In Sirach 48:1-10, we read the following about the expectation of the coming of Elijah:
Then Elijah arose, a prophet like fire—
and his word burned like a torch—
2 who brought a famine upon them
and diminished them by his zeal;
3 he shut up the sky by the word of the
Lord,
so he brought down fire three times.
4 How glorious you were, Elijah, in
your marvelous deeds!
And who is there to boast like you?
5 Who raised a corpse from death
and from Hades by the word of the Most
High,
6 who brought kings down to
destruction
and honored people from their bed,
7 who heard a rebuke at Sinai
and judgments of vengeance at Horeb,
8 who anointed kings for retribution
and prophets as successors after him,
9 who was taken up in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot of fiery horses,
10 who is recorded in reproofs at
proper times,
to calm the wrath before the anger,
and to turn the heart of a father to a
son,
and to set the tribes of Jacob in order.
(Lexham English Septuagint)
Elijah here is predicted
“to calm the wrath before the anger” (κοπάσαι ὀργὴν πρὸ θυμοῦ) when he comes. According
to BDAG, κοπάσαι ("calm") means to abate/stop (cf. Matt 14:32 and the
"abating" of the wind/storm on the boat).
Apart from showing us
a pre-Christian tradition about the interpretation of Mal 4 and the return of
Elijah, it shows us that humans can instead, in some way, abate God’s wrath, as
Moses did in Exo 32-33.
