Still looking at passages that include Elijah, let’s segue into the discussion on prayer:
• James 5:13-20 ESV 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray (g4336. προσεύχομαι proseuchoma). Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray (g4336. προσεύχομαι proseuchoma) over him, anointing him with oil in the name of κύριος kúrios. 15 And the prayer (g2171. εὐχή euchē) of faith will save the one who is sick, and κύριος kúrios will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray (g2172. εὔχομαι eúchomai) for one another, that you may be healed. The •prayer (g1162. δέησις deēsis) of a {righteous person} (g1342. δίκαιος dikaios)• has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a {nature like ours}(g3663. ὁμοιοπαθής homoiopathēs), and he •prayed (g4336. προσεύχομαι proseuchoma) fervently (g4335. προσευχή proseuchē) that it might not rain•, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 •Then he prayed (g4336. προσεύχομαι proseuchoma) again, and heaven gave rain•, and the earth bore its fruit. 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
(http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/elijah-prays-rain/)
[note the “brings back,” repentance, to truth] Recall that the focus is really on the HS writings on Eliyahu the Tishbite, but there have already been many passages from GS that have mentioned Eliyahu. And this particular discussion in the Epistle of James/Ya’akov is the one that got the meditation started, that initiated the exegesis/midrash. Why would what this writer consider one of the “major players,” one of the premier authors [Ya’akov] in GS use Eliyahu as the centerpiece, the example of a righteous person with fervent prayer bringing about life changes if this were not the case? Recall that Ya’akov was the brother of Yeshua. (Mt 13:55-56; Mk 6:3; Ga 1:19-20) There will be a bit more about James/Ya’akov himself at the end of this Post. But for now, the definitions of the selected words is in order, regarding the righteous person, and prayer.
Please go to the Appendix on Greek prayer words (Appendix 2) for the definitions, due to their length. Note that the LXX refers, for {righteous person} (g1342. δίκαιος dikaios) to Noah, as righteous (h6662. צַדִּיק ṣaḏiyq) man:
• Genesis 6:9 ESV “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous (h6662. צַדִּיק ṣaḏiyq) man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”
Looking at the pertinent James 5 section again, without the Greek words inserted, let’s discuss what Ya’akov says.
• James 5:16b-18. NASB … The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
Notice we learn two things about the man, Eliyahu. He had a “nature like ours,” ὁμοιοπαθής homoiopathēs, he suffered and had passions as do we. Nevertheless, Ya’akov uses Eliyahu as the example par excellence of a righteous man in prayer. We will come back to this point of Eliyahu being a righteous man as our discussion proceeds. There are several Hebrew words related to/derived from the root h6663. צָדַק ṣāḏaq that are typically used in the Hebrew Scriptures to discuss righteousness.345 None of these are used to describe Eliyahu. Yet James clearly uses Elijah as an example of a righteous man. He uses the word that the Septuagint uses of Noah, for צַדִּיק ṣaḏiyq, one of those צָדַק ṣāḏaq-based words. Keep this in mind as the discussion later turns again to Eliyahu’s nature and his testimony or witness to us and to the world.
The numerous references to Eliyahu, culminating in James 5, serve as a perfect segue into the discussion on prayer and intercession. The subject has clearly been an important part of the passages including Eliyahu, aside from the narrative of his service in 1 and 2 Kings and a mention in 2 Chronicles. But now we must look at the narratives themselves. There are a number of Hebrew words that are interpreted as ‘to pray’ in English. The writer will agree that literal words for praying are sparse in the passages about Eliyahu in these books. The two most common words for ‘pray’ are h6419. פָּלַל p̱âlal and h4994. נָא nā’. h4994. נָא nā’ more frequently is used as ‘please’ or ‘I pray thee’ (prithee). Of the ‘pray’ words:
- h6419. פָּלַל p̱âlal Not used at all in Elijah narratives. h6279. עָתַר ‘āṯar Not used at all in Elijah narratives.
- h7878. ִ שׂיחַ śîyaḥ Not used at all in Elijah narratives.
- h7121. קָרָא qârâ’, generally meaning ‘to call,’ can be used in the sense of ‘to pray.’ h7121. קָרָא qârâ’ is used thus in two passages, 1K 17:20,21; 18:24-28. In the verses 1K 18:24-28, it is used of Elijah calling to YHWH and the Jezebel prophets calling to Baal. The 17:20-21 verses are quoted below showing the use of h7121. קָרָא qârâ’ and h4994. נָא nā’.
• 1 Kings 17:20-22 NASB 20 He called (h7121. קָרָא qârâ’) to YHWH and said, “O YHWH my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called (h7121. קָרָא qârâ’) to YHWH and said, “O YHWH my God, I pray (H4994. נָא nā’) You, let this child’s life return to him.” 22 YHWH heard the voice of Eliyahu, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.
The only other use of h4994. נָא nā’ (except as a ‘please’) is with another word sometimes used as pray, h2603. חָנַן ḥânan, in 2K 1:13, the third captain of fifty entreats Elijah. (also h4994. נָא nā’). So this is not a prayer to God, but a prayer, an entreaty, to Eliyahu that he and his men be spared. Why look in such a detailed fashion, demonstrating for prayer words are sparse in this section? The postulate by the rabbinic midrash has been that Elijah was working on his own zealousness and not praying to YHWH regarding the bringing of the drought. The first step was to look for straightforward prayer words. It is agreed that those specific words for prayer are not used for Eliyahu, relative to the stopping of rain.
But are there other indications that Eliyahu was having “conversations with YHWH?” Why would Ya’akov say specifically about this particular situation, naming Eliyahu as an example of a “righteous person,” whose prayer has great power? Why would he say that he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and in the next verse say he prayed again and heaven gave rain, if these actions were untrue? Or why, between these two acts that Ya’akov cites, would it say that “the Word of YHWH came to Eliyahu” and “Go show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth,” (1K 18:1) if Eliyahu was not having ongoing communication with the Father [prayer]?
Should we not be looking for what clues, idioms, keywords and other hints that led Ya’akov to draw this conclusion or to be inspired to write what he has written? Abba does speak in “riddles.” (Nm 12:8; Pr 1:6) To this writer, for this exegesis/midrash, there appears to be a much bigger message in the narrative of Eliyahu, which can be seen by using the tools and techniques discussed. If there is a suspected theme, must we not be searching for other witnesses to confirm, to “establish the truth?” Where else have we heard/seen this?
There is a bit more before moving on to see what else Scripture is able to tell us in the Eliyahu narratives, that may or may not be pertinent, but bears bringing to the light of day. The discussion circles back now to James/Ya’akov and the discussion of “the righteous person.” Recall the word that Ya’akov used for “righteous person” is the same word used for Noah [Noach] in Genesis 6:9. More about James, our “Anglicized ” name for Yeshua’s younger brother. His name in Greek, g2385. Ἰάκωβος Iakōbos; the same as g2384. Ἰακώβ Iakōb; of Hebrew origin (h3290); Ya’akov, the progenitor of the Israelites: h3290. יעַקֲבֹ ya‘ăqôḇ; the Israelitish patriarch: — Jacob.
Ya’akov did not always believe that his half-brother was the Messiah. (John 7:1-10, especially 7:5) Again, Ya’akov was well respected. He was the head of the council of elders (Acts 15:1-29) of the Hebrew/Jewish believers that Yeshua was the Messiah ָ מ ִ שׁיחַ] māšiyaḥ]. They were not at that time called “Christians.” (Acts 11:25-26) There came a time when there was controversy between brothers, brothers of the people of God (Acts 11:1-18) [imagine that!]. It had been shown to Kefa, [Peter, Cephas], that righteous Gentiles could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 10:1-11:18) Long story short, there was disagreement over what guidelines from YHWH’s instructions these believers should be expected to follow. The disagreement came before the council, and Ya’akov as the head of the council, after deliberation, issued a decision and a letter. (Acts 15:1-29, esp: 15:13, 15:19-20, 15:29)
The wording of the letter:
• Acts 15:28-29 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
HOWEVER it must be noted that in the deliberations, the reason that they were able to agree to such a simple, straightforward statement is found in Acts 15:18-21, just a bit earlier:
Acts 15:18-21 (NKJV) 18 “Known to God from eternity are all His works. 19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moshe has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
What does this mean? It means, though the letter states some simple, straightforward criteria for the Gentiles, it was expected that they would continue their learning of the Torah, the words of Moshe, every Sabbath.
This is a very succinct statement, short and sweet. Apparently Ya’akov’s Council’s definition of “righteousness” for a Gentile who has accepted YHWH as his Father, become one of “God’s people.” The mechanics of that are not here stated, only the expectations afterwards. This is not a treatise on what it takes to accept YHWH as Father as a Gentile, but Abram [later Abraham] was a Gentile who became the father of the people of God, through faith. (4:1-14; He 11:8, 11:17-19, Gen 12-25.) And the example that got this controversy started, Cornelius, was a Gentile whom Peter witnessed receiving the Spirit of God. (Acts 10) The reader can read about these, but note that faith was the basis, and other things came later.
Keep this letter that James authored in mind, and look now at another set of guidelines for a “righteous Gentile.”
The Seven Laws of Noah (Hebrew: שבע מצוות בני נח Sheva Mitzvot B’nei Noah), from the Complete unedited version of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia* Laws which were supposed by the Rabbis to have been binding upon mankind at large even before the revelation at Sinai, and which are still binding upon non-Jews. The term Noachian indicates the universality of these ordinances, since the whole human race was supposed to be descended from the three sons of Noah, who alone survived the Flood. Although only those laws which are found in the earlier chapters of the Pentateuch [Torah], before the record of the revelation at Sinai, should, it would seem, be binding upon all mankind, yet the Rabbis discarded some and, by hermeneutic rules or in accordance with some tradition (see Judah ha-Levi, “Cuzari,” iii. 73), introduced others which are not found there. Basing their views on the passage in Gen. ii. 16, they declared that the following six commandments were enjoined upon Adam:
- not to worship idols;
- not to blaspheme the name of God;
- to establish courts of justice;
- not to kill;
- not to commit adultery; and
- not to rob (Gen. R. xvi. 9, xxiv. 5; Cant. R. i. 16; comp. Seder ‘Olam Rabbah, ed. Ratner, ch. v. and notes, Wilna, 1897; Maimonides, “Yad,” Melakim, ix. 1).
- A seventh commandment was added after the Flood—not to eat flesh that had been cut from a living animal (Gen. ix. 4). [changed to list format by this writer]
Thus, the Talmud frequently speaks of “the seven laws of the sons of Noah,” which were regarded as obligatory upon all mankind, in contradistinction to those that were binding upon Israelites only (Tosef., ‘Ab. Zarah, ix. 4; Sanh. 56a et seq.). According to this article, further discussion through the ages has brought a few variations in the listing of these seven points, one being “sexual immorality” replacing “adultery,” but the idea remains basically unchanged.
Again, one may see that these listed expectations are really somewhat of a condensation of the “Ten Commandments” [Ten Words]. One might also consider that James and his council, addressing their letter to people who had chosen YHWH as Father already had well in mind the Ten Commandments and that these converts would be following those ‘Words.’ See the context,** The letter was to dispel controversy over things like circumcision, which was a hot-button topic, not to discuss the Ten Words, which were understood. Observance of the Father’s instructions, which ones, how much, etc. is where this controversy got started and why it rages on today, among brothers.***
Interesting that Ya’akov is an example of a brother that didn’t believe but then believed. Again, it all seems to fall upon “doctrinal issues.” If one reads Scripture, really reads Scripture, and meditates upon it every day as noted in the Shema, (Dt 6:4ff) and falls in love with the Father, which one cannot help but do, then one understands things like the Synthetic nature of Creation and the Love and Mercy of the Father and simply wants to do anything one can to please him.
So this writer’s question is this: with the great acceptance of Eliyahu in GS, and his notation in Malachi 4:5-6 coming “before the great and awesome day of YHWH,” and the expectation of that in our brothers Yehuda, played out even in pouring a cup for him at the Pesach [Passover] table,# is this “disagreement” over whether Eliyahu was “playing God” or the best example of a righteous person praying fervently the great chasm that cannot be breached? Has Eliyahu [And Ya’akov?] become a “symbol of sorts” representing the argument between brothers? Cannot that be mended after twenty centuries? Are we all so entrenched? [Yes, there has been much muddy water to pass under the bridge since then. Is not our example the One who is merciful and gracious?]
In the next Post the investigation of the actual Eliyahu narratives to answer the questions posed will begin. Perhaps the reader says, “finally!”
[N.B., the Torah Portion that the rabbi indicates parallels to, in his discussion drawing the conclusions about Eliyahu (using many of the tools discussed here) is in Genesis, the Flood and Noah]
A writer’s comment – any of the chapters in Section two could be a sample exegesis. The goal is to give many examples of tool usage.
* LAWS, NOACHIAN: By: Isidore Singer, Julius H. Greenstone The Seven Laws. 352 . 353 354 Ro 355 . 356 http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9679-laws-noachian Retrieved 03032017
** Acts 15:1-29; especially see verse 21 indicating participation in Synagogue and Sabbath.
*** What Did Jesus Mean? Explaining the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables in Simple and Universal Human Concepts, Anna Wierzbicka, Oxford University Press, New York, 2001.
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