Christian Pure

What Does the Name Elias Mean? “My God Is Yahweh”

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Elias means “my God is Yahweh,” or “the LORD is God,” from the Hebrew Eliyahu.
  • Elias is the Greek form of Elijah, and the King James New Testament uses it 30 times, always for the prophet Elijah.
  • Elijah challenged Israel on Mount Carmel, and the people answered with a cry that echoes his name: “The LORD, he is the God.”
  • Jesus said John the Baptist was the Elias who was to come, because John came “in the spirit and power of Elias.”
  • The name is Hebrew in origin and spread through Europe in its Greek form, so it belongs to no single nation; Spanish writes Elías, French Élie and Arabic Ilyas.
  • James tells us Elias “was a man subject to like passions as we are,” and his prayers were heard.

Elias means “my God is Yahweh” in Hebrew. It is the Greek form of Elijah, the Hebrew Eliyahu, and the King James New Testament uses it for the prophet Elijah 30 times. So Elias and Elijah are one name and one man: Hebrew in origin, Greek in spelling. His name is a confession of faith, and his life was spent making it. On Mount Carmel, before a people who had drifted to Baal, he asked, “How long halt ye between…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • The Holy Bible, King James Version (1769 text), quoted from Bible Gateway: 1 Kings 16:31; 17:1; 18:21, 39; 19:4, 11–12; 2 Kings 1:8; 2:11; Malachi 4:5–6; Matthew 3:4; 11:14; 17:3, 10–13; 27:46–47; Luke 1:17; 4:16, 26; John 1:21; Romans 11:4; James 5:17–18. Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 American edition): 1 Kings (3 Kings) 17:1, from Bible Gateway.
  • James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (1890), with Brown, Driver and Briggs (1906) and Thayer (1889), at Bible Hub: Eliyyah (H452) and Ēlias (G2243); word-by-word lexicons for 1 Kings 17:1 and 1 Kings 18:39.
  • Charles L. Souvay, “Elias,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 5 (New York: Robert Appleton, 1909), New Advent.
  • Mike Campbell, “Elias” and “Elijah,” Behind the Name, behindthename.com/name/elias and behindthename.com/name/elijah.
  • The Quran 37:123, Saheeh International translation, quran.com.
  • Word counts for “Elias,” “Esaias” and “Noe” made on the 1769 King James text from eBible.org.

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