oa Elia op de Horeb

*Dit artikel is geschreven vanuit de veronderstelling, dat de geschiedenissen over Elia (1 Kon. 17-19.21; 2 Kon. 1-2) verhalen zijn, die iets vertellen over geloof en geesteshouding van de beschrijver van de geschiedenis. De vraag, wat de waarde van deze verhalen is als historische bron voor de beschreven geschiedenis, wil ik hier buiten beschouwing laten.

This article takes its starting point in the repetition of 1 Kings 19:9b-10 in 13b-14. This duplicate cannot be explained by a literary-critical or narratological solution alone. In the story of the encounter with JHWH the style figure of flash-back (‘nachholende Erzählung’) is present. In the time-order of the narration 9b-10 and 13b-14 are successive but in the narrated time they are synchronous. The author has placed the dialogue of God with Elijah in anachrony before 11-13a in order to emphasize Elijah’s despair.

In the second part of the article it is argumented that elements from the theophany ‘tempest - fire - earthquake’ are not referring to Baal but to the way JHWH has revealed Himself in 1 Kings 18. The theophany on Mount Horeb gives a theological counter-weight to the revelation on Mount Carmel.