JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

elisha
In the Aggadah
Eliphaz, the comforter of Job, is identified with Eliphaz, the
son of Esau (Gen. 36:4; Targ. Yer., Gen. 36:12). He had, however,
few dealings with Esau (Yal. 897), and became a righteous
man by virtue of the fact that he grew up under Isaac’s care
(Tanḥ. Va-Yera, 38). When his father sent him to kill Jacob,
after the latter’s flight from Haran, and Jacob beseeched him
to spare his life, he agreed to do so, but, in order technically
not to disobey his father completely, took all Jacob’s worldly
goods, since “one who has lost his possessions is regarded as
dead” (Mid. Ag., Gen. 28:20). Eliphaz even attempted to avert
a later tragedy by advising Amalek his son (Ten 36.12) to help
Israel, because they were to inherit both this world and the
world to come. In the time to come, Eliphaz will testify that
Israel has observed all the Torah (Av. Zar. 3a).
Bibliography: Ginzberg, Legends, 1 (1961), 421–3, 345–7; 5
(1955), 322; I. Ḥasida, Ishei ha-Tanakh (1964), 68–69.
ELISHA (Heb. עָׁ שי ִלא; ֱ “God is salvation”), Israelite prophetic
wonder-worker of the ninth century B.C.E. in the days of *Jehoram
son of *Ahab, *Jehu, *Jehoahaz, and *Joash. According
to I Kings 19:16, God commanded *Elijah on Mount Horeb to
anoint Elisha as prophet in his place. (II Kings 19:15 is the sole
biblical reference to anointing as an element of prophetic investiture.)
When Elijah passed by the fields of Elisha’s father
and found Elisha busy plowing, “he cast his mantle upon him.”
The mere touch of Elijah’s cloak transformed Elisha. The fact
that he was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen that he slaughtered
as a farewell feast before leaving his family for Elijah’s service
shows that he was wealthy. He became Elijah’s devoted servant
and outstanding disciple. Elisha came from *Abel-Meholah
(19:16). On the basis of the opinion that Abel-Meholah
was in Gilead (see Glueck in bibl.), certain scholars postulated
that geographical proximity was one of the causes of the
personal affinity between Elijah and Elisha. Elisha was given
the task of continuing Elijah’s general prophetic mission. He
also performed certain acts which had been imposed on Elijah
but which the latter did not carry out in his lifetime, e.g.,
the anointing of *Hazael as king of Aram and Jehu as king of
Israel. The transfer of Elijah’s prophetic mission to Elisha is
also described in the story of Elijah’s ascension. Elisha, who
saw Elijah ascending and “took the mantle of Elijah that had
fallen upon him,” was vouchsafed two-thirds of Elijah’s prophetic
spirit, and the sons of the prophets said: “The spirit of
Elijah rests on Elisha” (II Kings 2:1–18). In contrast to Elijah,
who appears as a hermit-like prophet performing his deeds
alone, Elisha in the performance of his acts avails himself of
the sons of the prophets (9:1–12). He is also in need of a musician,
so that the hand of God may rest upon him (3:15). Elisha’s
first appearance as a prophet in his own right took place during
the expedition against Moab undertaken by *Jehoram king
of Israel and *Jehoshaphat king of Judah (about 850 B.C.E.).
Jehoram asked Elisha to reveal to him the “word of the Lord”
about the outcome of the battle. Elisha did not hesitate to
speak to Jehoram in the sharpest terms, and at first even re-
fused to prophesy. Only when the king pressed him, hinting
that not only was he in danger but also his allies – the kings of
Judah and Edom – did Elisha agree to prophesy because of the
virtues of Jehoshaphat (II Kings 3:11–19). The relations between
Elisha and the kings of Israel were generally, but not always,
harmonious (II Kings 6:31–3). Jehoram is described as an improvement
over his parents Ahab and Jezebel because “he put
away the pillar of Baal which his father had made” (3:2). The
Bible has preserved an account of how the king asks *Gehazi,
Elisha’s young servant, to describe some of his master’s deeds
(8:4–6). The king listened with interest to Gehazi’s narration,
evidence not only of admiration for the prophet but also of
complete belief in him and his prophetic powers. Nevertheless,
this did not prevent Elisha from apprehending the failures of
Jehoram’s regime: the Moabite rebellion against Israel, defeats
in the wars against the Arameans, the Aramean invasion and
siege of Samaria, and the many years of famine, which Elisha
saw as an indication that the sins of Ahab’s house demanded
atonement. In Jehu and Hazael, he saw the rod of God’s wrath
in the awful and terrifying events that befell Israel as a punishment
for the sins of Ahab’s house.
Especially noteworthy is Elisha’s prophecy to the Aramean
Hazael (II Kings 8:7–15) in which the prophet told
Hazael that he would succeed to the throne of his ailing master
*Ben-Hadad. Elisha instructed Ben-Hadad to tell Hazael
that he would recover, despite Elisha’s prophetic knowledge
that Ben-Hadad would die. Encouraged by Elisha’s prophecy
Hazael hastened Ben-Hadad’s death. Noteworthy as well in the
same story is how Elisha wept when he told Hazael that his
greatness would come at the expense of the Israelite people.
Elisha is likewise depicted as playing a role in Jehu’s revolution
in the kingdom of Israel. It was Elisha who sent one of
the disciples of the prophets (Heb.: benei ha-nevi’im) to anoint
the army commander Jehu and instruct him: “You shall strike
down the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge on
Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood
of all the servants of the Lord” (9:1–7). Interestingly, the biblical
writers do not mention any direct involvement of Elisha
with Jehu in the destruction of the house of Ahab, or in Jehu’s
bloody purge of the worshippers of Baal. Nor do we have an
account of Elisha’s intervention in subsequent events of Jehu’s
reign. Only in the days of Jehu’s grandson, Joash, more than
40 years after the bloodshed, does Elisha once again appear
to prophesy future victories for the kingdom of Israel over
the Arameans (II Kings 13:14–19). He died during the reign
of Joash son of Jehoahaz.
Elisha was remembered as a powerful wonder-worker
for both good and ill. One of his miracles rescues the son of
the widow of one of the disciples of the prophets from slavery
(II Kings 4). In another tale he brings fertility to a barren
woman and later brings the boy back to life (ibid.) In another
tale he heals the Aramean general Naaman of a dread skin
disease (II Kings 5). In yet another case he responds to youngsters
who had teased him about his baldness by cursing them
in Yahweh’s name with the result that 42 of them are mangled
350 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6