3. The Return of Elijah.
a. The oldest passage which refers to the return of
Elijah (Mal. 4:5 f.) sees in him a Messianic figure. He prepares the divine way
for the heavenly King (3:1) by purifying the priesthood (3:2–4) and
establishing peace (4:6). Sir. 48:10 adds to the twofold task of Mal., i.e.,
mitigating the wrath of Yahweh before the judgment (== Mal. 4:5, 6b) and
turning the heart of the father to the son (== 4:6a), the third task of
restoring the tribes of Israel (להכין שבטי ישראל).
There is thus attributed to the returning Elijah a task which Dt. Is. ascribes
to the Servant of the Lord (Is. 49:6). Since Sir. makes no other reference to
the Messiah, he, too, seems to have expected Elijah as the Messiah. The same
view is found in later Rabbis who think of Elijah as a Gadite and see in him
the military deliverer who will overcome the world powers.
b. Far more widespread, however, was a second view
which saw in Elijah the forerunner of the Messiah rather than of God. This is
prepared in the pseudepigrapha inasmuch as Elijah here comes with Enoch before
the parousia of the Messiah (Eth. En.
90:31; cf. 89:52; 4 Esr. 6:26). That Elijah alone was also expected as the
forerunner of the Messiah is attested in Just. Dial., 8, 4; 49, 1 (→ 934),
several Rabb. passages and the ancient blessing of the wine at the New Year
feast as preserved in Soph., 19, 9: “Elijah the prophet, come to us soon; may
the King Messiah sprout forth in our days.” We know from the NT how widespread
this view was in popular eschatology (→ 936).
It is an open question whether the Damascus document,
which belongs to much the same time as Jesus, represents the expectation that
Elijah will come again as the forerunner of the Messiah, though this is the
common interpretation under the influence of L. Ginzberg. What the document has
to say about the figures of the last time is obscure and its interpretation
uncertain. The main results are as follows: a. The founder of the community is
called in 1, 11 “the teacher of truth,” מורה צדק;
20, 28: מורה; 20, 32 מורה צדק
and היחיד == “the excellent one”; 20, 1: מורה היחיד; 20, 14: יוריה היחיד
== “the excellent teacher.” He is taken away, i.e., taken from the community by
death (19, 35; 20, 14). b. Looking to the future, the community expects the יורה הצדק (lit. “he will teach the truth” used as a
title) who will come at the end of the days, 6, 11. Now the expression יורה צדק, which is borrowed from Hos. 10:12: “until
he comes and teaches the truth,” and which is first used in post-Talmudic lit.,
though perhaps already in b. Bek., 24a (R. Johanan, c. 250), is a consistent term for the coming of Elijah. There can
also be no doubt that even in the pre-Christian period it was expected that
Elijah would decide disputed questions of the Law (→ 933 f.). Hence many scholars
have concluded that the expected “teacher of truth” is Elijah. Comparison of
the findings under a. and b. suggests that the community expected the return of
their own teacher as Elijah. If so, the Damascus community was a precursor
community and the document gives an impression of the liveliness of expectation
of the forerunner of the Messiah in the NT period.
The document also speaks of the Messiah. In two
passages it envisages Him as belonging to the past (2, 12: משיחו; 6, 1: משיחו הקודש).
In the future the community expects the Messiah of Aaron and of Israel (12,
23/13, 1: משוח אהרן וישראל; 14, 19
[corrupt]: ח אהרן וישראל …; 19,
10f.: משיח אהרן וישראל; 20, 1: משיח מאהרן ומישראל). We thus have the past and coming teacher
on the one hand and the past and coming Messiah on the other, and the question
arises whether the teacher and the Messiah are not one and the same. If so,
Elijah cannot be the “teacher of truth.”
c. Quite early expectation of the return of Elijah
took a further form of which there are indications already in the pre-Christian
period. On this view Elijah is the high-priest of the last time. We know from
the Test. XII that already in the 2nd cent. b.c.
an eschatological high-priest was expected as well as the Messiah. This
expectation, which has its roots in Zech. 4:1 f.), is common in the Talmudic
lit. How vigorous it was may be seen from coins of the early period of the
revolt of Bar Cochba, which are inscribed “El’azar the priest” as well as
“Simon prince of Israel.” Expectation of Elijah grew with this expectation of
the Messianic high-priest, probably on the basis of a combination of Mal. 3:1;
4:5 f. (Elijah the angel of the covenant) with 2:4–5 (the covenant with Levi).
This combination caused priestly descent to be ascribed to Elijah, so that he
came to be identified with the high-priest of the Messianic period. The
Targumim show how popular was this conception.
As regards the dating of this idea of
Elijah as priest and as eschatological high-priest, we may first refer to Ass.
Mos. 9:1–7, where immediately before the end (10:1) there is expected the
coming of a man of the tribe of Levi whose name Taxo (== Τάξων ==
[future] orderer) is possibly connected with the task of the returning Elijah
as the restorer (→ infra). Reference
may then be made to Rev. 11:3 f.), where Elijah and Moses appear before the end
and on the basis of Zech. 4:3, 11–14 are called “the two olive trees and the
two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.” In Rabb. lit., in
accordance with the original, the two olive trees are usually expounded as
representatives of the priesthood and the monarchy. We learn from Jn. 1:21 that
the priestly descent of John the Baptist was no obstacle to his identification
with Elijah. Finally there is the report of Justin (→ 934) that Elijah will
anoint the Messiah, it being presumed that he possesses high-priestly dignity.
On the other hand, the equation of Elijah with the priestly zealot Pinehas
belongs to the post-Christian era.
4. The Task of the Returning Elijah.
The coming of Elijah announces the time of salvation.
His task is that of apokatastasis
(LXX Mal. 4:5: ἁποκαταστήσει; cf. Mk. 9:12; Mt. 17:11; → I, 387 ff.), the restitutio in integrum of the people of
God separated from its God by sin. He prepares the community of salvation for
the reception of salvation (Lk. 1:17: ἐτοιμάσαι κυρίῳ λαὸν κατεσκευασμένον). a. The inner restitution of the people of God. In Mal. 4:6 it is said
that the returning Elijah will restore peace in families. In LXX Mal. 3:23 (==
4:6) the restoration of peace is extended to the mutual relations of all
members of the people. In succeeding periods this was variously expounded. One
interpretation is that he preaches repentance. He will “turn the disobedient to
the wisdom of the just” (Lk. 1:17) and will wear the garments of mourning in
token of his ministry of repentance (Rev. 11:3). “Without repentance Israel
will not be redeemed … They will do great penance תשובה גרולה
only when Elijah comes.” Another interpretation of the restoration of peace
which reaches back into the pre-Christian period is that Elijah will solve all
disputed issues in the sphere of biblical exposition, ritual and law. b. The
outer restitution of the people of God. Already in Sir. 48:10 Elijah is given
the further task of restoring the tribes of Israel (→ 931). This is usually
taken to mean that Elijah will expel illegitimate Israelites and bring back the
legitimate to the redeemed people, purity of blood being the only claim to
participation in final bliss. But sometimes reference is seen to the
regathering of the scattered people, and this is perhaps the original sense of
Sir. 48:10. c. Proclamation of the time of salvation. War with Antichrist.
Introduction of the Messiah. i. It is repeatedly stated (first in the 4th
benediction of the grace after a meal) that Elijah will announce
the coming of the time of salvation. ii. On the other hand, the tradition that
Elijah will fight Antichrist (first found in Rev. 11:7) and finally kill him
(Apc. Eliae, Steindorff, 169) is found only in apoc. lit. → 940. iii. Only
outside the older Rabb. lit. do we find the tradition that Elijah will identify
(Just. Dial., 8, 4, of. Test. L. 2) and anoint the Messiah (Just. Dial., 8, 4;
49, 1); there is perhaps a trace of the tradition of the anointing of the
Messiah by Elijah in the Rabb. doctrine that Elijah will set up again the three
bowls with the manna, the water of purification and the oil of anointing.
Thus Elijah prepares the people of God for
the last time. When peace has been restored, the community reconstituted,
Antichrist overcome and killed and the Messiah anointed for His kingly office,
then the great final age of grace begins. (Joachim Jeremias, “Ἡλ(ε)ίας,” Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley,
and Gerhard Friedrich, 10 vols. [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964–],
2:931–934)