request pro spirit Gilgal Cycle of Elisha Stories to Jericho. 5Then the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha and said to him, Do you know that to-day Jehovah will take your master from being over you? And he answered, Yes, I know it; only keep silent. And Elijah said to him, Remain here, I pray, for Jehovah hath sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovah liveth and as you live, I will not leave you. So they two went on. Elisha's 7And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them that at a distance, while they stood by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle Elijah's and rolled it up and smote the waters; thereupon they were divided on phetic both sides so that they two could go over on dry ground. 9And when they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, I pray, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. 10 And he said, You have asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, so shall it be with you; but if not, it shall not be so. might rest in fullest meas ure on him De scent of upon 11Now as they were still going on their way conversing, a chariot of fire Elijah's with horses of fire suddenly came and separated the two; and Elijah went mantle up by a whirlwind to heaven. 12And when Elisha saw it, he cried, My faElisha ther, my father!b the chariots of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no more, but he took hold of his own robes and tore them in two pieces. 13Then he took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14And he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and smote the waters, and said, Where now is Jehovah, the God of Elijah? And when he had smitten the waters, they were divided on both sides, so that Elisha could go over. Fruitless search for Elijah Elisha's purifi cation 15 And when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him, 16and said to him, Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray, and seek your master, lest the spirit of Jehovah has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley. And he said, Do not send.d 17 But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, Send. They accordingly sent fifty men; and they sought three days, but did not find him. 18 And when they came back to him, while he was still at Jericho, he said to them, Did I not say to you, 'Do not go'? 19 And the men of the city said to Elisha, See, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord observes; but the water is bad, and the people of the of the lande have untimely births. 20And he said, Bring me a new flask, and put spring at Jeri- salt in it. And they brought it to him. 21And he went out to the source of cho a 29 Lit., let there be a share of two of your spirit upon me, i.e., the especial rights of a firstborn son. b 212 Cf. 1314. Father was probably the term by which the sons of the prophets addressed the prophet whom they recognized as their leader. It is equivalent to master in 3, 5. 215 The preceding context suggests that they were not at Jericho, but near the Jordan. The words, at Jericho, were probably added from 3, 5. d 216 Gk. adds, to the Jordan. 219 Lit., the land casts her young. But in 21 the spring is the cause of this trouble. The only satisfactory explanation is that land, as in I Sam. 1429, 1746 and often, is equivalent to the inhabitants. Gilgal Cycle of Elisha Stories the waters and cast salt into it and said, Thus saith Jehovah, 'I have made these waters wholesome; death shall no longer come from them nor untimely births.' 22So the waters were made wholesome to this day, just as Elisha had said. the 23 And he went up from there to Bethel. And while he was going up by Fate of the way, young lads came out of the city and mocked him with the cry, Go boys of up, you baldhead. 24 And he looked behind him, and when he saw them, Bethel he cursed them in the name of Jehovah. And there came forth two shebears out of the wood and tore forty-two of the lads. 25 And he went from there to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria. § 82. The Widow's Oil, II Kgs. 41-7 Gilgal Cycle of Elisha Stories direc II Kgs. 4 1Now one of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha's Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your tions servant feared Jehovah; but now the creditor is come to take my two children to be his slaves. 2And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house? And she said, Your maid-servant has nothing in the house except a flask of oil.f 3Then he said, Go, borrow vessels abroad of all your neighbors, even empty vessels, and you shall go in, shut the door upon yourself and your sons, and pour out into all the vessels, and when one is full, you shall set it aside. mirac 5So she went from him and shut the door upon herself and her sons; and The while they brought the vessels to her, she poured out. When the vessels ulous were full, she said to her son, Give still another. But he said to her, There flow of is not another vessel! Then she ceased. "When she came and told the man of God, he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debts, and from what remains you, with your sons, can live. § 83. Miraculous Provision of Food for the Sons of the Prophets, II Kgs. 438-44 Gilgal Cycle of Elisha Stories oil pot" II Kgs. 4 38Now Elisha came again to Gilgal while there was a famine "Death in the land. And when the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he in the said to his servants, Set on the great pot and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39Then one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds and came and cut them up into the dish of pottage, for he did not know what they were. 40So § 82 The prominence of the sons of the prophets, the apparent dependence of this story on the earlier Elijah narrative in I Kgs. 17, and the fact that it relates not to public but to private events, strongly suggest that it was taken from the Gilgal cycle. Cf. Introd., p. 19. i 42 Or, enough oil for anointing. $83 The reference to Gilgal in 38 and the prominence of the sons of the prophets make clear the classification of this story. The picture which it gives of a prophetic guild is certainly one of the most distinct in the O.T. € 439 So Luc., Syr., and Targ. Heb., they. Miracle of the bread and fruit The floating iron The nam Gilgal Cycle of Elisha Stories they poured out for the men to eat. But as they were eating of the pottage, they cried out and said, O man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat of it. 41Then he said, Bring meal. And he cast it into the pot and said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. 42 And there came a man from Baal-shalishah and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and garden fruith in his sack. And he said, Give the people something to eat. 43 And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah, They shall eat and shall leave some over. 44So he set it before them, and they ate and left some over just as Jehovah had said. 84. Recovery of the Lost Axe, II Kgs. 61-7 Gilgal Cycle of Elisha Stories II Kgs. 6 1Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, See now, the place where we dwell before you is too contracted for us. 2Let us go, we pray, to the Jordan and each take from there a beam and let us make a place for ourselves there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go. 3And some one said, Consent, I pray, to go with your servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. 5But as one was felling a beam, the axehead fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. 6And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And when he showed him the place, he cut down a stick, and threw it in, and made the iron swim. 7Then he said, Take it up. So he reached out his hand and took it. $85. Restoration of the Shunammite's Son, II Kgs. 48-37 Samaria Cycle of Elisha Stories II Kgs. 4 Now one day Elisha went over to Shunem, where dwelt a rich woman; and she constrained him to eat food. And afterward, whenever he mite's passed by, he turned in there to eat food. And she said to her husband, Behold, now I perceive that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing by us. 10 Let us make a little walled-in roof-chamber, and let us hospi tality to Elisha h 442 Lat., Syr., and Targ., followed by RV, fresh ears of corn. Several § 84 The same geographical setting and point of view appear in this, as in the immediately preceding stories. § 85 The probable influence which the early Elijah stories in 17 exerted upon this story have already been noted. Cf. Introd., p. 19. The dependence upon the same early source is also suggested by similarity in language, cf. 31 and I Kgs. 1826, 29, 34, 35 and I Kgs. 1842. phrases found in 2 here recur: cf., e.g., 30 and 22, 4, 6, indicating possibly that this belongs to the Gilgal cycle. Not Gilgal, however, but Mount Carmel appears to be the home of the prophet, 25. The story and its sequel in 81-6 may be from still a third Mount Carmel cycle, but the familiar references to the king in 13 and 84-6 and the prominence of Gehazi suggest that they probably came from the Samaria cycle. The story throws much light upon social and domestic life in Northern Israel and justly merits the popularity which it has always enjoyed. Samaria Cycle of Elisha Stories place for him there a bed, a table, a seat, and a candlestick, so that, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in. ise that should 11 Now one day he came there and turned into the chamber and lay there. His 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he promhad called her, she stood before him. 13And he said to him, Say now to her, she 'See, you have been so anxious to care for us; what is to be done for you? have a Might we commend you to the favor of the king or to the commander of son the army ?' And she answered, I dwell in the midst of my own clan.j 14And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she has no son, and her husband is old. 15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. 16And he said, At this time a year hence you shall embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, O man of God, do not deceive your maid-servant. of the son moth to Eli 17 But the woman conceived and bore a son about the same time the next Death yeark as Elisha had said to her. 18 And when the child was grown, he went out one day to his father to the reapers. 19And he called to his father, My head, my head! And [his father] said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. 20And when he had taken and brought him to his mother, he sat on her lap until noon, and then died. 21And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him and went out. 22Then she called to her husband and said, Send me, I pray, one of the The servants and one of the asses, that I may go quickly to the man of God and er's come again. 23 And he said, Why will you go to him to-day since it is neither journey new moon nor sabbath? And she said, It is well. 24Then she saddled an sha ass and said to her servant, Drive on fast, do not stop my riding, until I bid you. 25So she went and came to the man of God on Mount Carmel. But when the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant, See, there is the Shunammite! 26Run now to meet her and say to her, Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. 27 But when she came to the man of God to the mountain, she caught hold of his feet. And when Gehazi came near to thrust her away, the man of God said, Let her alone, for she is deeply troubled and Jehovah hath hidden it from me and hath not told me. 28Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me? 29Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up your loins, take my staff in your hand, Gehaand go! If you meet anyone, do not salute him, and if any salute you do fruitnot answer him, and lay my staff on the face of the child. 30 But the mother less of the child said, As Jehovah liveth and as you live, I will not leave. So he to the arose and went with her. 31 And Gehazi had gone on before them and had boy laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was neither sound nor sign. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, saying, The child has not awakened. zi's mission 1413 Heb., Is it to speak for you to the king? i 413 Having the support of a powerful clan, she had no need of royal patronage. k 416, 17 Cf. the close parallel in Gen. 189-14. Resto ration of the life Samaria Cycle of Elisha Stories 32 And when Elisha came into the house, there was the child lying dead on his bed. 33 He went in, therefore, and shut the door behind them two, and boy to prayed to Jehovah. 34 And he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and, as he lay upon1 him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35Then he returned and walked backward and forward in the house, and went up and lay upon him, and the child sneezed seven times; thereupon the child opened his eyes. 36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, Take up your son. 37Then she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground, after that she took up her son and went out. The nam- residence § 86. Restoration of the Shunammite's Land, II Kgs. 81-0 Samaria Cycle of Elisha Stories II Kgs. 8 1Now Elisha spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, go forth with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for Jehovah hath ordered a famine; and moreover, it shall come upon the land seven years. So the woman arose and acted according to the advice of the man of God: and she went with her household and soland at journed in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3And at the end of seven advice years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went forth to petition the king for her house and her land. in a foreign Elisha's Restoration of her forfeited lands Demand 4Now the king happened to be saying to Gehazi the servant of the man of God, Tell me, I pray, all the wonderful things that Elisha has done. 5And just as he was telling the king how he had restored to life the dead, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, petitioned the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed for her a court-official,m saying, Restore all that was hers, together with the produce of the fields since the day that she left the land until now. 87. Healing of Naaman the Leper, II Kgs. 5 Samaria Cycle of Elisha Stories II Kgs. 5 1Now Naaman the commander of the army of the king of Aram was a man prosperous and highly esteemed by his master, because by king of him Jehovah had given victory to Aram;" but the man was a leper. 2And of the Aram 1434 Lit., crouched. The Heb. verb means not stretched, as in the current translations, but rather that he drew up his limbs to correspond to the shorter limbs of the child. $86 Cf. note § 85. m 86 Heb., eunuch. $87 Here Elisha is the prophet of Samaria, 3, is in close touch with the court and is attended not by the sons of the prophets but by Gehazi. The identification of the story with the Samaria cycle is assured. As in the case of most of these popular stories, it is impossible to determine under whose reigns the events took place. n51 So Luc. Into the Heb. has crept the marginal note, a man of ability, intended probably to explain the preceding descriptive adjective. |