TDNT, Ἠλ(ε)ίας (Jeremias, J.)

Texts for the later Jewish conception of Elijah's significance

• 2 Chr. 21.12-19; Mal. 3.23
• Sir. 48.1-12a; Eth. Enoch 89.52; 90.31; 93.8
• 1 Macc. 2.58
• Damasc. ( --> 932)
• Philo only at Deus Imm., 136-39;
• Josephus, a repetition of the bib. narrative augmented from Menander, Ant. 8.324; 
• 4 Esr. 6.26; 8.109; S. Bar. 77.24; Sib II.187-89
• Mart. Is. 2.14-16; Just. Dial., 8, 5; 49, 1

Reasons for Elijah's prominence

• Miracles of E
• obscurity of his descent 
• (Gad, Ben, Levi)
• E as a helper in time of need; after E's rapture, E ranks with angels (Eth. En. 90.31) This seems to be testified in Mk 15.35. (up to here, 930)
• E is thought to be heavenly scribe who enters men's deeds in a book
• Israel's intercessor (Str.-B, IV 768; Sir 48.11)

Return of Elijah

• Mal 4.5; messianic; prepares way for king figure (3.1) by purifying the priesthood (3.2-4), est. peace (4.6); doling out wrath of YHWH (Sir 48.10); restoring tribes (4.6) 
• Returned Elijah's task will be ἀποκαταστήσει (LXX Mal 4.5; cf. Mk 9.12; Mt. 17.11), "the restitutio in integrum of the community of salvation for the reception of salvation" (933).

Elijah in NT

• Ps. 22.1/Mark 15.35
• Xn community did not adopt conception of E as helper; "it knew only one Helper in time of need, namely, Christ" (936).
• (This appears to be an undermining of the Jewish conception of Elijah; Mark may be demonstrating the Elijah is not the helper popular belief holds him to be, rather than stating that Jesus' messiahship is false. This could actually stand as another of Mark's reversals.) 
• JB as E, as forerunner. This has credence since JB does prepare the way of the Lord. Later Jesus declares JB to be Elijah, and in so doing, proves Elijah's role in the coming of the Messiah. Also, JB's appearance is supposed to remind us of E (936). Perhaps JB saw himself as Elijah returned (J. Klausner, Jesus von Nazareth, 333 ff.; W. Michaelis, 74; 84, n. 15; 86) (936)
• If JB can be seen as E returned, thenit shows that Jesus understands the ἀποκατάστασισ of Mal 4.5 (LXX) "not as political, but as a religious renewal of the people through repentance and forgiveness" (937). JB as E also demonstrates the nearness of Jesus' death, for, the forerunner of the Messiah has already ushered him in, and the fate of JB is already known by the transfig (Mk 9.13).
• "When the early community takes up this judgment that Elijah expectation is fulfilled in the Baptist (Mk. 1:2; Lk. 1:15 f., 76), it does so with full awareness that it is thus confessing the Messiahship of Jesus." (938).
• So, E's appearance has something to do with the proper understanding of Jesus. This makes sense. Jesus just told his disciples in 8 that he must suffer and die, and after their display of unbelief, Jesus takes them up the mountain, and there they see E, who is known as the suffering prophet who ushers in the Messiah. (But the question still remains as to how the whole of Mark's narrative is shaped by the texts and traditions of Elijah).
• Elijah and Moses appear at the Transfig as the precursors of Jesus (939; cf. Rev 11.3ff where E and M appear with eschat. signif., proclaiming the inaguration of the last time).
• In the Apoc. of Elijah (text from 3rd century, likely Christian influence) Elijah and his companion are suffering figures of the end times. Their appearance in Mk implies an intimation of the passion of Jesus, confirming the prophecy of Mk 8.31 ff. (939; cf. Lk 9.31, this is more clear as they speak of Jesus' coming "exodus", solidifying the connection between Jesus and Moses).

The Suffering Elijah

•   Elijah is involved in many Antichrist texts, such as Rev (3 1/2 days of disgrace, and then resurrection, along with Moses); with Enoch in Elijah Apc. and Enoch (see Bousset, Antichrist, 138 for many examples of Elijah's presence in eschat. literature) (940)
• Extra-bib. literature is important to engage with because "From the standpoint of biblical theology the establishment of teh date of the apocalyptic tradition of the martyrdom of the returning Elijah is of great importance. For it enables us to see that Mk. 9:12f. is right when it assumes that the idea of a suffering forerunner is not strange to the contemporaries of Jesus. Strong support is thus given to the historicity of Jesus (sic) prophecy of His passion and of His statements concerning the atoning power of His death." (941)

Evaluation

• Jeremias helpfully points out the tradition of E as a suffering prophet. Obviously it is important to look into the contemporaneous literature about Elijah as it gives a window into the popular thought concerning his role in the last days. Not much narrative development though. 

DNTT, Elijah (Bietenhard, H.)

DNTT, Elijah

"Elijah cast the old faith in Yahweh in a new mould and placed it on a new foundation. This justifies the tradition that places him beside Moses." (543)

He is a figure of the Messianic age (Mal 3:23 MT) (543).

Three parallel traditions about Elijah's return developed in intertestamental times.
1. Elijah is from the tribe of Gad; he would return to prepare the way for God and deliver Israel in the last days (543-44)
2. from the tribe of Benjamin; he would be the forerunner of the Messiah (544).
3. Tribe of Levi; he would be the high priest of the Messianic age (544).

Texts
Sir. 48.10 - E will restore tribes of Israel, paralleled with Isa 49:6, in which the Servant restores the tribes (thus E fulfills a messianic function). (544)

Mal 3.23 (MT) combined with 2.24, E would be eschat. high priest. Mal 3.24, E is to reconcile men. Restore pure doctrine and pure community. (544)

Acc. to Targum, God would gather the diaspora through E and Moses. Midrash on Ps. 43, there are 2 deliverers, E of Levi and Messiah of David's house (544).

Qumran speaks of 2 messiahs, one from Judah, one priestly (presumably Levite). (DNTT doesn't give Q reference) (544)

Elijah in NT
- mentioned 29 times.
- Mk 15.34/Mt 27.46, Jesus prays the words of Ps. 22.1(2), misunderstood to ask for Elijah; because E did not intervene, Jesus' messianic claim could have been considered a failure. (Is there evidence of this? Cf. A. Schlatter, Der Evangelist Matthaus, 1963, 783). (544)

- E was to come before the dawn of the end (Mk 9.11; Mt 17.10)
- Some thought JB was E, some thought Jesus was E (Mk 6.15; 8.28) (545)
- Mk 9.11, E must come first; expression of Jewish expectation of E as forerunner of Messiah (545).
- Appearance of E and Moses with Jesus in Mk 9, "it is an announcement of the beginning of the end time" (545).
- E could also function at J's transfig as confirmation/foreshadowing of his coming suffering because Elijah is a suffering figure (Mk 9.12f; Rev 11.3; non-canonical lit., but no examples!) (545).

Reoccuring Sources
- Thrall, M., "Elijah and Moses in Mk's acct of the Transfig", NTS
- Robinson, J. A. T., "Elijah, John, and Jesus," in Twelve NT Studies, 1962, 28-52.

Evaluation

•  Bietenhard describes who E is in OT
• his analysis in NT is mostly surrounding Transfiguration and extra-biblical tradition about E's role in coming of Messiah.
• Interesting note about E being a foreshadowing/confirmation of Jesus' coming suffering. Perhaps E as a man of sorrows; is there something from E's story that is brought to mind - transported into Jesus' story? Or is it E's connection to the Servant in Isaiah that brings this across?

Faierstein, Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?

Faierstein, Morris M. "Why Do the Scribes Say that Elijah Must Come First." JBL 100/1 (1981): 75-86.

There is ongoing debate over whether or not Elijah is the forerunner of the Messiah. Some (such as Fitzmyer) say that he is, while others are not so sure, as there is little evidence to make a certain claim (76-77).

Faierstein looks at the evidence in MT, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Philo, Qumran, Targum, Talmud, and Midrash.

Mal 3.23-24 (MT) state that God will send Elijah before the coming of the great and terrible Day of the Lord. This is not an explicit reference to being a forerunner of the Messiah. Messiah is not mentioned here (77). (However, the great and terrible Day of the Lord is usually Messianic, isn't it?)

He argues that ancient evidence does not support this interpretation. No one thought this because of this verse. (77)

Furthermore, in Sirach 48, the same assumption is made. Sirach talks about Elijah returning to restore the people, but does not mention a messiah, but many draw messianic implications from this reference. (Faierstein seems to regard this as eisegesis.) (78)

References in 1 Enoch (90:31, 37) seem to point to Ej as forerunner to Messiah, but here again, acc. to Faierstein, if one approaches the text with a priori expectations, then of course you will see Elijah in the room. But again, no explicit reference to Elijah (80).

4QarP offers a fragment bearing an explicit reference to Elijah coming before... something, but it is only a fragment. Fitzmyer warns against attributing this frag. to the Elijah-forerunner hypothesis because we can't be sure what this frag. is talking about (80).

Philo is also unclear on the matter (80).

Targumic material speaks more easily of Elijah as forerunner, but there are problems in dating this material as it may be from as late as the 600s A. D. (81)

Second-Temple Judaism liturgy mentions Elijah, but Faierstein is yet unconvinced because of issues in the manuscripts (text-critical problems). Some man. contain a ref to waiting for Elijah while some do not. He wonders if this has been added later in Rabbinical era (85).

Justin Martyr (Trypho) mentions that Elijah will anoint the Messiah when he comes, but this may be retrospective of the canonical Gospels in which JB anoints Jesus before his ministry begins (86).

In conclusion, Faierstein is unconvinced that Elijah will be forerunner to Messiah. He thinks that this may be a novum in the NT, and that, since there is no compelling evidence in contemporaneous literature, our notions of JB's role in the NT needs to be reunderstood, and our questions about Elijah as forerunner need to be reexamined. (86)

Moses sources

Broyles, C. C. "Moses." In Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, eds.Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and Howard I. Marshall, 560-62. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1992.

Moses as Lawgiver

• ref. to "Moses" or "Book/law of Moses" seems to point to the Pentateuch (560; Mark 12.26; 1.44; 10.3-5; 12.19)

One Like Moses

• Transfiguration (Mk 9.2-10)
• 40 days (Exod 24.18; 34.29; 1 Kgs 19.8)
• theophany (Exod 19-24; 32-34; 1 Kgs 19.8-18)
• remarkable departure from this life (Deut 34.1-6; 2 Kgs 2.1-12)
• Moses and Elijah together (Mal 4.4-6)
• "face shone" (Exod 34.29-35)
• cloud, as in the Exodus (Exod 19.9, 16; 24.15-18; 34.5)
• voice from the cloud (Exod 24.16)
• "listen to him", said also of Moses (Deut 18.14-19)
• Mountain typology - Mark features the symbol of the mountain, which serves as a place of revelation for Jesus as it had for Moses (561).
• ref. to wilderness, esp. feeding in the wilderness (Exod 16.1, 3, 10, 14, 32; cf. Deut 8.2)
• going up the mountain to pray (Mk 6.32, 35, 46)
• Events in Moses' life foreshadow Jesus' life
• Passover lamb whose bones are not broken (Exod 12.46; Num 9.12) and "the blood of the covenant" (Exod 24.8; Mk 14.24) foreshadow Jesus' death, though explicit ref. to Moses is lacking (562).

Elijah sources

Bock, D. L. "Elijah and Elisha." In Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, eds.Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and Howard I. Marshall, 202-206. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1992.


OT

• Narrative: 1 Kgs 17-19; 21.17-29; 2 Kgs 1.2-16; 2.1-12
• Prophecy of his return: Mal 4.5-6 (MT 3.23-24)
• elijah will return to reconcile fathers and sons before the Day of the Lord. "This promise of Elijah's return also alludes to Malachi 3:1 and the messenger who goes before the Lord. This aspect of Malachi's prophecy influenced both Judaism and the Gospels" (203)

Ancient Judaism

• Sirach 48.1-12 - prophet-like fire whose word flames like a torch; will return to allay divine wrath, to reconcile father to son, to restore Jacob.
• 1 Enoch 89.52 (cf. 90.31) - spared sheep
• 1 Macc 2.58 - notes his zeal for the Law and that he was taken up alive to heaven (1 Macc 4.46 and 14.41 may refer to Elijah)
• Josephus' Ant. 8.13.1-8, 316-62 - summarizes Elijah's career
• 4 Ezra 6.26 (cf. 7.109) - speaks of the apocalyptic return of the men who were taken up to heaven without dying (e.g., Enoch, Moses [in Jewish trad.], and Elijah)
• Mishnah 
• 'Edduyot (8.7) - Elijah's future role as judge who settles disputes and declares which families are clean
• Sotah (9.15) - Elijah is responsible for the resurrection of the dead
• Summary: in Judaism the return of Elijah signals the arrival of the time of fulfillment, calls the people to reconciliation and brings judgment (cf. also Assumption of Moses 2.14; 1QS 9.11; m. B. Mes 1.8; 3.4)

Other Data

• Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Deut 30.4) may refer to Elijah's return prior to the coming of the Messiah, but the date of the targum is uncertain, so it may not serve as evidence of Jewish expectations of Elijah to return before Messiah's coming (203).

Research Question

How do the narratives and traditions surrounding Moses and Elijah influence the composition, structure, and content of the Gospel of Mark, and what does their presence in Mark have to tell us about Jesus in the framework of a Graeco-Roman ancient biography?

 Initial Corollary Questions

• What is the range of texts in which we will seek to find verbal parallels or other indication of influence upon Mark?
• MT’s Kings, Torah, Psalms
• LXX’s 1/2 Kings, Pentateuch, Psalms
• DSS (?)
• Philo’s Moses (?)
• Other Hellenistic texts that speak of Elijah and Moses?
• What is Ancient Biography and how does it function?
• Does/how will Ancient Biography teach us how to interpret Mark’s use of the Old Testament?
• How are Moses and Elijah present in Mark, and how are they presented?
• What is communicated by individual references to these two prophets, and what significance can be drawn when they appear together?
• Is Mark saying something socio-rhetorically by appealing to the stories of Elijah and Moses?
• What does Mark’s engagement with motifs involving Moses and Elijah tell us about the genre of Mark?
• What does the presence of Moses and Elijah tell us about Mark’s