Louis H. As noted above, the account of Phineas in Pseudo-Philo Bib. Another possible allusion to the Pinchas-Elijah identification is in the choice of 1Kings as the Haftarah for Parashat Pinchas. In rabbinic sources, the explicit identification is found in Targum Pseudo-Yonatan to Exod ; and appears in later midrashim, including a text of Yelamdenu only preserved in later midrashic collections: Yalqut Shimoni , Pinchas ed.

Heiman : ; Midrash Hagadol ed. Rabinovitch : — ; Midrash Aggadah, Numbers , ed. Buber : v. See also See b. Wisotzky : Friedman : , also quoted in Yalqut Shimoni Nizavim