The earliest expression of belief in a return of Elijah is found in
Mal 3:23-24 MT, where God promises to send the prophet Elijah 'before the great
and terrible day of the LORD comes' (לפני בוא יום יהוה הגדול והנורא) ,to
prepare the covenant people for God's visitation at the day of judgement. His
specific task is here described as והשיב לב־אבות על־בנים ולב בנים על־אבותם,i.e.
'to turn the heart of fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to
their fathers', envisaging a reconciliation between the generations (so LXX),
or 'to turn the heart of the fathers (to God) with the children, and the heart
of the children (to God) with their fathers', thus restoring the covenant
community.
In Sir 48:9-12 the ascension of Elijah and the Malachi prophecy have
merged into a coherent picture4. Beyond Mal 3:23-24 Elijah is now expected 'to
restore the tribes of Israel' (להשרן שבטי ישראל και καταστησαι φυλας Ιακωβ), a ונצירי ישראל להשיב 49:6 task
elsewhere ascribed to the Servant of YHWH ( להקים את־שׁבטי יעקב ונצירי ישׂראל στήσαι
τάς φυλάς Ιακωβ και τήν διασποράν τού Ισραηλ έπιστρέψαι) (cf. Ezek 47:13-48:29;
PssSol 17:28). Unfortunately, the Hebrew text of v.11 has been badly damaged.
Line 'a' probably read ... ימ[ת] אשר ראך 'blessed he who sees you and dies',
but what follows (perhaps an explanatory comment) is so mutilated that it is
impossible to restore the original text beyond the level of conjecture. This is
complicated by the fact that LXX suffered from several editorial operations.
Given the use of the second person in vv.4-10, Elijah rather than YHWH is
addressed. The reference is more likely to the return of Elijah than to his
earthly life. The sense of the words may be best captured in the translation: ‘blessed
he who has seen you before he dies’. For an author alien to the idea of an
afterlife such as Ben Sira, it makes good sense to call a blessing upon those
who will see Elijah before they die, i.e. experience the blessing of the preparatory
actions before the Day of the Lord and thus witness the dawn of the age of
salvation. (Arie W. Zwiep, The Ascension of the Messiah in Lukan Christology
[Supplements to Novum Testamentum; 87; Leiden: Brill, 1997], 60-62)
