Apocalypse of Elijah
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The Apocalypse of Elijah is an anonymous apocryphal work presenting itself as a revelation given by an angel. The title derives from the two mentions of Elijah within the text, although there is no other reason to assume that he is meant to be the author.
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[edit] Dating and provenance
This apocalypse is mentioned in two of the lists of books. Origen, Ambrosiaster, and Euthalius ascribe to it I Cor. ii. 9. If they are right, the apocalypse is pre-Pauline. The peculiar form in which I Cor. ii. 9 appears in Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus x. 94, and the Const. Apost. vii. 32, shows that both have the same source, probably this apocalypse.
Epiphanius[1] ascribes to this work Eph. v. 14. Isr. Lévi[2] argues for the existence of a Hebrew apocalypse of Elijah from two Talmudic passages. A late work of this name has been published by Adolf Jellinek[3], and Buttenwieser in 1897. Zahn[4] assigns this apocalypse to the 2nd century A.D.[5]
[edit] Text
The text is essentially a redaction of five originally separate works:
- A treatise on fasting and prayer
- A prophecy concerning the Assyrians, of events that had actually already happened by the time the text was written. The kings mentioned within the section have not been identified with certainty.
- An account of the future arrival of a son of lawlessness, later re-edited by a Christian to refer to the Antichrist. It describes the Antichrist/son-of-lawlessness in detail, including mentioning that his eyebrows will reach to his ears, he is skinny legged, young but bald bar a tuft of grey hair at the front, and that he has a bare spot on the front of his hands.
- An account of martyrdoms of Elijah and Enoch (based on the death of the two witnesses in Revelations), the martyrdom of Tabitha (from the Book of Acts), and sixty other men.
- An account of the destruction of the son of lawlessness after the last judgement, later re-edited by a Christian to refer to the Antichrist.
