Elisha

Prophet Elisha

Elisha raising the Shunammite’s Son, early 1900s Bible Card illustration

Feast
June 14

 

Elisha (Hebrew: אֱלִישַׁע, Modern Elišaʿ Tiberian ʾĔlîšaʿ ; "My God is salvation", Greek: Ἐλισσαῖος, Elissaios or Ἐλισαιέ, Elisaie, Arabic: الْيَسَع‎Elyasaʿ; pronounced /ɨˈlaɪʃə/^[1]) is a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an. His name is commonly transliterated into Englishas Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic.

Contents

Biblical biography

Russian icon of Elisha (18th century,Kizhi Monastery, Russia).

Elisha was a prophet of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who was active during the reign of Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash (Joash).^[2]

Elisha was the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah; he became the attendant and disciple of Elijah (1 Kings 19:16–19), and after Elijah was taken up into the whirlwind, he was accepted as the leader of the sons of the prophets, and became noted in Israel. He possessed, according to his own request, "a double portion" of Elijah’s spirit (2 Kings 2:9); and for sixty years (892–832 BC) held the office of "prophet in Israel" (2 Kings 5:8).

His name first occurs in the command given to Elijah to anoint him as his successor (1 Kings 19:16). After learning, in the cave on Mount Horeb, that Elisha, the son of Shaphat, had been selected by God as his successor in the prophetic office, Elijah set out to make known the Divine will. On his way from Sinai to Damascus, Elijah found Elisha "one of them that were ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen". Elisha delayed only long enough to kill the yoke of oxen, whose flesh he boiled with the very wood of his plough. He went over to him, threw his mantle over Elisha’s shoulders, and at once adopted him as a son, investing him with the prophetic office. Elisha accepted this call about four years before the death of Israel’s King Ahab. For the next seven or eight years Elisha became Elijah’s close attendant until Elijah was taken up into heaven. During all these years we hear nothing of Elisha except in connection with the closing scenes of Elijah’s life.

After he had shared this farewell repast with his father, mother, and friends, the newly chosen Prophet "followed Elijah and ministered to him". (1 Kings 19:8–21) He went with his master from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho, and thence to the eastern side of the Jordan, the waters of which, touched by the mantle, divided, so as to permit both to pass over on dry ground. Elisha then was separated from Elijah by a fiery chariot. He then beheld Elijah taken up by a whirlwind into heaven. By means of the mantle let fall from Elijah, Elisha miraculously recrossed the Jordan, and so won from the prophets at Jericho the recognition that "the spirit of Elijah hath rested upon Elisha" (2 Kings 2:1–15). He won the gratitude of the people of Jericho for healing its barren ground by adding salt to its waters.

When a group of children from Bethel taunted the prophet for his baldness, Elisha cursed them in the name of God and two female bears came out of the forest and mauled 42 of them (2 Kings 2:23–25).

Before Elijah was taken up into the whirlwind, Elisha asked to "inherit a double-portion" of Elijah’s spirit. This is indicative of the property inheritance customs of the time, where the oldest son received twice as much of the father’s inheritance as each of the younger sons. For example, if a man had three sons, his property was divided into fourths. Each son received one-fourth, with the oldest receiving two-fourths (twice as much as the others). In this instance with Elijah, Elisha is not asking to become twice as powerful as Elijah, but that he may be seen as the "rightful heir" to the work of the Lord that Elijah had done.

Before he settled in Samaria, the Prophet passed some time on Mount Carmel (2 Kings 2:25). When the armies of Judah, Israel and Edom, then allied against Mesha, the Moabite king, were being tortured by drought in the Idumean desert, Elisha consented to intervene. His double prediction regarding relief from drought and victory over the Moabites was fulfilled on the following morning (2 Kings 3:4–24).

 

Elisha’s work within Israel involved two areas: personal and political. He tried to be accessible to the people and interceded in moments of crisis. He is termed a patriot, as he had involvement in helping soldiers and kings.^[2]

 

That Elisha inherited the wonder-working power of Elijah is shown throughout the whole course of his life. To relieve the widow importuned by a hard creditor, Elisha so multiplied a little oil as to enable her, not only to pay her indebtedness, but to provide for her family needs (2 Kings 4:1–7). To reward the rich lady of Shunam for her hospitality, he obtained for her fromYHWH, at first the birth of a son, and subsequently the resurrection of her child (2 Kings 4:8–37). To nourish the sons of the prophets pressed by famine, Elisha changed into wholesome food the pottage made from poisonous gourds (2 Kings 4:38–41). By the cure of Naaman, who was afflicted with leprosy, Elisha, little impressed by the possessions of the Syrian general, whilst willing to free King Joram from his perplexity, principally intended to show "that there is a prophet in Israel". Naaman, at first reluctant, obeyed the Prophet, and washed seven times in the Jordan. Finding his flesh "restored like the flesh of a little child", the general was so impressed by this evidence of God’s power, and by the disinterestedness of His Prophet, as to express his deep conviction that "there is no other God in all the earth, but only in Israel" (2 Kings 5:1–19). In the Christian tradition, Jesus referred to this event when he said, "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet: and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:27).

 

In punishing the avarice of his servant Gehazi (2 Kings 5:20–27), in repeatedly saving King Jehoram of Israel from the ambushes planned by Benhadad (2 Kings 6:8–23), in ordering the elders to shut the door against the messenger of Israel’s ungrateful king (2 Kings 6:25–32), in bewildering with a strange blindness the soldiers of the Syrian king (2 Kings 6:13–23), in making iron float to relieve from embarrassment a son of a prophet (2 Kings 6:1–7), in confidently predicting the sudden flight of the enemy and the consequent cessation of the famine (2 Kings 7:1–20), in unmasking the treachery of Hazael (2 Kings 8:7–15), Elisha proved himself a divinely appointed Prophet of the one true God, whose knowledge and power he was privileged to share.

 

 

Elisha refusing the gifts of Naaman, by Pieter de Grebber1630

After Elijah’s departure, Elisha returned to Jericho, and there healed the spring of water by casting salt into it (2 Kings 2:21).

Elisha is next encountered in Scripture when he asks for a fall of rain when the army of Jehoram was faint from thirst (2 Kings 3:9–20). Other miracles Elisha accomplishes include multiplying the poor widow’s jar of oil (4:1–7), restoring to life the son of the woman of Shunem (4:18–37), and multiplying the twenty loaves of new barley into a sufficient supply for a hundred men (4:42–44). During the military incursions of Syria into Israel, Elisha cures Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy (5:1–27), punishes his servant Gehazi for his falsehood and his greed, and recovers an axe lost in the waters of the Jordan (6:1–7). He administered the miracle at Dothan, half-way on the road between Samaria and Jezreel, and at the siege of Samaria by the king of Syria, Elisha prophesied about the terrible sufferings of the people of Samaria and their eventual relief (2 Kings 6:24–7:2).

Elisha then journeyed to Damascus and prophesied that Hazael would be king over Syria (2 Kings 8:7–15); thereafter he directs one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel, instead of Ahab. Mindful of the order given to Elijah (1 Kings 19:16), Elisha delegated a son of one of the prophets to quietly anoint Jehu King of Israel, and to commission him to cut off the house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:1–10). The death of Joram, pierced by an arrow from Jehu’s bow, the ignominious end of Jezabel, the slaughter of Ahab’s seventy sons, proved how faithfully executed was the Divine command (2 Kings 9:11–10:30). After predicting to Joash his victory over the Syrians at Aphek, as well as three other subsequent victories, ever bold before kings, ever kindly towards the lowly, "Elisha died, and they buried him" (2 Kings 13:14–20).

While Elisha lies on his death-bed in his own house (2 Kings 13:14–19). Joash, the grandson of Jehu, comes to mourn over his approaching departure, and utters the same words as those of Elisha when Elijah was taken away, indicating his value to him: "My father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof."

The very touch of his corpse served to resuscitate a dead man. "In his life he did great wonders, and in death he wrought miracles" (Ecclesiasticus, xlviii, 15). After his death, a dead body was laid in Elisha’s grave a year after his burial. No sooner does it touch Elisha’s remains than the man "revived, and stood up on his feet" (2 Kings 13:20–21).

 

He is venerated as a saint in a number of Christian Churches. His feast day is on June 14, on the Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic liturgical calendars (for those churches which use the traditional Julian Calendar, June 14 falls on June 27 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). St. John of Damascus composed a canon in honor of the Prophet Elisha, and a church was built at Constantinople in his honor.

In Western Christianity he is commemorated on the Carmelite religious order‘s calendar of saints.^[3] He is also commemorated as a prophet on the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Both calendars also celebrate him on June 14. Both the Orthodox and Roman Catholics believe that he was unmarried, celibate.^[4]

Julian the Apostate (361–363) gave orders to burn the relics of the prophets Elisha, Obadiah and John the Baptist, but they were rescued by the Christians, and part of them were transferred to Alexandria. Today, the relics of the prophet Elisha are claimed to be among the possessions of the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Scetes,Egypt.^[5]

There is also "the tomb of the prophet Elisha" in Aloujam in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Reports from the city of Aloujam say that the shrine was removed by the authorities, because it is not in accordance with Sunni Islam, although in ancient times people used to visit it from afar.^[6]

In Islam

Elisha (Arabic: اليَسَع, Alyasa‎) is also mentioned in the Qur’an as a prophet. He is seen by Muslims to be the prophetic successor to Elijah, known in Islam as Ilyas. The Qur’an chronicles Elisha as being of the "company of the good"^[7] as well as a man "favoured above the nations".^[8] Ibn Kathir traces Elisha’s genealogy through his father, in Islamic tradition namedUkhtub, back to the lineage of Aaron.^[9] In the various Stories of the Prophets compilations in Islamic literature, Elisha’s story is often grouped with that of his contemporary Elijah. Thehistorian Saint Hasan of Basra said:

Elisha came after Elias, peace be upon them. He called his people to the way of God and followed the laws and Shariah revealed to Elias, till he passed away^[10]

Elisha is mentioned twice in the Qur’an as a prophet, and is mentioned both times alongside fellow prophets:

• And commemorate Ishmael, Elisha, and Zul-Kifl: Each of them was of the Company of the Good.^[11]

• And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot: and to all We gave favour above the nations:
  (To them) and to their fathers, and progeny and brethren: We chose them, and we guided them to a straight way.^[12]

Elisha, in Muslim belief, was the successor to Elijah. Muslims believe that Elijah was directed by God to appoint Elisha as the succeeding prophet before vanishing into the protection of God.^[13] The narrative of Elisha in Muslim tradition is similar to that in the Hebrew Bible. Muslim scholars believe Elisha that prophesied through the reign of four kings: Joram, Jehu,Jehoahaz and Jehoash^[14] but that Israel refused to hear his words.^[15]

Three Mary’s in the New Testament

Mark 16 After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some spices to put on Jesus’ body.

 

 

Mary Magdalene , Mary Salome  and Mary Clopas are mentioned quite often in the new testament.

Who are they ?

 

Mary Magdalene

 

 

 

Mary Magdalene (original Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή,[3] flourished 1st century AD) was one of Jesus’ most celebrated disciples.[4] She is famous because she is said to have been the first person to see Jesus after he rose from the dead,[4] according to John 20 and Mark 16:9, part of the so-called "Longer Ending" to that chapter.

According to Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9, Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons." Some contemporary scholars contend this concept meanshealing from illness,[5] not forgiveness of sin. On the other hand, some major Christian saints, including St. Bede and St. Gregory, interpret the seven devils to signify that she was "full of all vices."[6] Hence, on this interpretation, the episode does signify the forgiveness of sins. Mary Magdalene is the leader of a group of female disciples believed to have been present at the cross after the male disciples (exceptingJohn the Beloved) had fled, and at his burial. Mary was a devoted follower of Jesus, entering into the close circle of those taught by Jesus during his Galilean ministry. She became prominent during the last days, accompanying Jesus during his travels and following him to the end.

 

Mary of Clopas or Cleopas

 

Mary of Clopas or Cleopas (Greek: Maria he tou Klopa) the wife of Clopas who is believed to be the brother of Saint Joseph, was one of various Marys named in the New Testament.

Clopas : Brother of Saint Joseph

Mary of Clopas is explicitly mentioned only in John 19:25, where she is among the women present at the Crucifixion of Jesus:

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary [the wife] of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

 

 

 

Mary of Salome

 

Salome (Hebrew, "שלומית", "Shelomit"), sometimes venerated as Mary Salome, was a follower of Jesus who appears briefly in the canonical gospels and in more detail in apocryphal writings. She is sometimes identified as the wife of Zebedee, the mother of James and John, two of the Apostles of Jesus, and sometimes also as the sister of Mary, mother of Jesus.[1]

Mark 12

Mark 12:10

‘The stone that the builders tossed aside
is now the most important stone of all.

King Solomon

The biblical King Solomon was known for his wisdom, his wealth and his writings. Solomon was the son of King David and Bathsheba. Solomon was not the oldest son of David, but David promised Bathsheba that Solomon would be the next king. When David’s elder son Adonijah declared himself king, David ordered his servants to bring Solomon to the Gihon spring where the priest anointed him while David was still alive. Solomon inherited a considerable empire from his father.
Although he was a ruler at a young age, he soon became known for his wisdom. The first and most famous incident of his cleverness as a judge was when two women came to his court with a baby whom both women claimed as their own. Solomon threatened to split the baby in half. One woman was prepared to accept the decision, but the other begged the King to give the live baby to the other woman. Solomen then knew the second woman was the mother.

People from surrounding nations also came to hear Solomon’s wisdom. He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. He wrote the Song of Songs, the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
Once Solomon’s empire was tranquil, he began to build the Holy Temple. He received wood from King Hiram of Tyre and imposed a compulsory labor service on both the Israelites and the foreign nations that were under his control. Solomon was also renowned for his other building projects in which he used slave labor from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. He spent 13 years building his own palace, and also built a city wall, a citadel called the Millo, a palace for the daughter of Pharaoh (who was one of his wives) and facilities for foreign traders. He erected cities for chariots and horsemen and created storage cities. He extended Jerusalem to the north and fortified cities near the mountains of Judah and Jerusalem.
Solomon’s downfall came in his old age. He had taken many foreign wives, whom he allowed to worship other gods. He even built shrines for the sacrifices of his foreign wives. Within Solomon’s kingdom, he placed heavy taxation on the people, who became bitter. He also had the people work as soldiers, chief officers and commanders of his chariots and cavalry. He granted special privileges to the tribes of Judah and this alienated the northern tribes. The prophet Ahijah of Shiloh prophesied that Jeroboam son of Nebat would become king over ten of the 12 tribes, instead of one of Solomon’s sons.
Solomon died in Jerusalem after 40 years as ruler of Israel. He was buried in the City of David. His son, Rehoboam succeeded him as king. Under Rehobaum’s rule, Solomon’s empire was lost and his kingdom was divided into two parts.

 

According to the Bible, Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. The wives are described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh’s daughter and women ofMoab, Ammon, Sidon and of the Hittites. These wives are depicted as leading Solomon astray.^[6] The only wife that is mentioned by name is Naamah, who is described as theAmmonite.^[7] She was the mother of Solomon’s successor, Rehoboam.

 

While David was in this state, Adonijah, David’s fourth son, acted to have himself declared king, he being heir-apparent to the throne after the death of his elder brothers Amnon and Absalom. But Bathsheba, a wife of David and Solomon’s mother, along with the prophet Nathan induced David to proclaim Solomon king. Adonijah fled and took refuge at the altar, and received pardon for his conduct from Solomon on the condition that he show himself "a worthy man." (1 Kings 1:5-53)