Elisha

Elisha (/ᵻˈlaɪʃə/;Hebrew: אֱלִישָׁע, Modern Elisha, Tiberian ʼĔlîšāʻ ; "My God is salvation", Greek: Ἐλισσαῖος, Elissaîos or Ἐλισαιέ, Elisaié, Arabic: اليسع Al-yasaʻ) is a prophet and a wonder-worker mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran, the Ginza Rba and Bahá'í writings. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic, Elyesa via Turkish. He was a disciple of Elijah and, after Elijah was taken up into the whirlwind, Elisha was accepted as the leader of the sons of the prophets.

Biography

Elisha was a prophet and a wonder-worker of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who was active during the reign of Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash (Joash). Elisha was the son of Shaphat, a wealthy land-owner of Abel-meholah; he became the attendant and disciple of Elijah.

His name first occurs in the command given to Elijah to anoint him as his successor. After learning in the cave on Mount Horeb, that Elisha, the son of Shaphat, had been selected by Yahweh as his successor in the prophetic office, Elijah set out to find him. On his way from Sinai to Damascus, Elijah found Elisha "one of them that were ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen". Elisha delayed only long enough to kill the yoke of oxen, whose flesh he boiled with the wood of his plough. He went over to him, threw his mantle over Elisha's shoulders, and at once adopted him as a son, investing him with the prophetic office. Elisha accepted this call about four years before the death of Israel's King Ahab. For the next seven or eight years Elisha became Elijah's close attendant until Elijah was taken up into heaven. During all these years we hear nothing of Elisha except in connection with the closing scenes of Elijah's life.

Elisha (Nestorian patriarch)

Elishaʿ was Patriarch of the Church of the East during a period of schism from 524 to 537. Unlike his opponent Narsai, who was also consecrated as catholicus but has traditionally been considered an anti-patriarch, Elishaʿ is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East.

Sources

Brief accounts of Elishaʿ's reign are given in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (floruit 1280) and in the ecclesiastical histories of the Nestorian writers Mari (twelfth-century), ʿAmr (fourteenth-century) and Sliba (fourteenth-century). A long and detailed account of the schism of Narsai and Elishaʿ is given in the Chronicle of Seert.

Elisha's patriarchate

The following account of Elishaʿ's reign is given by Bar Hebraeus:

Shila died after a while in office. Then a schism arose among the bishops. Some of them supported Elishaʿ, the son-in-law of Shila, and consecrated him catholicus in the church of Ctesiphon; while others supported a man called Narsai, and consecrated him catholicus in the great church of Seleucia. Each of them began to appoint bishops for the vacant churches, and ultimately Elishaʿ prevailed with the support of the king and shut up Narsai in a prison. Narsai died shortly afterwards, and Elishaʿ began to hope that he would be firmly established in the leadership; but the bishops assembled together and degraded him from his rank.

Elisha (given name)

Elisha is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible, the Quran, and Baha'i writings.

Other persons with the same given name include:

Inventors

Politicians and lawyers