What is the story of Elisha?

Answer 1

A:The Second book of Kings describes Elisha as the disciple and successor to Elijah. The succession takes place when Elijah, alone among the prophets, was honoured by being taken up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11), rather than facing a normal death. Apparently Elisha was the only witness to this event, but it seems that for no other reason than to create a sense of theatre or perhaps to convince the reader that the whirlwind was of divine origin and not merely a natural phenomenon, a chariot of fire and horses of fire passed by before Elijah was taken up.

It was in the gift of Elijah to grant his supernatural powers to his companion and protege, Elisha. There is no suggestion that either Elijah or Elisha thought of asking God whether this was to be, and Elisha soon demonstrated that he had these powers by becoming the third person, after Joshua and Elijah, to divide the waters of the Jordan.

In an episode remarkably like one earlier attributed to Elijah, Elisha made a pot of oil into one that never emptied, no matter how much was poured from it (2 Kings 4:3-7). Later, just as the woman friend in whose home Elijah was staying had accused Elijah of bringing evil that caused the death of her son, so a woman friend in whose home Elisha often stayed, accused him of deceiving her, after her son had died. And just as Elijah lay on top of the son to revive him, so Elisha lay on top of the other son to revive him (2 Kings 4:28-35). These episodes seem to be a retelling, in a slightly different context, of the stories already told about Elijah.

One story about Elisha (2 Kings 2:23-24) does no credit either to Elisha or his God - he cursed in the name of God 42 little children who had laughed at his bald head, whereupon thechildren were mauled by wild bears.