Overwhelmed by Emotions

Abstract While explicit references to Elijah by name cease after the transfiguration scene in Luke 9, verbal and thematic intertextual connections are present elsewhere in the narrative of Luke-Acts, prompting the authorial audience to draw comparisons. Elijah’s actions in 1 Kings 19 are problematic; he goes from unwavering fidelity in the face of adversity in 1 Kings 18 to a fearful flight into the wilderness where he desires death and descends into a corresponding deep sleep. Intertextual connections with the “sleep and wakefulness” type-scene in Luke-Acts, which consists of four episodes (Luke 9:28–36; 22:39–46; Acts 12:1–23; 20:7–12), highlight parallel actions of the disciples, who fail to remain alert and, like Elijah, fall into hypnotic and comatic sleep approaching death. The authorial audience construes the behaviors of both Elijah and the disciples as instances where emotional despondency leads to a loss of cognitive coherence and moral descent.