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'' monastery , mount sinai '' an icon of elijah from saint catherine 's 220px elijah_icon_sinai_c1200 . jpg elijah
 elijah -lrb- elias -rrb-
elijah

elijah -lrb- , meaning `` my god is yahu '' -rrb- or elias -lrb- ; `` elías '' ; syriac : `` elyāe '' ; arabic : إلياس or إليا , `` ilyās '' or `` ilyā '' -rrb- was a prophet and a wonder-worker in the northern kingdom of israel during the reign of ahab -lrb- 9th century bc -rrb- , according to the biblical books of kings .
according to the books of kings , elijah defended the worship of yahweh over that of the canaanite idol baal .
he also had god perform miracles for him , which included raising the dead , bringing fire down from the sky , and having himself be taken up , `` by a whirlwind '' .
in the book of malachi , elijah 's return is prophesied `` before the coming of the great and terrible day of the lord '' , making him a harbinger of the messiah and the eschaton in various faiths that revere the hebrew bible .
references to elijah appear in the new testament , the talmud , the mishnah , and the qur ` an .
in judaism , elijah 's name is invoked at the weekly havdalah ritual that marks the end of shabbat , and elijah is invoked in other jewish customs , among them the passover seder and the brit milah -lrb- ritual circumcision -rrb- .
he appears in numerous stories and references in the haggadah and rabbinic literature , including the babylonian talmud .
the christian new testament describes how both jesus and john the baptist are compared to elijah and on some occasions thought by some to be manifestations of elijah , and elijah appears with moses during the transfiguration of jesus .
elijah is also a figure in various christian folk traditions , often identified with earlier pagan thunder or sky gods .
in the qur ` an and certain islamic traditions , elijah is described as a great and righteous man of god and one who powerfully preached against the worship of baal .
