WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Elijah
    n 1: a Hebrew prophet in the Old Testament who opposed the
         worship of idols; he was persecuted for rebuking Ahab and
         Jezebel (king and queen of Israel); he was taken up to
         heaven in a chariot of fire (circa 9th century BC)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Elijah
   whose God is Jehovah. (1.) "The Tishbite," the "Elias" of the
   New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings
   17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is
   mention made of a town called Thisbe, south of Kadesh, but it is
   impossible to say whether this was the place referred to in the
   name given to the prophet.

     Having delivered his message to Ahab, he retired at the
   command of God to a hiding-place by the brook Cherith, beyond
   Jordan, where he was fed by ravens. When the brook dried up God
   sent him to the widow of Zarephath, a city of Zidon, from whose
   scanty store he was supported for the space of two years. During
   this period the widow's son died, and was restored to life by
   Elijah (1 Kings 17: 2-24).

     During all these two years a famine prevailed in the land. At
   the close of this period of retirement and of preparation for
   his work (comp. Gal. 1:17, 18) Elijah met Obadiah, one of Ahab's
   officers, whom he had sent out to seek for pasturage for the
   cattle, and bade him go and tell his master that Elijah was
   there. The king came and met Elijah, and reproached him as the
   troubler of Israel. It was then proposed that sacrifices should
   be publicly offered, for the purpose of determining whether Baal
   or Jehovah were the true God. This was done on Carmel, with the
   result that the people fell on their faces, crying, "The Lord,
   he is the God." Thus was accomplished the great work of Elijah's
   ministry. The prophets of Baal were then put to death by the
   order of Elijah. Not one of them escaped. Then immediately
   followed rain, according to the word of Elijah, and in answer to
   his prayer (James 5:18).

     Jezebel, enraged at the fate that had befallen her priests of
   Baal, threatened to put Elijah to death (1 Kings 19:1-13). He
   therefore fled in alarm to Beersheba, and thence went alone a
   day's journey into the wilderness, and sat down in despondency
   under a juniper tree. As he slept an angel touched him, and said
   unto him, "Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for
   thee." He arose and found a cake and a cruse of water. Having
   partaken of the provision thus miraculously supplied, he went
   forward on his solitary way for forty days and forty nights to
   Horeb, the mount of God, where he took up his abode in a cave.
   Here the Lord appeared unto him and said, "What dost thou here,
   Elijah?" In answer to his despondent words God manifests to him
   his glory, and then directs him to return to Damascus and anoint
   Hazael king over Syria, and Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to
   be prophet in his room (1 Kings 19:13-21; comp. 2 Kings 8:7-15;
   9:1-10).

     Some six years after this he warned Ahab and Jezebel of the
   violent deaths they would die (1 Kings 21:19-24; 22:38). He
   also, four years afterwards, warned Ahaziah (q.v.), who had
   succeeded his father Ahab, of his approaching death (2 Kings
   1:1-16). (See NABOTH.) During these intervals he
   probably withdrew to some quiet retirement, no one knew where.
   His interview with Ahaziah's messengers on the way to Ekron, and
   the account of the destruction of his captains with their
   fifties, suggest the idea that he may have been in retirement at
   this time on Mount Carmel.

     The time now drew near when he was to be taken up into heaven
   (2 Kings 2:1-12). He had a presentiment of what was awaiting
   him. He went down to Gilgal, where was a school of the prophets,
   and where his successor Elisha, whom he had anointed some years
   before, resided. Elisha was solemnized by the thought of his
   master's leaving him, and refused to be parted from him. "They
   two went on," and came to Bethel and Jericho, and crossed the
   Jordan, the waters of which were "divided hither and thither"
   when smitten with Elijah's mantle. Arrived at the borders of
   Gilead, which Elijah had left many years before, it "came to
   pass as they still went on and talked" they were suddenly
   separated by a chariot and horses of fire; and "Elijah went up
   by a whirlwind into heaven, "Elisha receiving his mantle, which
   fell from him as he ascended.

     No one of the old prophets is so frequently referred to in the
   New Testament. The priests and Levites said to the Baptist (John
   1:25), "Why baptizest thou, if thou be not that Christ, nor
   Elias?" Paul (Rom. 11:2) refers to an incident in his history to
   illustrate his argument that God had not cast away his people.
   James (5:17) finds in him an illustration of the power of
   prayer. (See also Luke 4:25; 9:54.) He was a type of John the
   Baptist in the sternness and power of his reproofs (Luke 9:8).
   He was the Elijah that "must first come" (Matt. 11:11, 14), the
   forerunner of our Lord announced by Malachi. Even outwardly the
   Baptist corresponded so closely to the earlier prophet that he
   might be styled a second Elijah. In him we see "the same
   connection with a wild and wilderness country; the same long
   retirement in the desert; the same sudden, startling entrance on
   his work (1 Kings 17:1; Luke 3:2); even the same dress, a hairy
   garment, and a leathern girdle about the loins (2 Kings 1:8;
   Matt. 3:4)."

     How deep the impression was which Elijah made "on the mind of
   the nation may be judged from the fixed belief, which rested on
   the words of Malachi (4:5, 6), which many centuries after
   prevailed that he would again appear for the relief and
   restoration of the country. Each remarkable person as he arrives
   on the scene, be his habits and characteristics what they may,
   the stern John equally with his gentle Successor, is proclaimed
   to be Elijah (Matt. 11:13, 14; 16:14; 17:10; Mark 9:11; 15:35;
   Luke 9:7, 8; John 1:21). His appearance in glory on the mount of
   transfiguration does not seem to have startled the disciples.
   They were 'sore afraid,' but not apparently surprised."

     (2.) The Elijah spoken of in 2 Chr. 21:12-15 is by some
   supposed to be a different person from the foregoing. He lived
   in the time of Jehoram, to whom he sent a letter of warning
   (comp. 1 Chr. 28:19; Jer. 36), and acted as a prophet in Judah;
   while the Tishbite was a prophet of the northern kingdom. But
   there does not seem any necessity for concluding that the writer
   of this letter was some other Elijah than the Tishbite. It may
   be supposed either that Elijah anticipated the character of
   Jehoram, and so wrote the warning message, which was preserved
   in the schools of the prophets till Jehoram ascended the throne
   after the Tishbite's translation, or that the translation did
   not actually take place till after the accession of Jehoram to
   the throne (2 Chr. 21:12; 2 Kings 8:16). The events of 2 Kings 2
   may not be recorded in chronological order, and thus there may
   be room for the opinion that Elijah was still alive in the
   beginning of Jehoram's reign.


Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's):

Elijah, God the Lord, the strong Lord