(a) To begin with Elijah, it is noteworthy here once more that in the original text he is only once reckoned amongst the nébi’im, namely in 1 K 18”, in words put into his own mouth, but in a context where no other designation was possible. In 18°, on the other hand, the original text, according to the LXX, was simply, ‘And Elijah called to heaven and said,’ etc. Now, it is surely no acci- dent that the narrator himself avoids giving the name nab?’ to Elijah, who, in spite of some cog- nate features (see below), is not to be placed on the same platform as the nébi’im of his entowrage, but holds a higher place than they. The widow of Zarephath (1 K 17%8 24) calls him (as the servant of Saul does Samuel in 18 9°) a ‘man of God’ in whose mouth is the true word of Jahweh.*
The circumstance that the imposing figure of Elijah the Tishbite now (1K 17) steps quite abruptly upon the stage, may be due to the com- piler of the present Books of Kings having sup- pressed something that went before. But else- where, too, the sudden appearances and disappear- ances of Elijah are remarkable (cf. 1 K 187 and 2K 2%), The very commencement of his activity exhibits him as quite an extraordinary person- ality. He does not announce it as a message from Jahweh that the next years shall see neither
* 2 K 19£18, where likewise Elijah is called ‘man of God,’ is a late midrdsh. Again, 1 K 2028, where one of the nébiim (cf. v.22) is spoken of as a ‘man of God,’ does not belong to the ‘Histories of the Prophets,’
RELIGION OF ISRAEL
dew nor rain till he shall intimate the contrary, but swears by Jahweh, in whose service he is, that it shall be so. This conveys the impression that Jahweh has given him full powers over the forces of nature. Yet he himself (v."4) ascribes the miracle of the widow’s cruse of oil to the com- mand of Jahweh, and the return of the rain to His sending it. By his prayers he wins back from Jahweh the newly deceased son of the widow (v.17#-), and shows himself, finally, at. Jahweh’s command, to Ahab (18!*). Now at last, when we make acquaintance with ‘Obadiah, Ahab’s major- domo (1878:), we learn what has been the real cause of the years of drought. These are mani- festly traced to Jezebel’s bloody persecution of the nebvim because they had opposed the spread of the cult of the Tyrian Baal (see above, p. 647%). ‘Obadiah himself, in harmony with his name, a true ‘worshipper of Jahweh,’ had hid a hundred nébvim by fifties in a cave, and supplied them with food—a proof this of the bloody earnestness of the persecution. “Obadiah shows such deference to Elijah (v.7) that the impression of the latter as a magical personality is once more left upon us. Elijah, however, exhibits himself in his true great- ness in his meeting with Ahab on the occasion of the Divine judgment at Carmel (181%*-), for which he compels the king to make the necessary pre- parations. There he stands alone, over against the 450 nébi’tm of Baal.* His words to the people (v.21) show that his aim is, at any cost, to put an end to the prevailing syncretism between Jahweh and Baal. The ridicule which he pours (v.*”) upon the vain efforts of the prophets of Baal goes essen- tially beyond the sphere of mere henotheism, and is equivalent to a complete denial, not only of the power but of the very existence of Baal. And, when Jahweh by a heightened (v.*f) miraculous display has brilliantly evinced His claim to be the true God, Elijah is content with no half measures. The complete reversal of the sentiments of the people leads them to consent, at his command, to slaughter the 450 prophets of Baal at the Kishon.
In the appendix to this narrative (18%) we meet with several features which again remove Elijah from the purely spiritual sphere and set him—even physically—in a kind of magical light. He hears in advance the rushing of the rain. The whole of the strange attitude he assumes in v.” can scarcely be otherwise explained than as a performance (rain-charming ?) borrowed from the sphere of magic. But in v.**the ‘hand of Jahweh’ (%.€., in view of the linguistic usage elsewhere, an ecstatic condition produced by Jahweh) is ex- pressly called in to account for Elijah’s running before Ahab’s chariot from Carmel to Jezreel (at least a five hours’ journey). To the same category belongs the statement of 19°, that, in the strength of the food brought him by an angel, he was able to travel 40 days and 40 nights till he came to Horeb, the mount of God.
It may be noted that even ch. 19 is still domi- nated by the one great idea at the root of Elijah’s ministry, namely, his struggle on behalf of Jahweh against Baal. His complaint to Jahweh (v.14) relates to the fruitlessness of his zeal for Jahweh, the throwing down of His altars and the slaying of His prophets. In Jahweh’s reply (v.15"-) it is well worthy of note that Elijah receives commissions —the anointing of Hazael to be king of Syria, and Jehu to be king of Israel—which involve his taking part in a political upheaval, nay, in a rebel- lion against the regularly constituted ruler. The further ‘ Histories of the Prophets’ know nothing of any executing of the latter commission by Elijah ; at most it might be conjectured from