Luke 4:25

4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ¹  when the sky ²  was shut up three and a half years, and ³  there was a great famine over all the land.

James 5:17

5:17 Elijah was a human being ⁴  like us, and he prayed earnestly ⁵  that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!

Revelation 11:2

11:2 But ⁶  do not measure the outer courtyard ⁷  of the temple; leave it out, ⁸  because it has been given to the Gentiles, ⁹  and they will trample on the holy city ¹⁰  for forty-two months.

Revelation 11:6

11:6 These two have the power ¹¹  to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time ¹²  they are prophesying. They ¹³  have power ¹⁴  to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want.

¹ sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.

² tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.

³ tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).

⁴ tn Although it is certainly true that Elijah was a “man,” here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") has been translated as “human being” because the emphasis in context is not on Elijah’s masculine gender, but on the common humanity he shared with the author and the readers.

⁵ tn Grk “he prayed with prayer” (using a Hebrew idiom to show intensity).

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁷ tn On the term αὐλήν (aulhn) BDAG 150 s.v. αὐλή 1 states, “(outer) court of the temple…Rv 11:2.”

⁸ tn The precise meaning of the phrase ἔκβαλε ἔξωθεν (ekbale exwqen) is difficult to determine.

⁹ tn Or “to the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

¹⁰ sn The holy city appears to be a reference to Jerusalem. See also Luke 21:24.

¹¹ tn Or “authority.”

¹² tn Grk “the days.”

¹³ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁴ tn Or “authority.”