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Within Ben Sira's Praise of the Ancestors, the poem on Elijah occurs in a section presenting the history of the northern kingdom (Sir 47:23-48:15d), for which a Hebrew text survives in Cairo Genizah MS B. Comparing Ben Sira's Hebrew portrait of Elijah with the characters of both Moses and Samuel discloses a process of nascent canonical assimilation. Ben Sira's poetic section also exhibits selected Hebrew echoes of Genesis, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, the prophetic books (such as Malachi), Psalms, and Proverbs. In addition, this section exploits Hebrew poetic techniques: inclusio, simile, antithesis, repetition, alliteration, assonance, rhyme, wordplay, apostrophe, and numerical patterning.
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