In the Talmud (see the passages cited bj' Hambur- ger, Rcal-EncyU. s. v. Eliahu) he is recorded as having often appaared to the wise and good rabbis — at prayer in the wilderness, or>on their journej's — generally in the form of an Arabian merchant (Eisenmenger, i, 11 : ii, 402-7). At the circumcision of a child a seat was always placed for him, that, as the zealous champion and messenger of the "covenant" of circumcision (1 Kings xix, 14 ; Mai. iii, 1), he might watch over the due performance of the rite. During certain prayers the door of the house was set open tliat Elijah might enter and announce the Messiah (Eisenmenger, i,685). His coming will be three daj's before that of the Mes- siah, and on each of the three he will proclaim, in a voice which shall be heard all over the earth, peace, happiness, salivation, respectively (Eisenmenger, ii, C9G). So lirm was the conviction of his speedj' arrival, that when goods were found and no owner appeared to claim them, the common saying was, " Put them by till Elijah comes" (Lightfoot, Exercil. ^latt. xvii, 10 ; John i, 21). The same customs and expressions are even still in use among the stricter Jews of this and other countries (see Revue des deux Jlondes, xxiv, 131, etc.).
Elijah has been canonized in both the Greek and Latin churches. Among the Greeks 3far Elijas is the patron of elevated spots, and many a conspicuous summit in Greece is called by his name (Clark, Pelo- ponnessus, p. 190). The service for his day — 'H\iag [^uyaXiovvnoc — will be found in the Menaion on July 20, a date recognised by the Latin Church also. (See the ^cta Sanctorum, July 20). By Cornelius h Lapide it is maintained that his ascent happened on that da}', in the 19th year of Jehoshaphat (Keil, On Kings, p. 331). The convent bearing his name, Deir Jlar Elyas, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, is well known to travellers in the Holj' Land. It purports to be situ- ated on the spot of his birth, as already observed. Other convents bearing his name once existed in Pal- estine : in Jebel Ajlun, the ancient Gilead (Ritter, Syrk'n, p. 1029, lOGG, etc.) ; at Ezra, in the Hauran (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 59), and the more famous es- tablishment on Carmel.
It is as connected with tlie great Order of the bare- footed Carmelites that Elijah is celebrated in the Lat- in Church. According to tlie statements of the Brev- iary {Off. B. Man<ii Virgviis de Monte Carmelo, Julii 16), the connection arose from the dedication to tlie Virgin of a chapel on the spot from which Elijah saw the cloud (an accepted type of the Virgin Mary) rise out of the sea. But other legends trace the origin of the order to the great prophet himself, as the head of a society of anchorites iniiabitiiig Carmel ; and even as himself dedicating the cliapel in which he worship- jied to the Virgin ! (St. John of .lerusalom, as qucted l>y Mislin, Lieux, Saints, ii, 49 ; and the bulls of vari- ous popes enumerated 1)}' (Juaresmius, vol. ii.) These things are matters of controversy in the Koman Church, Baronius and others having proved that the order was founded in 1181, a- date which js repudiated by the Carmelites (see extracts in Fabricius, Codex Pseudejny. p. 1077).
In the Mohammedan traditions Jlyas is said to have drank of the Fountain of Life, " by virtue of which lie still lives, and will live to the day of judgment." He is l)j' some confounded with St. George, and with the mj'sterious cl-Khidr, one of the most remarkable of the Moslem saints (see Lane's Arabian Nights, Introd. note 2 ; also Selections from the Kuran, p. 221, 222). The Persian Snjis are said to trace themselves back to Eli- jah (Fabricius, p. 1077) ; and he is even held to have been the teacher of Zoroaster (D'Herbelot, Bib. Or. s.
Among other traditions, it must not be omitted that the words "Eve hath not seen," etc., 1 Cor. ii, 9, which are without doubt quoted by the apostle from Isaiah Ixiv, 4, were, according to an ancient belief, from " the Apocalypse, or mysteries of Elijah," tii 'tiXia c'ittuk- pi'tpa. The first mention of this appears to be Origen {Horn, on Matt, xxvii, 9), and it is noticed with disap- proval by Jerome, ad Pammachium (see Fabricius, p. 1072).
By Epiphanius, the words "Awake, thou that sleep- est," etc., Eph. v, 14, are inaccurately alleged to be quoted "from Elijah," i. e. the portion of the O. T. containing his history — TvaQu rcf} 'RXi^i (comp. Rom. xi, 2). — Smith, s. v. ; Kitto, s. v.
5. Literature. — On the general subject, Anon. Lec- turei on Elijah (Lond. 1805) ; Kitto, Dady Bible Illus- tratlons, Solomon and Kings, 45-47th week. Ephraem Syrus, In Eliam {0pp. iii, 240); Basil, In Eliim {0pp. p. 61); Ambrose, De Elia {0pp. i, 535); Chrj-sostom, In Ileliam {0pp. Spuria, v'l, 708) ; Alexander, De Elia {Hist. Eccl. iii, 335); Zowh, Life ofEVj'di {Worlds, ii, 219); Wiihm^on, Elijah {Scnpl.Char.ii); Krummacher, Elijah the Ti.Mife (from the Germ., Lond. 1840; N. Y. 1847) ; Anderson, Discourses on Elijah (Lond. 1835) ; Evans, Elijah {Script. Biog. i) ; Williams, Elijah {Char, of 0. T. p. 222); Frischmuth, De Elia {Critici Sacrl, ii) ; Camartus, Elias Thesbites (Par. 1631) ; Simpson, Lectures on Elijih (Lond. 1836) ; Berr, Notice sur Elie (Nancy, 1839) ; Niemeyer, ChitraU. v, 350 ; Schreiber, Allgem. Eeligionddire, i, 194; Knobel, Prophet, ii, 73; Rodiger, in the Hall. Encycl. i, 33, p. 320; Menken, Gesch. des Elias (in his Schiiflen, ii, 17 sq.) ; Yis\\\,Con- templations, bk. xviii, xix ; Stanlc}-, Jewish Church, ii, 321 sq. On the "ravens," Schiilen, De Elia corvorum alianno (Witteub. 1717) ; id. ih. (Altorf, 1718) ; Mayer, Elias corvorum convictor (Viteb. 1685) ; Van Hardt, Corbeaux d' Elie (Helmst. 1709) ; WcvxmoMW, Disserti. syllog. i, 896 ; Beykert, De □^3"'." EUam alentib. (Ar- gent. 1774) ; Berg, in the Duisb. Wochenhl. 1768, No. 52 ; 1769, No. 1 ; Gumpach, Alttestam. Stud. p. 200 sq. ; Deyling, Obs. Sacra, pt. i, No. 25. On his " mantle," Brockmann, Comment, jihilol. (Gryph. 1750). On Eli- jah's " coming," Hartung, De El. adventu (Jen. 1659); Jour. Sac. Lit. July, 1&'52, p. 420 sq. On his proceed- ings at Carmel, Klausing, De sacrificio Elii; (Lips. 1726); Jour. Sac. Lit. Jan. 1867. On his vision at Horeb, Verschuir, Z'e appmilione Elia; {Disserft. phil. p. 85 sq.). On his stay at Cherith, at Zarephath, Jour. Sac. Literature, 1860, p. 1 ; Unters. einiger Verstorbenen (Lips. 1793). On his ascension, Hergott, De curru EUcb (Wittenb. 1676); MUller, Eliir ascensio (Lpz. 17 — ); Pfatr, De raptu EIvf (Till-. 1739). On his letter to Jo- ram, Pfaff. De litteris El. ad. Jor. (Tub. 1755); Berg, in the Duisb. Wochenbt. 1774, No. 5, 6.