Eliyahu's Death/2

Eliyahu's Death

Exegetical Approaches

This topic is currently in progress

Eliyahu is Alive

Sources:BavliMoed Katan 26aBava Batra 121bAbout the Bavli, Bereshit Rabbah21:5About Bereshit Rabbah, Ibn EzraMalakhi 3:24About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, RambanVayikra 18:4About R. Moshe b. Nachman, RalbagShofetim 6:1Melakhim I 22:38Melakhim II 2:1,3,11Melakhim II 12:18Divrei HaYamim II 21:12About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelMelakhim II 2:12Malakhi 3:23About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel

"וַיַּעַל אֵלִיָּהוּ בַּסְעָרָה הַשָּׁמָיִם" – These commentators disagree where Eliyahu is alive:

• Eliyahu is alive in Gan Eden – from Midreshei Chazal it seems that Eliyahu went up to Gan Eden with his body and lives there.  Every so often he comes down to the land to fulfill his missions.
• Eliyahu is alive on Earth – Ralbag says that Eliyahu did not go up to שמים rather went up "בגובה האויר" and Hashem took him to an unknown place where he still lives.

"מִכְתָּב מֵאֵלִיָּהוּ" – This approach maintains that Eliyahu was still alive and was able to send the letter.

Malakhi 3:23 – This verse is one of the motivations for this approach that Eliyahu is still alive.

Why didn't Eliyahu die?

Resurrection of the dead

What did בני הנביאים know and think?

"סְעָרָה"

לקיחה

Pinchas

Polemics

Philosophical motivation

Eliyahu Died

Sources:R. Saadia GaonCommentary Bereshit Appendix 1About R. Saadia Gaon, RadakMelakhim II 2:1Melakhim II 2:11Melakhim II 2:16Malakhi 3:23Divrei HaYamim II 21:12About R. David Kimchi,¹ BiurMelakhim II 2:1Melakhim II 2:14About the Biur (Netivot HaShalom), Hoil MosheMelakhim II 2:1About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi

"וַיַּעַל אֵלִיָּהוּ בַּסְעָרָה הַשָּׁמָיִם" – These commentators disagree regarding what happened during the storm:

• Ascended and descended – R. Saadia Gaon says that Eliyahu was lifted into the air in a whirlwind, and brought to an unknown place on earth, where he lived for an undesignated amount of time before he died.  He understands the term "הַשָּׁמָיִם" as hyperbolic; Eliyahu was not brought literally to heaven, but simply raised up via the storm winds.
• Went up to heavens – Radak and Hoil Moshe,² in contrast, understand the term "הַשָּׁמָיִם" to refer to the heavenly realm, and suggest that during the storm the "chariots of fire" burned Eliyahu's body, but his soul went up to heaven.

"מִכְתָּב מֵאֵלִיָּהוּ" – These commentators must explain how Eliyahu could write a letter to Yehoram, if he had died before Yehoram began to reign.  They offer several possible explanations:

• Prophetically before Yehoram's reign – Ibn EzraMalakhi 3:24About R. Avraham ibn Ezra brings the possibility that Eliyahu wrote the letter prophetically before he died and then gave it to one of בני הנביאים to give to Yehoram in the future.³ 
• During Yehoram's reign – Since R. Saadia maintains that Eliyahu died at some point after the storm, it is possible that he was still alive during the reign of Yehoram, even if Elisha had officially taken his place. The Biur, instead, posits that there is achronology in the verses and that the story of the storm in Chapter 2 really occurred at some point after Yehoram began to reign. Thus, Eliyahu was still alive to rebuke him ⁴
• Via vision after death – Radak suggests that after Eliyahu died he appeared to one of the prophets in a vision and told him to write the letter in the name of Eliyahu.⁵

Malakhi 3:23

• Eliyahu will be resurrected – Radak asserts that Eliyahu will be resurrected so that he can return to the earth and act as Hashem's messenger before the day of judgment.
• Eliyahu as a term for prophet – Hoil Moshe, in contrast, asserts that Eliyahu himself is not going to come at all.  Malakhi is just saying that there will be prophets, like Eliyahu, again in Israel.⁶

Why have a unique process? Hoil Moshe explains that Hashem wanted Eliyahu's death to be as wondrous as his life.

Resurrection of the dead

What did בני הנביאים know and think? Radak says that בני הנביאים thought that maybe Eliyahu didn't die but rather disappeared (like he did regularly) and so they were looking where he was hiding.  In contrast, Hoil Moshe explains that בני הנביאים did know that Eliyahu was going to die and they were just looking for his body so they can bury it (not knowing that his body was burnt).

"סְעָרָה" – R. Saadia Gaon explains that a סערה rises a little and then comes down.

לקיחה

Polemics

Philosophical motivation

¹ Radak also brings chazal's approach that Eliyahu lived forever.

² The Biur does not address the issue explicitly but seems to agree.

³ He, however, rejects this possibility saying that if so, the verse should read "וימצא / ויובא אֵלָיו מִכְתָּב מֵאֵלִיָּהוּ" rather than "וַיָּבֹא אֵלָיו מִכְתָּב מֵאֵלִיָּהוּ".

⁴ He assumes that after Achazyahu's death, Eliyahu was in seclusion and Elisha was acting as prophet in his stead. Thus, Elisha is the acting prophet during the war of Moav and the chapters afterwards. As such, one might suggest that Chapter 2 appears where it does because it marks the end of Eliyahu's tenure as prophet, even though he was still alive.

⁵ Ibn Ezra brings the possibility that Eliyahu wrote the letter ברוח הנבואה before he died and then gave it to one of בני הנביאים to give to Yehoram although rejects it since then it should say "ויובא אליו".

⁶ Hoil Moshe says it is like the verse "וְעַבְדִּי דָוִד מֶלֶךְ עֲלֵיהֶם" which also refers just to a king like David but not David himself.