This post relates to chapter 19, The Prophet, on pages 86-88. The footnote on the biblical character of Elijah felt sort of lacking to me, so I thought I’d do a little further investigation. Instead of linking to various retellings or the passages from the Old Testament (and the Qur’an) I thought it would be more helpful to summarize.

Elijah was formerly a friend of Ahab, however, when Ahab married Jezebel (which I’m sure at least a handful of the class has heard of) Ahab began worshiping a “false god” called Baal over the god Yaweh. The name Elijah literally translates to Yaweh is my God in Hebrew. Elijah tries to tell Ahab that worshiping Baal and other gods and goddesses under him (theirs was a polytheistic belief system) will give him nothing but trouble. The land falls into a state of famine and drought for many years.

Elijah challenges over 800 of Jezebel’s priests to prove which god, Yaweh or Baal is the true god. Elijah and the priests both prepare alters and sacrifice oxen to their respective gods. Although they pray all night and even add their own blood to the altar there is no sign that god has received the sacrifice from Baal’s altar. Elijah asks Yaweh to receive his sacrifice and fire rains down from the sky. Seeing the flames around them Elijah prays fervently for Yaweh to bring rain. Rain falls for the first time in years, putting out the fire and ending the drought. Taking this as proof Yaweh is the true god he orders the “false priests” killed. When Jezebel finds out what Elijah had done to her priests she is furious. She threatens to kill him and he flees.

Elijah encounters Ahab and Jezebel some time later after the two rulers have carried out a murderous scheme to obtain a beautiful vineyard for themselves. He asks them, “Have you killed and also taken possession?” Then, he prophesizes their fate after committing such an act, “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick up your own blood” (1 Kings 21:19). Ahab calls Elijah his enemy and Elijah responds by throwing the charge back at him, telling him that he has made himself the enemy of God by his own actions. Elijah further prophesizes and tells Ahab that his entire kingdom will reject his authority; that Jezebel will be eaten by dogs within Jezreel; and that his family will be consumed by dogs as well (if they die in a city) or by birds (if they die in the country). When Ahab hears this he repents to such a degree that God relents in punishing Ahab but will punish Jezebel .

In the end, the prophecies come true. Years later, after Ahab has died and been succeeded by his son Jehoram, a rebel leader named Jehu kills Jehoram and orders Jezebel to be captured and thrown out a palace window. When the soldiers go outside, all they find are her skull, hands and feet. As prophesized by Elijah, the rest of her was eaten by dogs.

Sources:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Elijah.html

http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_elijah.html

http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000001299.htm

 

I think it might be easier to discuss how much the story of Elijah the Prophet plays into Moby Dick once we’ve finished it. After all, the whole point of a prophecy is to see how the story ends. With my vague knowledge of Moby Dick (this is my first time reading it) I’ve been trying to answer questions of this text in relation to the Elijah story. Who is the whale in this, Jezebel or the false god? Are we even supposed to consider it in parallel or is Elijah merely a well know character to allude to?

The chapter “The Prophet” is so short but it’s there. It obviously has a purpose. How is it functioning in the story? Does it merely give the reader excitement from foreshadowing or does it serve to introduce new themes? Could we consider the Moby Dick a story about fate and prophecy?

Finally, this song Dilettante could be alluding to either Moby Dick or biblical references or both. I had never really questioned the meaning of it until after I’d read this chapter. The lines “sharks swimming in the red” certainly make me think of the bloody sea after a whale kill. It also has the lines “Hang on, street savant/My bank in my back pocket/How far you think it’ll take us?” also reminds me of imagery from Moby Dick when Ishmael is wandering down the streets looking for a way out of town with “little or no money in [his] purse”. Does anyone else see any correlations?

You can listen to it on Youtube if you like. Just for more background, a dilettante is a person who claims an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.

Dilettante
Oh Elijah, don’t make me wait
Nobody’s winning
The sharks are swimming in the red

Oh Elijah, don’t make me wait
While you are sleeping
My mind goes creaking down the hall

Slow down, dilettante
So I can limp beside you
And follow in your house too

Hang on, street savant
My bank in my back pocket
How far you think it’ll take us?

You’re like a party I heard through a wall
I’m always watching you through a keyhole

Let’s not forget, let’s not forget
Let’s not forget, why we crawled here

Oh Elijah, don’t make me wait
I got no patience for an estrangement, anyway

Wake up, avenue C
Your hometown is still sleeping

You’re like a party I heard through a wall
Invite me
But I’m always watching you through a keyhole
Let’s not forget, let’s not forget
Let’s not forget, where we crawled from

Oh Elijah, don’t make me wait
What is so pressing
You can’t undress me anyway

–Emma