In the Bible
Did Elijah die?
The Bible does not say he died. He was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. Enoch is the only other person said to be taken without death.
See 2 Kings 2:11
Israel’s story
Who was Elijah in the Bible?
Elijah was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel when King Ahab and Queen Jezebel led the people to worship Baal. He called down fire on Mount Carmel, ran for his life, and met God in the sound of a thin silence. He did not die. A chariot of fire and a whirlwind took him up to heaven.
- When
- In the days of King Ahab, about 874 to 853 BC.
- Read
- 1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 2
7 moments
Elijah’s life, in order
See where Elijah fits on the Bible timeline
Tap a passage to read it here. Each one opens in full in the Lumin Translation.
No rain
Elijah tells Ahab there will be no rain except at his word. Ravens feed him by a brook.
The widow’s jar
At Zarephath a widow shares her last flour. Her jar does not run out, and Elijah raises her son.
Fire on Mount Carmel
Elijah challenges 450 prophets of Baal. Their god is silent. Fire from the Lord burns up Elijah’s soaked sacrifice.
Under the broom tree
Jezebel swears to kill him. He runs into the wilderness and asks to die. An angel feeds him.
The quiet whisper
At Horeb, God is not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. Then comes the sound of a thin silence, and God speaks.
Elisha
Elijah throws his cloak over Elisha, who leaves his oxen to follow him.
The whirlwind
By the Jordan near Jericho, a chariot of fire parts Elijah from Elisha, and Elijah goes up to heaven in a whirlwind.
Where it happened
Read these first
Key verses about Elijah
Elijah stepped up to all the people and said, “How long will you keep hobbling back and forth between two sides? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal is, go after him.” The people said not a word in reply.
1 Kings 18:21Choose whom you will follow
After the earthquake there was a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire there was the sound of a thin silence.
1 Kings 19:12The sound of a thin silence
Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
James 5:17A man like us
Questions people ask
What the Bible says, and what tradition adds
Each answer is marked: in the Bible, tradition, readers disagree, or not known.
Readers disagree
Is John the Baptist Elijah?
Malachi promised Elijah would come before the day of the Lord. Jesus said of John, “if you are willing to receive it, he himself is Elijah.” John himself said he was not. Most read it as John coming in Elijah’s spirit and power.
See Matthew 11:14
In the Bible
Does Elijah appear in the New Testament?
Yes. He stands with Moses and talks with Jesus on the mountain of the transfiguration.
See Matthew 17:3
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