Atomic Bible

A prophet who succeeded Elijah.

Elisha

Named in 53 verses across 3 books, first in 1 Kings 19:16.

אֱלִישָׁעElisha

ἘλισσαῖοςElisha

The name means “salvation of God.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869

Father
Shaphat

About Elisha Written by AI

Elisha was a prophet in Israel who succeeded Elijah (1 Kings 19:16). He was the son of Shaphat and was from Abel-meholah (1 Kings 19:16). Elisha became Elijah's servant and disciple after Elijah threw his cloak around him while he was plowing (1 Kings 19:19). When Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elisha took up his cloak and received a double portion of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9 to 13). Elisha performed many miracles, including parting the Jordan River (2 Kings 2:14), purifying water (2 Kings 2:19 to 22), multiplying a widow's oil (2 Kings 4:1 to 7), raising a Shunammite woman's son from the dead (2 Kings 4:8 to 37), and healing Naaman's leprosy (2Ki.5). He also prophesied and gave counsel to kings, such as Jehoshaphat and Joram (2Ki.3). Elisha's ministry spanned the reigns of several kings of Israel, including Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Joash (2Ki.2-13). He died during the reign of King Joash (2 Kings 13:14 to 20). Jesus mentioned Elisha as an example of a prophet who was sent to heal a foreigner, Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:27).

Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.

Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897

God his salvation, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, who became the attendant and disciple of Elijah (1 Kings 19:16-19). His name first occurs in the command given to Elijah to anoint him as his successor (1 Kings 19:16). This was the only one of the three commands then given to Elijah which he accomplished. On his way from Sinai to Damascus he found Elisha at his native place engaged in the labours of the field, ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen. He went over to him, threw over his shoulders his rough mantle, and at once adopted him as a son, and invested him with the prophetical office (comp. Luke 9:61, 62). Elisha accepted the call thus given (about four years before the death of Ahab), and for some seven or eight years became the close attendant on Elijah till he was parted from him and taken up into heaven. During all these years we hear nothing of Elisha except in connection with the closing scenes of Elijah’s life. After Elijah, Elisha was accepted as the leader of the sons of the prophets, and became noted in Israel. He possessed, according to his own request, “a double portion” of Elijah’s spirit (2 Kings 2:9); and for the long period of about sixty years (B.C. 892-832) held the office of “prophet in Israel” (2 Kings 5:8).

After Elijah’s departure, Elisha returned to Jericho, and there healed the spring of water by casting salt into it (2 Kings 2:21). We next find him at Bethel (2:23), where, with the sternness of his master, he cursed the youths who came out and scoffed at him as a prophet of God: “Go up, thou bald head.” The judgment at once took effect, and God terribly visited the dishonour done to his prophet as dishonour done to himself. We next read of his predicting a fall of rain when the army of Jehoram was faint from thirst (2 Kings 3:9-20); of the multiplying of the poor widow’s cruse of oil (4:1-7); the miracle of restoring to life the son of the woman of Shunem (4:18-37); the multiplication of the twenty loaves of new barley into a sufficient supply for an hundred men (4:42-44); of the cure of Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy (5:1-27); of the punishment of Gehazi for his falsehood and his covetousness; of the recovery of the axe lost in the waters of the Jordan (6:1-7); of the miracle at Dothan, half-way on the road between Samaria and Jezreel; of the siege of Samaria by the king of Syria, and of the terrible sufferings of the people in connection with it, and Elisha’s prophecy as to the relief that would come (2 Kings 6:24-7:2).

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We then find Elisha at Damascus, to carry out the command given to his master to anoint Hazael king over Syria (2 Kings 8:7-15); thereafter he directs one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel, instead of Ahab. Thus the three commands given to Elijah (9:1-10) were at length carried out.

We do not again read of him till we find him on his death-bed in his own house (2 Kings 13:14-19). Joash, the grandson of Jehu, comes to mourn over his approaching departure, and utters the same words as those of Elisha when Elijah was taken away: “My father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.”

Afterwards when a dead body is laid in Elisha’s grave a year after his burial, no sooner does it touch the hallowed remains than the man “revived, and stood up on his feet” (2 Kings 13:20-21).

M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.

GenesisMatthewRevelation

Where the Bible names him

  1. 1 Kings 19:16

    You are also to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet.

  2. 1 Kings 19:17

    Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.

  3. 1 Kings 19:19

    So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.

  4. 2 Kings 2:1

    Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,

  5. 2 Kings 2:2

    and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

  6. 2 Kings 2:3

    Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

  7. 2 Kings 2:4

    And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

  8. 2 Kings 2:5

    Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

  9. 2 Kings 2:9

    After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

  10. 2 Kings 2:12

    As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.

  11. 2 Kings 2:14

    Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.

  12. 2 Kings 2:15

    When the sons of the prophets who were watching him from Jericho saw what had happened, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

  13. 2 Kings 2:19

    Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”

  14. 2 Kings 2:22

    And the waters there have been healthy to this day, according to the word spoken by Elisha.

  15. 2 Kings 3:11

    But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here? Let us inquire of the LORD through him.” And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”

  16. 2 Kings 3:13

    Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for it is the LORD who has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”

  17. 2 Kings 3:14

    Then Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not for my regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or acknowledge you.

  18. 2 Kings 4:1

    Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”

  19. 2 Kings 4:2

    “How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

  20. 2 Kings 4:8

    One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.

  21. 2 Kings 4:17

    But the woman did conceive, and at that time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

  22. 2 Kings 4:32

    When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his bed.

  23. 2 Kings 4:38

    When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet, he said to his attendant, “Put on the large pot and boil some stew for the sons of the prophets.”

  24. 2 Kings 5:8

    Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

  25. 2 Kings 5:9

    So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.

  26. 2 Kings 5:10

    Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.”

  27. 2 Kings 5:20

    Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman, by not accepting what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

  28. 2 Kings 5:25

    When Gehazi went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Gehazi, where have you been?” “Your servant did not go anywhere,” he replied.

  29. 2 Kings 6:1

    Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please take note that the place where we meet with you is too small for us.

  30. 2 Kings 6:12

    But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

  31. 2 Kings 6:17

    Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

  32. 2 Kings 6:18

    As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.

  33. 2 Kings 6:19

    And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria.

  34. 2 Kings 6:20

    When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.

  35. 2 Kings 6:21

    And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

  36. 2 Kings 6:31

    He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

  37. 2 Kings 6:32

    Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”

  38. 2 Kings 7:1

    Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”

  39. 2 Kings 8:1

    Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, you and your household; go and live as a foreigner wherever you can. For the LORD has decreed that a seven-year famine will come to the land.”

  40. 2 Kings 8:4

    Now the king had been speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things Elisha has done.”

And 13 more

2 Kings 8:5, 8:7, 8:10, 8:13, 8:14, 9:1, 13:14, 13:15, 13:16, 13:17, 13:20, 13:21

Luke 4:27

From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.