Elijah (lived c. mid-9th century BC)

In the Old Testament, a Hebrew prophet during the reigns of the Israelite kings Ahab and Ahaziah. He came from Gilead. He defeated the prophets of Baal, and was said to have been carried up to heaven in a fiery chariot in a whirlwind. In Jewish belief, Elijah will return to earth to herald the coming of the Messiah.

Elijah

Oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn (words from the Old Testament), produced first in the English version at the Birmingham Festival, England, on 26 August 1846; the first German performance was given in Hamburg on 7 October 1847.