What If Elijah Was a Gentile?

I was recently speaking at a conference and sharing about the amazing contribution of non-Jewish people throughout the Bible, especially in the Tanakh or Old Testament, and how powerfully G-D used them to not only bless Israel but also as a part of Israel. People like Jethro, Rahab, Caleb, Othniel, Ruth, and Elijah. I know that the last name might cause some people to say wait a minute and then ask the question: Was Elijah a Gentile?

So, let’s try to answer that question and then answer the question stated in the title of this blog. What evidence is there that Elijah the prophet, one of the greatest prophets of Israel’s history, was or at least might have been a Gentile? 

We are first introduced to Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1:

1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab: “As Adonai God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be no dew or rain these years, except at my word.”

Notice that he is introduced as Elijah the Tishbite. The name Elijah means “my Elohim is G-D,” but what does the word Tishbite mean? I know the common thought is that Tishbi is a town although there is no consensus as to its location nor is there any archaeological evidence of its existence, but the Hebrew word for Tishbi actually  means: stranger, settler, sojourner or immigrant. Interesting right? But let’s look a little further because the text goes on to say that Elijah was not just a Tishbite, but also a settler, which is the Hebrew word toshab. This word can also mean a foreign resident. So the opening sentence of 1 Kings 17:1 could be read “Now Elijah a sojourner, one of the immigrants of Gilead.”

Every time the word toshab is used elsewhere in the Bible, it is used in reference to Gentiles.

Just think about it: According to scripture was Elijah, who was one of the greatest prophets in the history of Israel, the man who by G-D’s command said to King Ahab that there would be no rain and it didn’t rain for three and a half years, the prophet who stood up against the prophets of baal at Mount Carmiel, a Gentile?

Before we go on, let’s stop just for a moment and remember that while the Bible is primarily a book about the history of G-D and the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we have to remember that while G-D was interacting with the people in the Bible he was not ignoring the millions of other people who were not a part of Israel. We know that even with all his problems, and there were many, Bilaam was a Gentile prophet who heard from G-D and spoke prophetic words over Israel. Words that are still proclaimed in synagogues around the world today. G-D also sent prophets of Israel to Gentile nations such as Jonah who left Israel to go to Nineveh to preach repentance. So, why would we cringe or struggle with the possibility that during a time when Ahab and Jezebel were leading the nation into the worship of Gentile gods, that G-D would send a Gentile prophet to lead Israel back to the One True and Living G-D?

It is also important to remember that verse one includes the statement, “one of the settlers of Gilead.” There were many Gentiles who chose for many different reasons to dwell in the land of Israel. Some as total outsiders living among the Israelites. Some who had drawn closer to the ways and beliefs of the Israelites. Some who chose to participate fully in the life and destiny of the Jewish people.

There are other hints that Elijah was a Gentile from the fact that he is introduced without the same family lineage as Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:1:

1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the kohanim who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 

Or as Elisha his disciple is introduced in 1 Kings 19:15-16:

15 Then Adonai said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram, 16 and anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.

So, we see from the Tanakh very strong evidence that Elijah was a Gentile and that leads us to the next question: What if Elijah was a Gentile? What if every year, Jewish people around the world set a seat at their Passover Seder and walk to their front doors to look for a Gentile prophet? What if every week, Jewish people close out their Shabbat by singing a song about a Gentile prophet? What if the symbolism of a Gentile prophet to preach repentance to Israel was a precursor to what Paul says in Romans 11:11:

11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their false step salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke Israel to jealousy.

What if G-D used Elijah as an example to the Gentile sojourners of today to speak and prophesy about Yeshua to the Jewish people so that they might see the redemptive power of G-D and repent? What if it was always G-D's plan to have both Jewish and Gentile prophets as part of Israel and we chose to hide the Gentile prophets in our Bible by changing definitions and word meanings? What if Elijah was a Gentile? The answer to that last question, what if Elijah was a Gentile, is that nothing changes except our preconceived notions and biases; however, what should change for us is that we should all be understanding that G-D’s plan was always to welcome Gentiles into Israel and use them for His kingdom's purposes. After all, G-D didn’t change 1 Kings 17:1 and hide His choice to use a Gentile to prophesy to Israel, we did.