Elisha

“ And Elisha said: "I know it; but hold your peace."
And so it went on till they reached Jericho, and here again the sons of the prophets came to Elisha with their question: "Do you know that the Lord will take your master from your head to-day?"
And again Elisha sorrowfully answered: "Yes, I know it; hold ye your peace."
Then Elijah said to him: "Stay here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan."
But Elisha gave the same answer to him as he had given before, that he would not on any account leave him. So they went on together. ”

“ Elisha's answer begins with the solemn adjuration which we first hear from Elijah. In its use here, it not only declares the unalterable determination of Elisha, but reveals its grounds. To a man who feels ever the burning consciousness that he is in the presence of God, all earthly good dwindles into nothing. How should talents of silver and gold, and changes of raiment, have worth in eyes before which that awful, blessed vision flames? ”

“ Nor is the Elisha-spirit the Christian spirit any the more if these deeds of hypocrisy and blood were in any sense approved by him who is sometimes regarded as the mild and gentle Elisha. Where was he? Why was he silent? Could he possibly approve of this murderer's fury? We do not, indeed, know how far Elisha lent his sanction to anything more than the general end. Ahab's house had been doomed to vengeance by the voice which gave utterance to the verdict of the national conscience. The doom was just; Jehu was ordained to be the executioner. In no other way could the judgment be carried out. ”

“ And whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 And I have a remnant of seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to the Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.
19 And he went from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. And Elijah passed by him, and throw his mantle onto him. 20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Please, let me kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow you. ”

“ This latter was the city known to Elijah and Elisha, not yet ancient in their time, for the inhabitants of which the waters of this lovely spring were miraculously healed. One of the “schools of the prophets” existed here; and here Elijah had his last interview with the youth, the hope of Israel, ere he went forth to yonder lonely tracts eastward, to be parted from the faithful Elisha by the chariot of fire, and caught away to heaven in the whirlwind. The fertility of the plains of Jericho was almost proverbial in later days, when its rich revenues were farmed by Herod from Cleopatra. ”

“ They say, in effect: “Elisha is only one, but a stubborn one; only one tree, but his roots seem to have spread themselves through the Earth, and to have taken hold of the entire scheme of things; he is only one, yet, what is strange, he is many in one.” ”

“ We see at once that the figure of Elisha [37] is far less impressive than that of Elijah. He inspires less of awe and terror. He lives far more in cities and amid the ordinary surroundings of civilised life. The honour with which he was treated was the honour of respect and admiration for his kindliness. He plays his part in no stupendous scenes like those at Carmel and at Horeb, and nearly all his miracles were miracles of [Pg 26] mercy. Other remarkable differences are observable in the records of Elijah and Elisha. In the case of the former his main work was the opposition to Baal-worship ”

“ Poor, fearful child of God, it is when our Protector is out of sight that our hearts fail us. Elisha's servant was in great fear when he awoke in the morning, and saw the city of Dothan encompassed with horses, and chariots, and a great host; but when his eyes were opened, at the prayer of the prophet, his fears vanished, for he beheld the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." ”

“ Elisha heard, and when he prayed, The iron swam like wood. If God, in such a small affair, A miracle performs; It shows his condescending care Of poor unworthy worms. Though kings and nations in his view Are but as motes and dust; His eye and ear are fixed on you, Who in his mercy trust. Not one concern of ours is small, If we belong to him ”

“ Elijah is the prophet of the wilderness, wandering, rugged and austere; Elisha is the prophet of civilized life, of the city and the court, with the dress, manners and appearance of ordinary “grave citizens.” Elijah is the messenger of vengeance—sudden, fierce and overwhelming; Elisha is the messenger of mercy and restoration. Elijah’s miracles, with few exceptions, are works of wrath and destruction; Elisha’s miracles, with but one notable exception, are works of beneficence and healing. ”

“ The ice once broken, Elisha unfolded plan after plan for their future, little dreaming of the misery thereby inflicted on one who would have exchanged worlds for the obliteration of one year of his life.
106 “I reckon you’ll be taking me into your confidence on a like matter, some day, eh, Hernando?” Elisha concluded.
“Never, my friend, there are different roads to happiness.”
“But you will admit that man alone is but half of himself?”
“Individually, yes; but collectively man is two-thirds,” he replied with a laugh. ”

“ And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. ”

“ Poor father, 'tis a heavy burden upon him that his eldest-born and only son should be a cripple; that while he toileth I lie here helpless, unable to give him a helping hand, to lighten his labor. But, oh, Leah, sister, how happy I shall be [20] when the prophet, Elisha, hath made me whole. How proudly shall I labor by my father's side; and thou shalt journey no more to Samaria; thou shalt stay at our mother's side while I carry the fruits to the city and purchase necessities for our household. Sister! Sister! what did the woman of Shunem when Elisha raised her child from the dead? ”

“ They were talking in Samaria of the wonders wrought by the prophet, Elisha, and I lingered to listen. 'Twas of his last miracle that they did speak. Father, mother, brother, knoweth thou that the prophet, Elisha, hath power to raise the dead to life? ”

“ The king followed him, [126] and entering the room where the prophet and elders sat, he gave up his wicked design of slaying Elisha with the sword, but he overwhelmed him with reproaches, and in despair renounced all further trust in Jehovah. Elisha, as the king's words imply, must have refused all permission to capitulate: he must have held out from the first a promise that God would send deliverance. But no deliverance had come. The people were starving. Women were devouring their babes. Nothing worse could happen if they flung open their gates to the Syrian host. ”

“ As the king was thus bemoaning himself, Elisha comforted him, and bid the king bend a bow that was brought him; and when the king had fitted the bow for shooting, Elisha took hold of his hands and bid him shoot; and when he had shot three arrows, and then left off, Elisha said, "If thou hadst shot more arrows, thou hadst cut the kingdom of Syria up by the roots; but since thou hast been satisfied with shooting three times only, thou shalt fight and beat the Syrians no more times than three, that thou mayst recover that country which they cut off from thy kingdom in the reign of thy father." ”

“ He is not designated as the power to effect the great revolution which should root out idolatry and destroy the house of Omri; but Jehu, an unscrupulous yet jealous warrior, was to found a new dynasty, and the king of Syria was to punish and afflict the ten tribes, and Elisha was to be the mouth-piece of the Almighty in the court of kings. It would appear that Elijah did not himself anoint either the general of Benhadad or of Ahab as future kings,--instruments of punishment on idolatrous Israel,--but on Elisha did his mantle fall. ”

“ Then she saddled an ass and said to her servant, "Drive on fast, do not stop until I tell you." So she went to the man of God on Mount Carmel. But when Elisha saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi, his servant, "See, there is the Shunamite! Run down to meet her and say to her, 'Is all well with you? Is your husband well? Is the child well?'" And she answered, "All is well." But when she came to the man of God on the mountain, she caught hold of his feet. When Gehazi tried to push her away, Elisha said, "Let her alone, for she is deeply troubled and Jehovah has not told me the reason." ”

“ When the time came for the Lord to take his servant to himself, Elijah wished to be alone, but Elisha his servant would not leave him. He followed his master from one town to another until they came to the river Jordan. Then Elijah took off his mantle, and folding it, struck the waters and they were divided, so that they went over on dry ground. Then Elijah said, "Ask what I shall do for thee," and Elisha prayed that a double portion of his Master's spirit might rest upon him.
"If thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee," he said, "but if not, it shall not be so." ”

“ The spirit of Elisha on this occasion was larger and more merciful. It almost rose to the spirit of Him who said, "It was said to them of old time, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies; forgive them that hate you; do good unto them that despitefully use you and persecute you." He asked Jehoram reproachfully whether he would even have smitten those whom he had taken captive with sword and bow. ”

“ Such men as Elisha [Pg 182] everywhere and always give a strength to their people above the strength of armies, for the true blessings of a nation are reared on the foundations of its moral force."
The annals are here interrupted to introduce a posthumous miracle—unlike any other in the whole Bible—wrought by the bones of Elisha. He died, and they buried him, "giving him," as Josephus says, "a magnificent burial." ”

“ The ascension of Elijah (2 Kings ii.) is related as the introduction to the work of Elisha, which apparently begins before the death of Jehoshaphat (see iii. 1, 11 sqq.; contrast 2 Chron. loc. cit.) . Among the stories of Elisha are some which find him at the head of the prophetic gilds (iv. 1, 38–44, vi. 1–7) , whilst in others he has friendly relations with the “king of Israel” and the court. As a personage of almost superhuman dignity he moves in certain narratives where political records appear to have been utilized to describe the activity of the prophets. ”

“ When he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over. 15When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Let them go, please, and seek your master. Perhaps the Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up, and put him on some mountain, or into some valley. ”

“ A dying man cannot leave to his heir more than he has himself. And, lastly, even the ministry of Elisha, when compared with that of Elijah, has all the appearance of being subordinate to it. He lives and labours merely as the continuer of the work already begun by Elijah, both outwardly in relation to the worshippers of idols, and inwardly in relation to the disciples of the prophets. Elisha performs the anointing of Jehu and Hazael, with which Elijah was charged, and thereby prepares the way for the realization of that destruction of Ahab’s house which Elijah predicted to the king ”

“ At night the peasant himself came home on his horse, and he too began to tell about Elisha and how he had lived with them.
'Had he not come we should all have died in our sins. We were dying in despair, murmuring against God and man. But he set us on our feet again; and through him we learned to know God, and to believe that there is good in man. May the Lord bless him! We used to live like animals; he made human beings of us.'
After giving Efím food and drink, they showed him where he was to sleep; and lay down to sleep themselves. ”

“ Elisha, the son of Abuja, said, "The man who studies much in the law, and maintains good works, is like to a man who built a house, laying stones at the foundation, and building brick upon them; and, though many waters come against it, they cannot move it from its place. ”

“ So Elisha went into the village, bought milk, wheat-flour and dripping, and helped the old woman to boil and bake for the morrow. On the feast day Elisha went to church, and then broke the fast with his friends at the hut. That day the wife got up, and managed to move about a bit. The husband had shaved and put on a clean shirt, which the old woman had washed for him; and he went to beg for mercy of a rich peasant in the village to whom his ploughland and meadow were mortgaged. He went to beg the rich peasant to grant him the use of the meadow and field till after the harvest ”