Editing Elijah (oratorio) (section)

==Biblical narrative==
[[File:Andrea di Bonaiuto - Madonna and Child with Saints (detail) - WGA00311.jpg|thumb|upright|The oratorio depicts events in the life of the prophet Elijah]]
Mendelssohn uses biblical episodes relating to [[Elijah]], which in the original, {{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=1 Kings|chapter=17|verse=19}} and {{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=2 Kings|chapter=2|verse=1}}, are narrated in rather laconic form, to produce intensely dramatic scenes, while adding several related biblical texts, mostly taken from the [[Old Testament]]. These were doubtless well fitted to the taste of Mendelssohn's time, and a Victorian sentimentality also seems detectable in places.

Among the episodes is the [[resurrection]] of a dead youth. A dramatic episode is the contest of the gods, in which [[Jehovah]] consumes an offered sacrifice in a column of fire, while a sequence of increasingly frantic prayers by the prophets of the god [[Baal]] failed. Part I is concluded by the bringing of rain to parched Israel through Elijah's prayers. Part II depicts the persecution of Elijah by [[Jezebel|Queen Jezebel]], his retirement to the desert, his vision of God appearing, his return to his work, and his [[entering heaven alive|ascension on a fiery chariot into heaven]]. The work ends with prophecies and praise.