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ELISHA

(Heb. ʾĕlîšāʿ)

The “man of God” who ministered to and succeeded Elijah, after which he performed miracles and pronounced visionary oracles. The accounts of Elisha’s discipleship of Elijah (1 Kgs. 19:19-21) and succession of his Moses-like master (2 Kgs. 2:1-18) were probably added to link originally unrelated holy men and create the impression of a Mosaic prophet in each generation (cf. Deut. 18:15-19). Elisha (“my God saves”) was also enlisted along with Elijah in the after-the-fact legitimation of Jehu’s bloody purge of the Omride dynasty (2 Kgs. 9–10; cf. 1 Kgs. 17–19, 21). The rest of the Elisha material (2 Kgs. 2:19–8:15; 13:14-25) is a collection of originally independent miracle stories and political legends. The collection is arranged according to the principle of association: stories that have common words, themes, or locations are placed side-by-side, thereby telling the “life history” of Elisha.

Miracle Stories

The miracle stories are short, with one exception (2 Kgs. 4:8-37). Most feature the “sons of the prophets,” members of a prophetic guild who looked to Elisha for guidance and help. 2 Kgs. 2:1-5 suggests that conventicles of the guild were located at Bethel and Jericho. Elisha’s movements suggest that conventicles also existed at Gilgal, Mt. Carmel, and Samaria (2 Kgs. 2:25; 4:25, 38). Elisha appears as an itinerant holy man, traveling from group to group and performing miracles in response to pleas for help from his poverty-stricken disciples. He heals a spring (2 Kgs. 2:19-22), multiplies a disciple’s widow’s oil so that she will not lose her children to a creditor (4:1-7), nullifies the poison in a stew so that his disciples can eat during a famine (4:38-41), multiplies 20 loaves to feed 100 people (4:42-44), and floats a borrowed ax that had fallen in the river (6:1-7).

The common theme in these stories is Elisha’s performance of actions that save his marginalized followers from material distress. There are no moral or religious teachings; the stories simply induce veneration of the man of God. Comparisons with shaman stories around the world suggest that Elisha’s disciples told these stories in order to establish his authority as the man of God and their status as his disciples.

The story of Elisha cursing the boys who insulted him (2 Kgs. 2:23-25) makes it clear that establishing his authority was the aim of the miracle stories. The death of 42 of the boys seems to contradict Elisha as lifegiver, but his lifesaving acts are all directed toward those who recognize his holiness. Elisha and the boys can therefore be regarded as an inverted miracle story.

Another miracle story that does not conform to the genre, in this case in its length and complexity, is the story of the Shunammite and her son (2 Kgs. 4:8-37). Here the follower is a wealthy childless woman, who recognized Elisha as “a holy man of God” (v. 9). In return for her hospitality he gave her a son (vv. 11-17). Later, when Elisha was away, the boy died (vv. 18-20). The woman first laid the child on Elisha’s bed, hoping that contact with something of Elisha’s would revive him (v. 21). Then she overrode her husband’s objections, went to Elisha, and shamed him into returning to save the child (vv. 22-30). Contact with Elisha’s bed had done nothing, nor had Elisha’s staff (v. 31). Elisha then shut the door (cf. v. 4), prayed to Yahweh, and lay on top of the boy until he grew warm (vv. 32-34). A second attempt finally revived the boy (v. 35). The story ends with Elisha summoning the Shunammite to take her child, and her silent bow before him (vv. 36-37). In contrast to the short miracle stories in which both need and saving act are tersely reported, the efforts required by the Shunammite to summon Elisha and by Elisha to revive the boy are elaborated. The resulting impression is that this was considered Elisha’s most spectacular miracle, requiring a fuller telling. This impression is corroborated by the existence of a sequel (2 Kgs. 8:1-6), unique among the miracle stories.

One final miracle story is the revival of the corpse that came in contact with Elisha’s bones (2 Kgs. 13:20-21). There is a touch of humor here, since the gravediggers did not ask for a resurrection and Elisha did not intend to perform one.

Political Legends

The political legends are in many ways diametrically opposed to the miracle stories. They are all elaborated; they take place in the public realm of kings and royal officers; they are set in historically known wars, mostly the late-9th-century Aramean war; and they showcase Elisha’s supernatural knowledge.

A prominent theme in the political legends is Elisha’s ability to save the nation when the king has failed. In the legend of the Aramean siege of Samaria (2 Kgs. 6:24–7:20), which caused a devastating famine, the king’s helplessness was underscored when a woman who had eaten her own child wanted him to pass judgment on her friend who was refusing to hand over her child according to their agreement (6:26-30). In desperation the king went to Elisha, knowing that the famine was from Yahweh (6:31-33). Elisha calmly prophesied that there would be food in abundance the very next day, and that the doubting aide would suffer retribution for his disbelief (7:1-2). Events happened exactly as Elisha had foretold. Yahweh caused the Arameans to hear a huge army, prompting them to abandon their camp, and four Samarian lepers who had nothing to lose deserted to the enemy (7:3-7). Having enjoyed the abundance of the abandoned camp, they shared the good news (7:8-10). After confirming the report, the Samarians stampeded for the food, trampling the doubting aide to death (7:11-17). The legend affirms that Elisha saves when the king cannot, and that belief in him is essential to the nation’s welfare.

Whether or not there was an actual Aramean siege of Samaria in the late 9th century is uncertain, but Israel was at war with Aram-Damascus throughout the reigns of Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Joash. The Aramean Hazael took advantage of Jehu’s loss of military alliances after his coup and conquered Israel. The Elisha political legends, except for 2 Kgs. 3:4-27, belong in this context. They express both fear of ruin (e.g., being vastly outnumbered in battle, 2 Kgs. 6:15), and the belief that Yahweh was in control of the war (e.g., the presence of the heavenly army, vv. 16-17). If the God of Israel was directing events, then God would ultimately save the nation through his prophet.

Since Yahweh was managing the Aramean war, Yahweh was also directing political affairs in Damascus. When Elisha facilitated Hazael’s murder of Ben-hadad I (in reality Hadad-ezer), it was not because he favored Hazael but because Hazael’s usurpation of the Aramean throne and subsequent spoliation of Israel were part of Yahweh’s plan (2 Kgs. 8:7-15). Yahweh’s involvement in the Aramean war began with Hazael’s succession and ended with Joash’s three victories over Hazael’s son Ben-hadad II, also predicted by Elisha (2 Kgs. 13:14-19, 22-25).

The legend of Naaman and Gehazi (2 Kgs. 5:1-27) includes a healing miracle, but the focus is on a reversal of the two characters. Naaman was commander of the Aramaean forces (unknown historically), but he listened to a captive Israelite maidservant and went to Elisha to be cured of his leprosy (vv. 1-9). Immersing himself in the Jordan seven times as directed, he was cured (vv. 9-14). He returned to Elisha and proclaimed his belief in Yahweh (vv. 15-19), an astonishing confession given the close relationship between nations and their gods in the ancient world. Gehazi then pursued Naaman and demanded some of the gifts that Elisha had refused, for which he received Naaman’s leprosy (5:20-27). The characters’ status is thus reversed: the leprous enemy commander, the ultimate outsider, is cured and confesses the God of Israel; then Elisha’s aide, insider of insiders, betrays the prophet and is condemned. The legend explores the ramifications of a universal ethic based solely on fidelity to Yahweh, without regard for nationality, class, or religious status.

Deuteronomistic Edition

If Elisha was a public figure during the reigns of Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Joash, as implied by the Aramean war context of the political legends, then he was active for more than 40 years. It is unlikely that he also interacted with Jehoram (2 Kgs. 3:4-27). Elisha’s hostility to Jehoram (2 Kgs. 3:13-14) is absent from the other political legends, where he works closely with the king. The similarity between 2 Kgs. 3:4-27 and 1 Kgs. 22, , in which the Deuteronomistic historian identified an originally anonymous “king of Israel” as Ahab in order to assert Omride depravity, suggests that a similar process took place here. The identification of the prophet in 2 Kgs. 3:4-27 as Elisha adds his opposition against Jehoram to Elijah’s opposition against Ahab (1 Kgs. 17–19, 21) and Ahaziah (2 Kgs. 1). The Deuteronomist then placed the bulk of the Elisha collection in Jehoram’s reign (2 Kgs. 2:19–8:15), facilitated by the lack of historical context in the miracle stories and the nameless kings in the political legends. Because 2 Kgs. 13:14-19, 22-25 names Joash, it was separated from the rest of the collection along with the postmortem miracle story (13:20-21) fitted between the prophecy and fulfillment of the legend.

Bibliography. T. W. Overholt, Prophecy in Cross-cultural Perspective. SBLSBS 17 (Atlanta, 1986); W. T. Pitard, Ancient Damascus (Winona Lake, 1987); A. Rofē, The Prophetical Stories (Jerusalem, 1988); M. C. White, The Elijah Legends and Jehu’s Coup. BJS 311 (Atlanta, 1997).

Marsha White

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ELISHA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)