Elijah was from Tishbe in Gilead. The narrative in 1 Kings relates how he suddenly appears during Ahab's reign to proclaim a drought in punishment of the cult of Baal that Jezebel was promoting in Israel at Yahweh's expense. Later Elijah meets 450 prophets of Baal in a contest of strength on Mount Carmel to determine which deity is the true God of Israel. Sacrifices are placed on an altar to Baal and one to Yahweh. The pagan prophets' ecstatic appeals to Baal to kindle the wood on his altar are unsuccessful, but Elijah's prayers to Yahweh are answered by a fire on his altar. This outcome is taken as decisive by the Israelites, who slay the priests and prophets of Baal under Elijah's direction. The drought thereupon ends with the falling of rain.
Elijah flees the wrath of the vengeful Jezebel by undertaking a pilgrimage to Mount Horeb (Sinai), where he is at first disheartened in his struggle and then miraculously renewed. In a further narrative, King Ahab has a man named Naboth condemned to death in order to gain possession of his vineyard. Ahab's judicial murder of Naboth and confiscation of his vineyard arouse Elijah as the upholder of the moral law, as before he had come forward as the champion of monotheism. Elijah denounces Ahab for his crimes, asserting that all men are subject to the law of God and are therefore equals. Later Ahab's son, King Azariah, appeals to Baal to heal him of an illness, and Elijah once more upholds the exclusive rights of Yahweh by bringing down “fire from heaven.” After bestowing his mantle on his successor, Elisha, the prophet Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.