Elijah - John the Baptist Question & Sirach Reading

During our Jesus in the Gospel's Class a question was asked about the relationship between Elijah and John the Baptist.

Was John (the Baptist) in the same ancestral line as Elijah?

What a great question!

I hadn't considered that before and didn't remember reading anything like this in my studies so here is what I've discovered...

John was the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:5-7)
Zechariah was from the priestly order of Abijah (Abijah was the 2nd son of Samuel the priest)
Elizabeth was a descendent of Aaron (the brother of Moses, from the priestly tribe of Levi)

Elijah was a Tishbite, from Tishbe in the land of Gilead. (in the map below it's in the middle of Israel (pink) just east of a point between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea.

Because there is no actual biblical genealogy of Elijah, we have to trust in the traditions about him. He was said to be of priestly descent (i.e. Tribe of Levi or a descendent of Aaron) but Tishbe being in the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, was originally the tribe of Gad (and Manasseh). While it's possible there were Levites living all throughout the land of Israel, most of them settled in and around Jerusalem, where the Tabernacle was set up and eventually the Temple was built.
So, other than the tradition, we have no direct family link between Elijah and John. Rather it is a spiritual one which is the one Jesus makes clear later in the Gospels.


Sirach 48:1-14

Then Elijah arose, a prophet like fire,

and his word burned like a torch.

² He brought a famine upon them,

and by his zeal he made them few in number.

³ By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens,

and also three times brought down fire.

⁴ How glorious you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!

Whose glory is equal to yours?

⁵ You raised a corpse from death

and from Hades, by the word of the Most High.

⁶ You sent kings down to destruction,

and famous men, from their sickbeds.

⁷ You heard rebuke at Sinai

and judgments of vengeance at Horeb.

⁸ You anointed kings to inflict retribution,

and prophets to succeed you.^a

⁹ You were taken up by a whirlwind of fire,

in a chariot with horses of fire.

¹⁰ At the appointed time, it is written, you are destined^b

to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury,

to turn the hearts of parents to their children,

and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

¹¹ Happy are those who saw you

and were adorned^c with your love!

For we also shall surely live.^d 

Elisha

(2 Kings 2.9—13)

¹² When Elijah was enveloped in the whirlwind,

Elisha was filled with his spirit.

He performed twice as many signs,

and marvels with every utterance of his mouth.^e

Never in his lifetime did he tremble before any ruler,

nor could anyone intimidate him at all.

¹³ Nothing was too hard for him,

and when he was dead, his body prophesied.

¹⁴ In his life he did wonders,

and in death his deeds were marvelous.