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17. Ἡλίας. For the historical account see 1 Kings 17, 18. In those chapters, however, there is no mention made of the two prayers of Elijah; and the duration of the famine is there limited to less than three years, 1ki18:1. In Luk 4:25 the account agrees with this, marking the tradition followed by the family at Nazareth.
ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν, of like passions with us, constituted as we are. Therefore we may expect the like result to prayer. For ὁμοιοπαθής see Act 14:15; and Plato Tim. 45 c, where it is used synonymously with συμφυής.
προσευχῇ προσηύξατο. One of the few Hebraisms in this epistle. Comp. Luk 22:15 ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπεθύμησα, Act 4:17 ἀπειλῇ ἀπειλησώμεθα, Mat 15:4 θανάτῳ τελευτάτω, and also Plat. Sympos. 195 Β φεύγων φυγῇ τὸ γῆρας, Soph. Oed. R. 65 ὕπνῳ εὔδοντα. See also Sir 48:1 ff. καὶ ἀνέστη Ἠλείας προφήτης ὡς πῦρ καὶ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ ὡς λαμπὰς ἐκαίετο.
τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι. The genitive of aim or object, here corresponding with the use of ἵνα after verbs of request or petition: as Mat 14:36 παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν ἵνα μόνον ἅψωνται, and frequently. (a) For this final use of τοῦ with the infinitive, comp. Mat 2:13 μέλλει γὰρ Ἡρώδης ζητεῖν τὸ παιδίον τοῦ ἀπολέσαι αὐτό, Luk 24:29 εἰσῆλθεν τοῦ μεῖναι σὺν αὐτοῖς. With this compare the use of the Latin gerund and gerundive, e.g. Marii miserunt Romam oratores pacis petendae, Liv. ix. 45 (Madvig, § 417 obs. 5).
(b) It also expresses result, e.g. Luk 24:16 οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν ἐκρατοῦντο τοῦ μὴ ἐπιγνῶναι αὐτόν. This usage is closely connected with the final use, for in Hebrew thought every result was regarded as purposed and predetermined. See note on Mat 1:22 in this series.
(c) It is used regularly after words constructed with a genitive, as 1Co 16:4 ἐὰν ᾗ ἄξιον τοῦ κἀμὲ πορεύεσθαι.
(d) In some passages it appears (1) as the object of verbs where the accusative would be required in Classical Greek, as 1Co 2:2 οὐ γὰρ ἔκρινα τοῦ εἰδέναι τι ἐν ὑμῖν, or (2) as the subject of the verb, Act 10:25 ὡς δὲ ἐγένετο τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν τὸν Πέτρον. In Psa 106:23 (LXX.) there is an instance of a triple use of this infinitive: καὶ εἶπε τοῦ ἐξολοθρεῦσαι (objective) αὐτούς, εἰ μὴ Μωυσῆς ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς αὐτοῦ ἔστη ἐν τῇ θραύσει ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀποστρέψαι (final) ἀπὸ θυμοῦ ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ, τοῦ μὴ ἐξολοθρεῦσαι (consecutive). These and similar expressions may indeed be explained as extensions of recognised genitival uses, but it is better to regard them as illustrating the gradual forgetfulness in language of the origin of idioms. In illustration of this comp. the use in French of the infinitive with de either as subject or object of a verb: e.g. il est triste de vous voir,—on craint d’y aller; the adoption of the (Latin) accusative in the same language as the sole representative of the Latin cases; sometimes the single case form which survives in a modern language is the genitive, e.g. Romaic ὁποῦ or ποῦ, ‘who.’ The extension of ἵνα (νά) with the subjunctive in Modern Greek to the various uses of the infinitive is another instance of this generalising tendency. This extended use of τοῦ with the infinitive, however, is not more remarkable than that the Greek infinitive, originally a dative expressing purpose, should come to be joined with a genitive of the article and so revert to its original meaning. “The Greek Infinitive is a survival from a period when the Dative of purpose or consequence was one of the ordinary constructions of the language,” Monro, Hom. Gram., § 242. See note on χαίρειν, Jam 1:1.
βρέξαι. In classics generally transitive. Very rare in this sense.