A Prophet Tested: Elisha, the Great Woman of Shunem, and the Story's Double Message

Abstract

Abstract On casual reading, the story of Elisha and the Shunammite appears to belong to the genre of prophetic legends in praise of the prophets. A closer look, however, reveals marked differences between this story and the usual laudatory tales from the lives of the prophets, and places it in quite a different category. Though Elisha performs miracles—showing that he possessed super-human powers—the story exposes his limitations and human errors. It is, therefore, not so much a laudatory story as one of development. In a development story the miracles are meant not only to impress the prophet's surroundings and the readers of the story, but also to teach the prophet a lesson and to imply to the readers that although he possesses super-human powers, the prophet is only a human being with the failings of his kind. In other words, the prophetic stories of development have a double ambivalent message, and this article attempts to answer the question; what is the purpose and the importance of this complicated message, or of this elaboration of the story.

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