Commentary Par XXV 122-129

John says that his body has returned to earth as clay, and will so remain until the general resurrection; only Christ and Mary are in Heaven in the flesh, as Dante is instructed to tell those 'back home' whom he shall meet when he returns.  Tozer (DDP Tozer.Par.XXV.127-129) claims that Dante has ignored Enoch and Elijah, of whom Scriptures affirm a presence in the Empyrean in the flesh; however, and as others point out, the texts involving Enoch (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5) and Elijah (II Kings 2:3) make a less dramatic claim: both of them are in a place apart (the earthly paradise in some medieval legends), but not in Heaven.