Elisha
Disciple and successor of Elijah. Kings tells of his miracles, among them the healing of Naaman the Syrian, and of his part in the rise of Hazael of Damascus and Jehu of Israel.
Elisha son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, was called from the plough by Elijah and served him (1 Kings 19:16, 19–21). He saw his master taken up at the Jordan River and returned with his cloak as the recognised prophet in his place (2 Kings 2:9–15); see Elisha Succeeds Elijah.
Kings gathers a series of stories about him: he promised water and victory to the kings marching against Moab (2 Kings 3:11–20), restored the son of a woman of Shunem to life (2 Kings 4:32–37), and sent Naaman to wash in the Jordan (2 Kings 5:9–14), a healing that Jesus recalls in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:27). He told Hazael that he would be king of Aram (2 Kings 8:7–15) and sent a prophet to anoint Jehu (2 Kings 9:1–3); see Jehu’s Revolt and Tribute to Assyria. He died in the reign of Joash, Jehu’s grandson, who wept over him as “the chariots of Israel and its horsemen” (2 Kings 13:14–20).
In the timeline
- about 850 BC, traditional dateElisha Succeeds Elijah
Elijah and his disciple Elisha cross the Jordan near Jericho. Kings says that Elijah is carried up to heaven in a whirlwind and that Elisha, taking up his master’s cloak, returns as the prophet in his place.
- 841 BC, firm dateJehu’s Revolt and Tribute to Assyria
The army commander Jehu, anointed at Elisha’s word, kills the kings of Israel and Judah, Jezebel and the house of Ahab, and destroys the temple of Baal in Samaria. In the same year Assyrian records show him paying tribute to Shalmaneser III.
- about 840 BC, estimated dateMoab’s Revolt and the Mesha Stele
Mesha, king of Moab, throws off the rule of Israel after Ahab’s death. Kings tells of the campaign sent against him; Mesha’s own stele, found at Dibon, tells of the towns he took from Israel in the name of his god Chemosh.