Elias of great fame was from Thisbe or Thesbe, a town of Galaad (Gilead),
beyond the Jordan. He was of priestly lineage, a man of a solitary and
ascetical character, clothed in a mantle of sheep skin, and girded about his
loins with a leathern belt. His name is interpreted as "Yah is my God." His
zeal for the glory of God was compared to fire, and his speech for teaching and
rebuke was likened unto a burning lamp. From this too he received the name
Zealot. Therefore, set aflame with such zeal, he sternly reproved the impiety
and lawlessness of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. He shut up heaven by means of
prayer, and it did not rain for three years and six months. Ravens brought him
food for his need when, at God's command, he was hiding by the torrent of
Horrath. He multiplied the little flour and oil of the poor widow of Sarephtha
of Sidon, who had given him hospitality in her home, and when her son died, he
raised him up. He brought down fire from Heaven upon Mount Carmel, and it
burned up the sacrifice offered to God before all the people of Israel, that
they might know the truth. At the torrent of Kisson, he slew 450 false prophets
and priests who worshipped idols and led the people astray. He received food
wondrously at the hand of an Angel, and being strengthened by this food he
walked for forty days and forty nights. He beheld God on Mount Horeb, as far as
this is possible for human nature. He foretold the destruction of the house of
Ahab, and the death of his son Ohozias; and as for the two captains of fifty
that were sent by the king, he burned them for their punishment, bringing fire
down from Heaven. He divided the flow of the Jordan, and he and his disciple
Elisseus passed through as it were on dry land; and finally, while speaking
with him, Elias was suddenly snatched away by a fiery chariot in the year 895
B.C., and he ascended as though into heaven, whither God most certainly
translated him alive, as He did Enoch (Gen. 5:24; IV Kings 2: 11). But from
thence also, after seven years, by means of an epistle he reproached Joram, the
son of Josaphat, as it is written: "And there came a message in writing to him
from Elias the Prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father,
Because thou hast not walked in the way," and so forth (II Chron. 21:12).
According to the opinion of the majority of the interpreters, this came to pass
either through his disciple Elisseus, or through another Prophet when Elias
appeared to them, even as he appeared on Mount Tabor to the disciples of Christ
beyond the Jordan. He was of priestly lineage, a man of a solitary and
ascetical character, clothed in a mantle of sheep skin, and girded about his
loins with a leathern belt. His name is interpreted as "Yah is my God." His
zeal for the glory of God was compared to fire, and his speech for teaching and
rebuke was likened unto a burning lamp. From this too he received the name
Zealot. Therefore, set aflame with such zeal, he sternly reproved the impiety
and lawlessness of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. He shut up heaven by means of
prayer, and it did not rain for three years and six months. Ravens brought him
food for his need when, at God's command, he was hiding by the torrent of
Horrath. He multiplied the little flour and oil of the poor widow of Sarephtha
of Sidon, who had given him hospitality in her home, and when her son died, he
raised him up. He brought down fire from Heaven upon Mount Carmel, and it
burned up the sacrifice offered to God before all the people of Israel, that
they might know the truth. At the torrent of Kisson, he slew 450 false prophets
and priests who worshipped idols and led the people astray. He received food
wondrously at the hand of an Angel, and being strengthened by this food he
walked for forty days and forty nights. He beheld God on Mount Horeb, as far as
this is possible for human nature. He foretold the destruction of the house of
Ahab, and the death of his son Ohozias; and as for the two captains of fifty
that were sent by the king, he burned them for their punishment, bringing fire
down from Heaven. He divided the flow of the Jordan, and he and his disciple
Elisseus passed through as it were on dry land; and finally, while speaking
with him, Elias was suddenly snatched away by a fiery chariot in the year 895
B.C., and he ascended as though into heaven, whither God most certainly
translated him alive, as He did Enoch (Gen. 5:24; IV Kings 2: 11). But from
thence also, after seven years, by means of an epistle he reproached Joram, the
son of Josaphat, as it is written: "And there came a message in writing to him
from Elias the Prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father,
Because thou hast not walked in the way," and so forth (II Chron. 21:12).
According to the opinion of the majority of the interpreters, this came to pass
either through his disciple Elisseus, or through another Prophet when Elias
appeared to them, even as he appeared on Mount Tabor to the disciples of Christ