Elisha: the Prophet · Bible Guide

PROPHET IN ISRAEL AFTER ELIJAH, FROM THE DAYS OF JORAM TO THE DAYS OF JOASH · TWO KINGDOMS

Elisha. Called from the plough by Elijah's mantle; “the man of God” of Shunem, Naaman and the siege of Samaria.

SCRIPTURE CALLS

Prophet

ERA

Two kingdoms 930–586 BC

IN THE DAYS OF

Joram · “The king of Israel” of 2 Kings 5–8 · Jehoshaphat · Ben-hadad · Hazael · Jehu · Jehoash

BOOK

None bears the name

HOW THE WORD CAME

The mantle at the plough (1 Kings 19:16–21)

THE CALL

Called, as two accounts tell it

“Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.”

1 Kings 19:16 (KJV) →

HOW THE WORD KEPT COMING

Many of his words carry “Thus saith the LORD”: over the spring at Jericho, to the three kings, over the twenty loaves, and to the starving city of Samaria. 2 Kings 2:21 2 Kings 3:16–17 2 Kings 4:43 2 Kings 7:1
Before he answered the three kings he asked for a minstrel, “and it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him”. 2 Kings 3:15
He knew what happened out of sight: Gehazi's errand (“Went not mine heart with thee”), the Syrian king's words “in thy bedchamber”, and the king's messenger coming to take his head. 2 Kings 5:26 2 Kings 6:9–12 2 Kings 6:32
He also said when something had been hidden from him: of the Shunammite's grief, “the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me”. 2 Kings 4:27
He spoke of what “the LORD hath shewed me” about Ben-hadad and Hazael, and prayed that his servant's eyes be opened to see the horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 8:10 2 Kings 8:13 2 Kings 6:17
He used things at hand: salt in a new cruse, meal in the pot, a stick cast in the water, and arrows shot from a window. His staff, laid on the dead child's face by Gehazi, did not wake him. 2 Kings 2:20–21 2 Kings 4:29–31 2 Kings 4:41 2 Kings 6:6 2 Kings 13:15–18

BEFORE THE KINGS

Before seven rulers

KING OF ISRAEL

Joram (Jehoram) of Israel

“What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother.”

2 Kings 3:13 (KJV) →

RULER

“The king of Israel” of 2 Kings 5–8 (not named)

“See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head?”

2 Kings 6:32 (KJV) →

KING OF JUDAH

Jehoshaphat

“were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.”

2 Kings 3:14 (KJV) →

KING OF SYRIA (ARAM) IN THE DAYS OF ELISHA

Ben-hadad

“Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the LORD hath shewed me that he shall surely die.”

2 Kings 8:10 (KJV) →

KING OF SYRIA (ARAM) AT DAMASCUS

Hazael

“Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel”

2 Kings 8:12 (KJV) →

KING OF ISRAEL

Jehu

“Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel.”

2 Kings 9:3 (KJV) →

KING OF ISRAEL

Jehoash (Joash) of Israel

“The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria”

2 Kings 13:17 (KJV) →

THE MESSAGE

The word in its main themes

“There is a prophet in Israel”

“let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

2 Kings 5:8 (KJV) →

“Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel”

2 Kings 5:15 (KJV) →

Deliverance from Moab and from Syria

“this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.”

2 Kings 3:18 (KJV) →

No reward taken

“As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none.”

2 Kings 5:16 (KJV) →

Bread for the captive band

“set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.”

2 Kings 6:22 (KJV) →

A famine, Hazael and Jehu

“the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.”

2 Kings 8:1 (KJV) →

THE WORD TO …

To whom the word was spoken

TO THE MEN OF JERICHO

“Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.”

2 Kings 2:21 (KJV) →

TO JORAM KING OF ISRAEL

“Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.”

2 Kings 3:16 (KJV) →

TO A WIDOW OF THE SONS OF THE PROPHETS

“Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

2 Kings 4:7 (KJV) →

TO THE SHUNAMMITE

“About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son.”

2 Kings 4:16 (KJV) →

TO NAAMAN

“Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.”

2 Kings 5:10 (KJV) →

TO GEHAZI

“The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.”

2 Kings 5:27 (KJV) →

TO HIS SERVANT AT DOTHAN

“Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.”

2 Kings 6:16 (KJV) →

TO THE KING OF ISRAEL

“Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow?”

2 Kings 6:22 (KJV) →

TO THE BESIEGED CITY

“To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.”

2 Kings 7:1 (KJV) →

TO THE LORD ON WHOSE HAND THE KING LEANED

“Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.”

2 Kings 7:2 (KJV) →

TO HAZAEL, FOR BEN-HADAD

“The LORD hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.”

2 Kings 8:13 (KJV) →

TO JOASH KING OF ISRAEL

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

COMPANIONS AND OPPONENTS

Who stood with him, and against him

Elijah

Shaphat

His father

Gehazi

His servant

The Shunammite woman

The site's record for the people of Shunem

The sons of the prophets

Naaman

The young prophet at Ramoth-gilead

The lord on whose hand the king leaned

Opponent

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

“Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died.” Joash king of Israel came down and wept over him, “O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof”, the words Elisha had cried when Elijah was taken. 2 Kings 13:14 2 Kings 2:12
“And Elisha died, and they buried him.” 2 Kings 13:20
When a dead man was cast into his sepulchre and touched his bones, “he revived, and stood up on his feet”. 2 Kings 13:21
Jesus said in Nazareth, “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
From the textKings does not say where he was buried or how old he was. 2 Kings 13:20

TRADITION SAYS

Ecclesiasticus says “Eliseus was filled with his spirit”, that “he was not moved with the presence of any prince”, and that “after his death his body prophesied”. Sirach 48:12–14 [9] Who says so: Jesus son of Sirach, Ecclesiasticus 48 (KJV Apocrypha), about 200 BC on T. W. Davies's dating; scholars differ
Jerome writes that at Samaria, renamed Sebaste, “There lie the prophets Elisha and Obadiah and John the Baptist”.[14] Who says so: Jerome, Letter 108 (to Eustochium) 13, written after Paula's death in AD 404

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

The firstborn's share

C. F. Keil (tr. 1872), pp. 292–293, following Levi ben Gershom, Grotius and Hengstenberg

Keil bases the request on Deuteronomy 21:17, where the firstborn receives a double portion of his father's inheritance: Elisha asked, as Elijah's firstborn among the sons of the prophets, for the heir's share of his spirit. 2 Kings 2:9 Deuteronomy 21:17 [1]

Twice Elijah's measure

Translators from Ephraem Syrus to Köster and F. W. Krummacher, Luther following the Vulgate; J. Le Clerc and A. Pfeiffer on Elisha's miracles (as reported, and rejected, by Keil, pp. 292–293)

Keil reports that many took it as a double measure of Elijah's spirit, some pointing to Elisha's many and greater miracles, and answers that the words do not mean this. 2 Kings 2:9–10 [1]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 11

1 Kings 19 2 Kings 2 2 Kings 3 2 Kings 4 2 Kings 5 2 Kings 6 2 Kings 7 2 Kings 8 2 Kings 9 2 Kings 13 Luke 4

PASSAGES · 11

1 Kings 19:16–21 2 Kings 2:1–25 2 Kings 3:9–27 2 Kings 4:1–44 2 Kings 5:1–27 2 Kings 6:1–33 2 Kings 7:1–20 2 Kings 8:1–15 2 Kings 9:1–11 2 Kings 13:14–25 Luke 4:27

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

Scripture does not name the king of Israel in 2 Kings 5–8, the king of Syria in Naaman's story, or the Shunammite woman.
Kings does not give Elisha's age, or say where he was buried.
Scripture does not explain how Gehazi, after his leprosy, was talking with the king in 2 Kings 8:4–5.
Kings does not say whether Elisha ever met Jehu; the anointing was done by the young prophet he sent.
Elisha wrote no book, and Scripture records no writing of his.

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

C. F. Keil, tr. J. Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Books of the Kings (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), pp. 234–235 (Tishbe), 240–241 (the third year), 260–261 (Horeb; Elisha's call), 272–281 (Naboth; 1 Kings 22), 292–293 (the double portion), 299–300 (Bethel), 334–335 (2 Kings 8:10), 343 (2 Kings 9:25–26); read in the archive.org scan text.
C. F. Keil, tr. A. Harper, The Books of the Chronicles (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), pp. 396–398 (2 Chronicles 21:12–15); read in the archive.org scan text.
C. F. Keil, tr. J. Martin, The Twelve Minor Prophets, vol. 1 (Keil and Delitzsch; translation first published 1868, this printing 1878) (1868), Introduction to Jonah, pp. 379–388; read in the archive.org scan text.
E. B. Pusey, The Minor Prophets, with a Commentary (first issued in parts from 1860; printing of 1869) (1869), Introduction to Jonah, pp. 248 and 255; read in the archive.org scan text.
S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (1891), ch. VI, §5 (Jonah), pp. 300–304; read in the archive.org scan text.
George Adam Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, vol. 2 (The Expositor's Bible) (1898), ch. XXXIV, The Book of Jonah, pp. 497–500 and 507–509; read in the archive.org scan text.
John Richard Sampey, “Jonah” and “Jonah, The Book of”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 3 (1915), pp. 1727–1729; read in the archive.org scan text.
F. K. Farr, “Elijah”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 2 (1915), p. 930; read in the archive.org scan text.
T. Witton Davies, “Sirach (Book of)”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 4 (1915), §VIII, Date (Davies: the Hebrew work about 200 BC; “scholars differ”); read in the archive.org scan text.
Justin Martyr, tr. M. Dods and G. Reith, Dialogue with Trypho, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 (1885), ch. 49, pp. 219–220; checked in the archive.org scan text.
Tertullian, tr. P. Holmes, A Treatise on the Soul, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 3 (1885), chs. 35 and 50, pp. 217 and 227; checked in the archive.org scan text.
Hippolytus, tr. S. D. F. Salmond, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 5 (1886), §43, p. 213; checked in the archive.org scan text.
Augustine, tr. M. Dods, The City of God, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series 1, vol. 2 (1887), 20.29, p. 448; Schaff's preface for the dates 413–426; checked in the archive.org scan text.
Jerome, tr. W. H. Fremantle, Letters and Select Works, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series 2, vol. 6 (1893), Letter 108.13, p. 202; prolegomena chronology (Paula's death, 404; the commentary on Jonah, given as 395 in the notes on the prefaces and 397 in the table); checked in the archive.org scan text.
John Calvin, tr. William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, vol. 2 (1845), on Matthew 11:14, Matthew 14:1–2 and Matthew 17:10–11 (CCEL transcription).
Rodger C. Young, Chronological tables: Table 1, Chronology of the Kings of Israel (Thiele's system as revised by McFall and Young; dates cited as facts only) (undated web tables, read 2026-10-07), Table 1 (Ahab, Jeroboam II), as used on the rulers-israel pages.
H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897), note on 2 Chr 21:12 (read on Bible Hub).
John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament (1748–1763), note on 2 Chr 21:12 (read on Bible Hub).
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on 2 Chr 21:12 (read on Bible Hub).
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1683–1685), note on 2 Chr 21:12 (read on Bible Hub).
R. Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and D. Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Whole Bible (1871), note on 2 Chr 21:12 (read on Bible Hub).
W. E. Barnes, The Books of Chronicles (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1899), note on 2 Chr 21:12 (read on Bible Hub).
W. E. Barnes, The Books of Chronicles (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1899), Introduction, §8.

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