The fifth mountain

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The Fifth Mountain (original title in Portuguese: O Monte Cinco ) is a novel by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho , which was published in 1998 by Diogenes Verlag . It tells the story of the prophet Elijah from the first book of kings, chapter 17.

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1st chapter

Elijah is prophesied by God that a drought will break out on Israel : “These years neither dew nor rain will come” ( First Book of Kings 17.1 EU ). He brings this prophecy to King Ahab (cf. p. 17 f), who, guided by Queen Jezebel , paid homage to Baal . Jezebel caused all the prophets of the one God to be killed. Elijah barely escapes death. (cf. p. 20 f) God sends Elijah to the brook Krith (cf. p. 23 ff), where his journey to Akbar is revealed to him. Completely starved, he meets a widow at the gates of the city and asks for food, as he was previously prophesied. (cf. p. 38 ff) By a miracle , the widow's provisions do not decrease as long as the guest lives with her. But one day her son falls ill and dies shortly afterwards, Elijah falls out of favor with the widow and the townspeople and is driven to the fatal mountain of the gods, the fifth mountain , as punishment . There he meets an angel of God whom he asks for advice. This enables Elijah to bring the dead back to life.

Part 2

Akbar is besieged by an Assyrian army . Elijah gets the order from God to stay in the city. Because of his fame as a miracle worker, he is appointed assistant to the governor. (cf. p. 78) Both want to try to circumvent the threatening conflict with the Assyrians through a peace agreement. Opposed to them is the high priest Akbars, who sees a great danger in the spread of the Assyrians. There is a large public meeting in which the high priest asserts himself. (cf. p. 95 ff) There is a war and the city is destroyed, the widow, with whom Elijah had fallen in love in the meantime, dies and he takes responsibility for her son. Together they rebuild Akbar. Ultimately, Elijah returns to Israel and conquers misbelief. (cf. p. 221 f)

characters

Elijah

The prophet is the main protagonist of the novel. He has been able to make contact with his guardian angel since childhood , and later also with other angels who preach God's words to him. He surrenders to his task, but not without doubt. In the second part, for example, he turns away completely from God and his angels out of anger and anger over the destruction of his beloved city Akbar.

Akbar widow

As the widow of a businessman, she found her purpose in life in bringing up her only son. With his death and resurrection, she begins to fall in love with Elijah. She shows great interest in the alphabet , which the priest feared as a particular danger.

The priest

As high priest of the Babylonian gods , he sees a danger in the tradition of the alphabet, since it could now make the sacred texts, which were previously only available to priests, accessible to everyone. For this reason he tries together with the commander Akbars to win the people for a war.

Differences to the Bible passage

The city of Akbar is called Zarpath in the first book of kings. The townspeople, as well as the complete plot of the second part, with the exception of the miracle of sacrifice on Carmel in the first book of kings, verses 18, 23 ff, are fictitious.

literature

  • all quotations refer to Paulo Coelho: The Fifth Mountain . Diogenes Paperback, 2000.

Web links