Elisha

Biblical Account

Elisha was the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah. His name is commonly interpreted to mean "God is salvation." God commanded Elijah to appoint him as his successor, and Elijah called Elisha by casting his mantle upon him while he was plowing (1 Kings 19:16-21).

In 2 Kings 2, Elisha asks Elijah, who is about to be taken up into heaven, for a "double portion," and he then parts the Jordan River with the mantle Elijah left behind. The major events recorded afterward include the following:

• Healing the waters of Jericho with salt, and cursing the children who mocked him at Bethel (ch. 2)
• Filling a widow's vessels with oil, raising the Shunammite woman's son, making a pot of poisoned stew harmless, and feeding a hundred men with twenty loaves of barley (ch. 4)
• Healing Naaman, commander of the Aramean (Syrian) army, of leprosy, while his servant Gehazi is struck with leprosy for his greed (ch. 5)
• Making a sunken axe head float, and at Dothan opening his servant's eyes to see horses and chariots of fire (ch. 6)
• Prophesying the end of the famine during the siege of Samaria (chs. 6-7)
• Announcing that Hazael would become king of Aram, and sending a disciple to anoint Jehu (chs. 8-9)

When Elisha fell ill before his death, he had King Joash of Israel shoot arrows and prophesied victory over Aram. After his death, a dead man whose body touched his bones is recorded to have come back to life (2 Kings 13:14-21).

Significance Within Scripture

Elisha is portrayed as a prophet who displayed God's power in the northern kingdom of Israel at a time when idolatry was widespread. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ mentioned him by name in the synagogue at Nazareth, noting that although there were many lepers in Israel in Elisha's time, only Naaman, a Gentile, was cleansed: "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:27). The account of his feeding many people with a small amount of bread is often compared to the Gospel miracle of the five loaves and two fish.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

• The meaning of the "double portion": Some interpret it in light of the custom whereby the firstborn son received a double share of the inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17), viewing it as the portion due a rightful successor. Others take it to mean twice the power of Elijah. Sermons frequently cite the calculation that Elisha performed twice as many miracles as Elijah; however, this depends on how the miracles are counted and is not something the text itself states.
• The children and the bears: The term rendered "little children" in the New Korean Revised Version may also refer to young men. Accordingly, some interpretations emphasize the gravity of mocking a prophet, while others acknowledge the ethical difficulty of the passage.
• The continuing relevance of miracles: Views differ between those who hold that such powers still appear today and those who regard them as limited to a particular era. This issue is treated in cessationism and continuationism.
• In the New Korean Revised Version, Elisha's disciples are called "the disciples of the prophets" (KJV: "the sons of the prophets"). The expression "school of the prophets," which treats them as a formal school, is a later explanation.

In the Korean Church

The story of Naaman washing seven times in the Jordan River and the account of the Shunammite woman are frequently covered in Sunday school lessons and sermons. Elijah's mantle and the "double portion" passage are often cited in sermons emphasizing spiritual succession, especially at ordinations or at the installation of a successor. The phrase "a double portion of the spirit," derived from the wording of the Korean Revised Version (1961), is also widely used in prayers and sermons.