THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
nection with the sanctuary at Bethel; they assembled the people at some other place for worship, and the manner in which Elijah on Carmel ignored the royal clergy at Bethel, and on Horeb represents himself as the only one remaining faithful is sufficiently eloquent. The story of Elijah is rich in the miraculous and has on this account often been called legend. It can not be denied that the miraculous is intentionally emphasized and colored by the narrator. It is also possible that, through oral transmission in prophetical circles, the account of the deeds of the great master laid undue stress upon externals. Yet by his extraordinary powers he wrought great changes in the land. The principal miracles which he wrought before the people (the announcement of the drought and the ordeal on Carmel) admit no rationalistic explanation. The person and history of the prophet stand or fall with them. Elijah produced an indelible impression upon his contemporaries and upon posterity. On the basis of Mai. iv. 5 the Jews in the time of Jesus expected his return before the Messiah (Matt. xvii. 10, xi. 14, cf. J. Lightfoot, Horce Hebraicce on Matt. xvii. 10; C. Schoettgen, Horce Hebraicce et TalmudiciT, Dresden, 1742, ii. 533 sqq.). On the legendary appearances of Elijah in the Talmud cf. J. A. Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judentum, 12 parts, Dresden, 1892-93, i. 11, ii. 212, 402-404. There also existed apocryphal writings under his name; the oldest, the " Apocalypse of Elijah," is first mentioned by Origen (onMatt.xxvii. 9),andfrom it according to him the quotation in I Cor. ii. 9 is said to have been taken. Among the Mohammedans Elijah became the hero of many legends; he was blended among them with the heathenish mythical form El-khidr.
Elijah appears as the name of other Israelites, I Chron. viii. 27; Ezra x. 21, 26.
(C. von Orelli.)
Bibliography: Besides the literature on the History of Israel cited under Ahab, consult: T. K. Cheyne, Hallowing of Criticism, London, 1888; E. Renan, History of the People of Israel, ii. 229-242, ib. 1888; R. Kittel, Geschichte der Hebraer, ii., Gotha, 1892, Eng. transl., London, 1895; C. H. Cornill, Prophets of Israel, Chicago, 1897; H. Gunkel, in Preussische Jahrbiicher, 1898, pp. 18-51; idem, Elias, Jahve und Baal, Tubingen, 1906 (critical reconstruction); W. Erbt, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Hebraer, part i., F.lin, Elisa, Jona, Leipsic, 1907;, Clermont-Ganneau, in Revue archeologique, xxxii. 388 sqq.; Schurer, Geschichte, ii. 35, 267-271, 344, 351-352, 524-5_,5, Eng. transl., II. ii. 156-157, iii. 129 sqq.; Smith, OTJC, pp. 236-237; idem, Prophets, pp. 76 sqq., 116 sqq.; DB, i. 687-692; EB, ii. 1270-74; JE, v. 121- 128 (gives literature on Mohammedan and medieval legend). A homiletical classic is F. W Krummacher, Elias der Thisbiter, Elberfeld, 1828 and often, Eng. transl. Cheltenham, 1838 and often.
ELIJAH, APOCALYPSE OF. See Pseudepigrapha, Old Testament, II., 12.
ELIOT, JOHN: The Apostle to the North American Indians; b. either at Widford (20 m. n. of London), Hertfordshire, or at Nazing (15 m. n.n.e. of London), Essex, 1604 (baptized Aug. 5); d. at Roxbury, Mass., May 20, 1690. He studied at Jesus College, Cambridge, taking his degree in 1622; then for some years was usher in the grammarschool of the Rev. Thomas Hooker (q.v.), at Little Baddow, near Chelmsford in Essex. Eliot's connection with this rigid Puritan formed a turning-
point in his spiritual history. "When I came to this blessed family," said he, " I then saw, and never before, the power of godliness in its lively Early Life vigor and efficacy." He resolved to and Emi- devote himself to the ministry of the gration to Gospel; and as his non-conformist prin- America. ciples hindered his advancement under Archbishop Laud, he sought America, arriving at Boston Nov. 4, 1631. In Nov., 1632, he was settled as teacher of the Church of Christ in Roxbury and continued in that office until his death, — a period of nearly sixty years. He married in the same year. With his colleague Thomas Weld, and Richard Mather of Dorchester, he prepared for the press a new metrical version of the Psalms, which was the first book printed in the English colonies in America, being issued at Cambridge by Stephen Daye in 1640, and known as The Bay Psalm Book (see Bay Psalm Book).
Soon after his settlement in Roxbury, Eliot became deeply interested in the Indians, and at length resolved to preach the Gospel Ministry to them. Having prepared himself to the by two years' study of their language, Indians, he preached for the first time to an assembly of Indians at Nonantum, in the present town of Newton, Oct. 28, 1646. He was opposed by the sachems and powwows, or juggling priests, but prosecuted his mission with apostolic energy, until villages of " praying Indians " began to appear in different parts of the colony. In 1660, at Natick, the first Indian church was organized ; it existed till the death of the last native pastor in 1716. Eliot tried also to civilize as well as convert the Indians, thinking it " absolutely necessary to carry on civility with religion." In time he came to be regarded by them as their best friend. His influence over them was strong, and he exerted it for their temporal and spiritual good with rare wisdom and sagacity.
In 1653 he published a catechism in the Indian language, and by Sept., 1661, the entire New Testament was printed at Cambridge; the whole Bible was completed two years later, and Cotton Mather wrote of it: " Behold, ye Americans, the greatest honor that ever ye were partakers of, — the Bible printed here at our Cambridge; and it is the only Bible that ever was printed in all Transla- America, from the very foundation of tions into the world." Seventeen years later, the Indian with the help of Rev. John Cotton Language, (q.v.) of Plymouth, Eliot prepared a second edition, which was printed at Cambridge between 1680 and 1685. Both editions are now rare and valuable, and no one is living who understands their language. Baxter's Cull to the Unconverted and other religious treatises were also translated, and, assisted by his sons, John and Joseph, Eliot prepared The Indian Grammar Begun, or an Essay to bring the Indian Language into Rules (1666; ed. P. S. du Ponceau, Boston, 1S22). In his last years, when weighed down by bodily infirmities, and unable longer to preach or to visit the Indians, he induced several families to send their negro servants to him once a week, that he might instruct them in the truths of the Gospel. His old