Elisha in Biblical History

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Definitions in Biblical History
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Who is Elisha?
ELI'SHA
(God is salvation), the disciple and successor of Elijah. He was the son of Shaphat, and a native of Abel-meholah. 1 Kgs 19:16. Elijah anointed him, by divine command, at Abel-meholah, where he found Elisha ploughing. He threw his mantle over him as they stood in the field, thus signifying the service to which he was called. Elisha promptly obeyed the call, and leaving his oxen in the field took leave of his father and mother and followed Elijah. He did not perform any independent service until Elijah's translation, which took place some 8 years afterward. He then became the head of the school of the prophets. He was the counsellor and friend of successive kings. He was the opposite to Elijah in most things. He lived in the city or with his students, honored and sought for, a welcome guest in the homes he graced by his presence. And yet he was filled with a "double"-i.e. an elder brother's-portion of Elijah's spirit, both to work miracles and to give counsel for present and future emergencies. He multiplied the widow's oil, and when the son of the good Shunammite-God's reward to her for her kindness to his prophet-died, he raised him to life. He cured Naaman, smote Gehazi with leprosy, misled the Syrians, foretold abundant food, and when dying gave the king the promise of victory. Strangely enough, a year after his burial, during the guerrilla-warfare kept up between the Israelites and the Moabites, when a dead man was accidentally put in his tomb, no sooner had the two dead bodies touched than the later dead revived and lived. But God did not recall his beloved back to earth. 2 Kgs 13:21. We find the history of Elisha recorded in 2 Kgs 2-9 and 2 Kgs 13:14-21. He exercised the prophetic office upward of 60 years, b.c. cir. 892-832.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'elisha' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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