Elijah
Elijah was a descendant of Elam who married a foreign woman during the Babylonian exile (Ezr.10.26).
Biography
This Elijah was a layman, a descendant of the clan of Elam, who was among those identified in Ezra's reform as having taken foreign wives during the period of exile and return (Ezra 10:26). The clan of Elam was one of the larger family groups that returned from Babylonian captivity under Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:7), and several of its members appear in the lists of those who had intermarried with surrounding peoples. As part of the community-wide covenant renewal assembly called by Ezra, those identified in this category agreed to separate from their foreign wives. This act, painful as it was personally, demonstrated a collective commitment to maintaining the covenant boundaries that defined Israel as God's distinct people.
Significance
Elijah of Elam represents the broader post-exilic community's struggle to maintain covenant identity after the trauma of exile. His situation illustrates how the pressures of living among foreign nations could erode the boundaries of covenant faithfulness, even among those who had made the difficult journey back to the promised land. The reform of Ezra, within which this Elijah's story is embedded, reflects the ongoing biblical theme that God's people must be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 20:26). Even unnamed individuals in these reform lists are part of a larger story of repentance, renewal, and the tenacity of God's covenant purposes.
Verse Appearances (1)
Ezra
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]