Ecclesiasticus 48

Then Elias the prophet stood up like fire, and his word burned like a lamp.

1Then stood up Elias the prophet as fire, and his word burned like a lamp.

NoteElias is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew name Elijah. This book was written in Hebrew but survives mainly in Greek, so its people carry Greek forms of their names: Elias for Elijah, Eliseus for Elisha, Esay for Isaiah, Ezekias for Hezekiah, Sion for Zion. Elijah was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel in the ninth century BC, and his story runs from 1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 2. This chapter belongs to a long hymn, stretching from chapter 44 to chapter 50, that praises Israel's ancestors roughly in the order they lived.

2He brought a terrible famine on them, and by his burning zeal he made their number small.

2He brought a sore famine upon them, and by his zeal he diminished their number.

NoteThe famine is the drought Elijah announced in 1 Kings 17, which lasted more than two years. 'By his zeal he diminished their number' points to 1 Kings 18, where the prophets of Baal were put to death after the contest on Mount Carmel. Zeal in older English is not mere enthusiasm: it is a fierce, jealous devotion that acts.

3By the word of the Lord he shut up the sky, and three times he also brought fire down.

3By the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven, and also three times brought down fire.

NoteTo shut up the heaven is the ordinary way of saying the rain stopped, since the sky was pictured as a store of water that could be closed. The three fires are the fire that fell on the altar at Carmel (1 Kings 18) and the two fires that consumed the companies of soldiers sent to arrest Elijah (2 Kings 1).

4Elias, how greatly you were honored for your wonderful deeds! Who can be proud of anything to match you?

4O Elias, how wast thou honoured in thy wondrous deeds! and who may glory like unto thee!

5You raised a dead man up out of death, and brought his soul back from the place of the dead, by the word of the Most High.

5Who didst raise up a dead man from death, and his soul from the place of the dead, by the word of the most High:

NoteThe dead man is the son of the widow at Zarephath, whom Elijah revived in 1 Kings 17. 'The place of the dead' translates Hades, the Greek name for the underworld, which stands here for the Hebrew Sheol: the shadowy place where all the dead were thought to go, the good along with the bad. It is not a place of punishment.

6You brought kings down to ruin, and brought honored men down from their beds.

6Who broughtest kings to destruction, and honorable men from their bed:

NoteThe kings are Ahab and his son Ahaziah, whose deaths Elijah announced. The Greek behind 'honorable men from their bed' means a sickbed: Ahaziah was told he would never rise from the bed he lay in after his fall through a lattice (2 Kings 1).

7You heard the Lord's rebuke at Sinai, and at Horeb you heard the sentence of punishment.

7Who heardest the rebuke of the Lord in Sinai, and in Horeb the judgment of vengeance:

NoteSinai and Horeb are two names for the same mountain, the one where Moses received the law. The verse refers to 1 Kings 19, where Elijah fled to that mountain and heard the Lord speak to him there.

8You anointed kings to carry out revenge, and prophets to take his place after him.

8Who annointedst kings to take revenge, and prophets to succeed after him:

NoteTo anoint someone was to pour olive oil over the head, the public act that marked a person out for an office. The kings are Hazael of Syria and Jehu of Israel, whom Elijah was told to anoint so that they would carry out judgment on Ahab's house (1 Kings 19). The prophet who followed him was Elisha. The Greek reads 'after you'; the King James slips into 'after him' partway through, and the whole chapter moves back and forth between addressing Elijah directly and speaking about him.

9You were taken up in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with horses of fire.

9Who was taken up in a whirlwind of fire, and in a chariot of fiery horses:

NoteThis is 2 Kings 2, where Elijah was carried off alive instead of dying. Because he was never said to have died, later Jewish tradition expected him back before the end, which is what verse 10 draws on.

10You were appointed to give rebukes at their set times, to calm the anger of the Lord's judgment before it burst out in fury, to turn the heart of the father to the son, and to put the tribes of Jacob back in place.

10Who wast ordained for reproofs in their times, to pacify the wrath of the Lord’s judgment, before it brake forth into fury, and to turn the heart of the father unto the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

Note'Ordained for reproofs in their times' renders a Greek phrase meaning that Elijah stands written down, held in readiness for an appointed moment. The last two clauses quote Malachi 4:5-6, which promises that Elijah will return before the day of the Lord to turn parents and children back to each other; 'restore the tribes of Jacob' echoes Isaiah 49:6. Jacob was renamed Israel, and the twelve tribes descended from his sons, most of them scattered when Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom.

11Happy are those who saw you, and who fell asleep in love; for we too shall surely live.

11Blessed are they that saw thee, and slept in love; for we shall surely live.

Note'Slept in love' uses the ordinary ancient way of saying that someone died. The Greek of this line is damaged and the manuscripts disagree; some read something closer to 'those who have been adorned with love.' What the second half promises, and to whom, is genuinely unsettled, and the confident 'for we shall surely live' is one reading among several.

12It was Elias who was wrapped up in a whirlwind, and Eliseus was filled with his spirit. As long as he lived, the presence of no ruler could shake him, and no one could force him to give in.

12Elias it was, who was covered with a whirlwind: and Eliseus was filled with his spirit: whilst he lived, he was not moved with the presence of any prince, neither could any bring him into subjection.

NoteElisha asked for a double share of Elijah's spirit as Elijah was taken up (2 Kings 2:9), a double share being the portion an eldest son inherited. From this point the 'he' of the verse is Elisha, who faced down kings of Israel without flinching.

13Nothing anyone said could overpower him. And after he died, his body prophesied.

13No word could overcome him; and after his death his body prophesied.

NoteThis refers to 2 Kings 13:20-21, where a corpse hurriedly thrown into Elisha's grave came back to life on touching his bones. To say his body 'prophesied' is to say that it went on doing what a prophet's body did in life.

14In his life he did wonders, and at his death his works were marvelous.

14He did wonders in his life, and at his death were his works marvellous.

15Even after all this, the people did not turn back, and they did not leave their sins, until they were plundered and carried out of their land and scattered over all the earth. Yet a small people were left, and a ruler in the house of David.

15For all this the people repented not, neither departed they from their sins, till they were spoiled and carried out of their land, and were scattered through all the earth: yet there remained a small people, and a ruler in the house of David:

NoteBeing plundered and carried out of the land means deportation: Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom and scattered its people in 722 BC, and Babylon took Judah into exile in 586 BC. The 'ruler in the house of David' is the line of kings descended from David, which continued in the southern kingdom of Judah after the north was gone.

16Some of them did what pleased God, and some of them piled up sins.

16Of whom some did that which was pleasing to God, and some multiplied sins.

17Ezekias made his city strong, and brought water into the middle of it. He cut through hard rock with iron, and made wells to hold water.

17Ezekias fortified his city, and brought in water into the midst thereof: he digged the hard rock with iron, and made wells for waters.

NoteEzekias is Hezekiah, king of Judah in the late eighth century BC. The water works are described in 2 Kings 20:20: a tunnel cut through solid rock to bring the Gihon spring inside the city walls, so that a besieged Jerusalem would not be cut off from its water. The tunnel still exists. 'Wells' here translates the Greek word for cisterns, sealed tanks for storing water, not shafts dug down to groundwater.

18In his time Sennacherib came up and sent Rabsaces. He raised his hand against Sion and made proud boasts.

18In his time Sennacherib came up, and sent Rabsaces, and lifted up his hand against Sion, and boasted proudly.

NoteSennacherib was king of Assyria; he invaded Judah in 701 BC. Rabsaces is not a personal name but a title, the Rabshakeh, a senior Assyrian officer, sent ahead to stand outside the walls and demand surrender (2 Kings 18). Sion is the Greek spelling of Zion, the hill Jerusalem stood on and so a name for the city itself.

19Then their hearts and their hands shook, and they were in pain, like women in labor.

19Then trembled their hearts and hands, and they were in pain, as women in travail.

20But they called on the Lord, who is merciful, and they stretched out their hands toward him. At once the Holy One heard them from heaven, and rescued them through the work of Esay.

20But they called upon the Lord which is merciful, and stretched out their hands toward him: and immediately the Holy One heard them out of heaven, and delivered them by the ministry of Esay.

NoteSpreading the hands out, arms extended with the palms open, was the ordinary posture for prayer, so the gesture simply means they prayed. 'The Holy One' is a title for God, used constantly in the book of Isaiah. Esay is Isaiah the prophet, who advised Hezekiah during the siege.

21He struck the army of the Assyrians, and his angel destroyed them.

21He smote the host of the Assyrians, and his angel destroyed them.

NoteAccording to 2 Kings 19:35, a hundred and eighty five thousand men in the Assyrian camp were struck down in a single night, and Sennacherib withdrew without taking Jerusalem. 'His angel' means the Lord's messenger.

22For Ezekias had done what pleased the Lord, and he held firmly to the ways of David his ancestor, as Esay the prophet had told him to. Esay was great, and could be trusted in what he saw.

22For Ezekias had done the thing that pleased the Lord, and was strong in the ways of David his father, as Esay the prophet, who was great and faithful in his vision, had commanded him.

23In his time the sun went backward, and he made the king's life longer.

23In his time the sun went backward, and he lengthened the king’s life.

NoteThis is the sign given in 2 Kings 20:8-11: the shadow on the stairway of Ahaz moved back ten steps, as a guarantee that the sick Hezekiah would recover. Fifteen years were added to his life. The one who made the king's life longer is Isaiah, through whom the promise came.

24By a great spirit he saw what would happen at the end, and he comforted those who were mourning in Sion.

24He saw by an excellent spirit what should come to pass at the last, and he comforted them that mourned in Sion.

NoteThis points at the later chapters of the book of Isaiah, which speak to people already in exile and promise them comfort; Isaiah 61:2-3 in particular speaks of comforting those who mourn in Zion. The writer treats the whole book as the work of the one prophet who advised Hezekiah.

25He showed what would happen for all time to come, and hidden things before they arrived.

25He shewed what should come to pass for ever, and secret things or ever they came.