From Farmer to Political Mastermind

This reflection is part of the ongoing Forest Hills Haftorah Series. The rest of the content can be found here: https://www.sefaria.org/groups/FHJC-Haftorah-Series .

For all Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-Meholah knew, he was destined to be a farmer, ploughing with oxen for his whole life.

YHWH had other plans, however; And as the ministry of Elijah, Israel's previous wonder-worker was coming to an end, Elisha had already been hand-picked by YHWH to take on the mantle.

We already looked at the moment of his anointing together twice, first in A Divine Showdown (https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/249357?lang=bi), and then again in A Literary Journey (https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/274935?lang=bi).

Therefore we won't be focusing on it again, but just to refresh our memories, let's just take a quick peek at Elisha's first moment on the scene:

One thing that the narratives in the works in the TaNaKh really like is inclusio, where the end of a unit somehow hearkens back to the beginning. And in Elisha's case, we see a fine example of this.

Note the name of his town; Abel-Meholah. This is quite an unfortunate name. Abel means someone who is in mourning, while meholath means sickness. (In modern Hebrew, a Beit-Holim, or "hospital," is literally the "House-of-the-Sick.")

And so in English, Elisha's hometown could be called Mourning-of-the-Sick. (I can't imagine people would be lining up to move in. Maybe that's what they wanted?)

Well, now let's jump ahead to Elisha's last moments:

Elisha is stricken with the illness (halah) to which he will succumb. Those with keen memory and reading in Hebrew will most definitely be brought back to the moment we first met Elisha in his hometown of Mourning-of-Sickness.

I think one of the reasons the narratives in the TaNaKh like to do this is because if we remember the beginning upon arriving at the end, we are also invited to consider everything that happened in-between, as well. And so as Elisha's life is coming to an close, we have the opportunity to reflect upon a long, and eventful ministry.

And eventful, it was.

Elisha was personally responsible for not one, but two political coups, one in Northern Israel, (which might be one of the bloodiest cases of transfer of power not just in Israel, but maybe throughout all of the ancient near east entirely), and another in Aram, to the north of Israel.

Let's take a glimpse at those moments.

Here is his encounter with the military commander of the Arameans, when Elisha gives him his blessing to turn on his king. (What's quite interesting is how this theme of sickness will yet again be of significance.) :

This is a tough read.

And I don't know about you, but even though I knew what was coming, as I read of Hazael returning to his king, I was completely on edge. And when he took out the wet netting, I found myself thinking, Don't do it! Don't do it!

But it was futile. What Elisha says, goes.

What's also interesting is that the King of Aram is sending his commanders to inquire specifically of YHWH's prophets. I wonder if this, too, is a result of Elisha's influence. For a few chapters back, we read of another Aramean military commander, Naaman, who experienced a miracle at the hands of Elisha when he was healed from leprosy.

After the miracle, Naaman was of course overwhelmed with gratitude. And so before leaving Canaan and returning home, he makes the following request:

below: One of Naaman's "mule-loads" of dirt.

This might be one of my favorite moments throughout all of the works in the TaNaKh. In this line, we see Naaman, a high-ranking Aramean commander, taking it upon himself to only ever worship YHWH, the god-of-Israel upon experiencing YHWH's power and kindness.

And yet he has to return home! How can he worship the god-of-Israel on foreign soil?

And so, he has an idea; If he takes two mule-loads of dirt, such that in a way, he can take the Land of Canaan with him, well then he can most definitely encounter the god-of-Israel even all the way in Aram!

I tend to think of this to kind of work like the magical wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia, built with wood from Narnia itself. Just like entering the wardrobe can transport you to Narnia, so too stepping onto Canaanite soil transports the offerer, in a way, to Israel!

When I read 2 Kings 5 awhile ago, I wasted no time digging up a little vial of sand from the Negev I had for years in my room and turned it into a necklace, such that now, wherever I am in the world, I have Israel with me, and can always invite YHWH to be comfortable on his "home-turf" during moments of prayer or offerings.

Given the story above, it is no surprise that word of YHWH's power would spread throughout the upper echelons of the Arameans, which would explain why King Ben-Hadad would send his commander, Hazael, to seek out Elisha when he was sick.

Though as we have seen, unfortunately for him, Elisha had other ideas.

But I mentioned that Elisha was responsible for two coups. Let's now peek at the other one.

I'm not going to go into what happens over the next few chapters, but suffice it to say that there is blood. Lots of it.

Elisha wielded tremendous influence. But then again, how could he not? As mentioned above, he was chosen for this role, and carried himself with the conviction that he was doing the Lord-Almighty's work.

At one point during his ministry, the military campaigns of the Arameans against Israel were repeatedly frustrated. The Arameans then came to the (correct) conclusion that this was because Israel had Elisha, the man-of-elohim on her side. And so they put together a task force with the sole mission of taking down Elisha at all costs.

Upon receiving intelligence as to where Elisha was located, they sent in the troops and laid siege to the town. Elisha's companions, seeing this troop's determination, trembled in fear.

Elisha did not bat an eye. Here is what transpires:

below: Wowza. The Arameans have no idea what's coming!

What an image! I love, love, love this story.

Little did the people of Dothan know, that while it looked like they were in big trouble, they were being vigilantly guarded by horses and chariots of fire, such that all the hills around their city was covered by them.

If YHWH wants us to be protected, as he did the Israelites of Dothan, then there is nothing in the world that can put us at risk.

This, for me, is evocative of a couple of lines from one of my favorite prayer-poems:

Whenever we merit Divine Protection - and perhaps this could be for any number of reasons at different moments of our lives - we merit invincibility.

Elisha gives us the opportunity to pull back the curtains and to see exactly how this manifests itself.

Most of us might not have the eye-sight of Elisha - but now that we know what is possible, we have every right to hope that YHWH will bestow such kindness on us, as well, when we need it.

I've found this idea to be personally helpful during moments such as experiencing excessive turbulence on a flight. Whether one has complete control over one's surroundings or not (and in truth, we never do!), panicking never helps. And when I remind myself that - just perhaps, - I am surrounded by protective legions sent by the King of Kings... how could I not suddenly become confidant and calm!

Given all of this, it probably shouldn't be too surprising that when the Israelite kings went to war, they would enlist the help of this man-of-elohim.

Here is one such moment, as the Israelites, Judahites, and Edomites are collaborating on an anti-Moabite campaign, and realize, while en-route, that they are dangerously low on water:

When Elijah anointed Elisha to take over after Elijah's time, this action mattered. Elisha could do things, and people knew he could do things; Knew that in everything he did, he represented a Higher Power.

With that, I want to look back at the start of the description of Elisha's last moments; Particularly at who comes to visit him, and what the person says.

Here it is again:

It's not insignificant that the King of Israel, Joash, "condescends" himself to go visit Elisha when he is sick. Note how both here, and in the passage above about the three kings seeking Elisha's help, they always have to "go down" to find him.

Nor is it insignificant that here, the king uses such deferential language with which to speak to him: Father! Father!

Also, I love the title that King Joash bestows upon Elisha; "Israel's-chariots-and-horsemen!"

What do you make of this? What, exactly, does it mean?

I'll give you one thought.

Well, chariots and horsemen are symbols of war, right? Consider this line from one of the Israelite prayer-poems, for example:

The point of this verse is to demonstrate that unlike Israel's enemies, who rely on the strength of their chariots and horses for military prowess, Israel relies on the sacred name of YHWH!

So with that, I cannot help but think about the fiery horse-and-chariot moment when Aram was laying siege on Dothan. Perhaps King Joash recognizes, in taking such moments into account, that people like Elisha, Israel's man-of-elohim, serve the very purpose for Israel that other nations turn to their war-horses for!

There's another point worth taking into account here.

Remember we spoke about inclusio? How the end echoes the beginning? Well, for people who have been reading the whole arc of Elisha's story, King Joash's title for Elisha will be immediately reminiscent of another moment of significance in Elisha's life; The moment when he and his predecessor, Elijah, finally part ways:

How interesting!

Here we see Elisha using this title with which to refer to Elijah! And, note of course the appearance, yet again, of a fiery chariot.

This is Elisha's coming-of-age. The moment when Elijah leaves the world behind, and when Elisha will no longer be known as Elijah's protege, but the very man through whom YHWH will accomplish his will on earth.

This moment, no less than the moment we discussed earlier when Elisha and Elijah first meet (remember the ploughing with oxen), is representative of Elisha's beginning. And so yet again, we have a case of inclusio!

Let's now read further in the King Joash - Elisha exchange:

The very first thing catches my attention upon reading the above passage has nothing at all to do with the meaning of any of the words that describe what's going on. Rather, I notice the repetition.

How many times do we hear a command that Elisha gives to the King, followed immediately by the text telling us that the king did so-and-so?

("Do this!" The king did this. "Do that!" The king did that. "Now this!" Then the king did this...)

I counted six times, and I bolded the commands above.

This had quite the striking effect on me. I don't know if this is the idea that the text is trying to get across, but for me, what I cannot help but notice is how obedient the king is to the prophet!

From the moment the king enters the room, we have already seen that the power-dynamic seems to be very heavily in Elisha's favor, from the way the king speaks to him. (Father, father!)

The very structure of the description of their interaction, to me, seems to continuously compound that.

But now moving beyond the structure, the whole idea of what is going on is quite interesting! It sounds kind of strange, right? For, why should the king's actions with the arrows have any bearing on the success of future military campaigns? If YHWH wants them to win, they'll win! And if he doesn't, they won't! Why should it be contingent on how many times he bops the ground???

Great points!

Well, as it turns out, for some reason such symbolic actions were pretty standard in the ancient world. I'm going to show you a great example from elsewhere.

In the second half of the 1st century BCE lived one of the most important Roman poets ever; Virgil. And his Aeneid will probably be known as one of the greatest masterpieces as long as human beings have literature.

The Aeneid is the story about a man named Aeneas, the cousin to Hector and Paris of Troy, who survived the city's sacking at the hands of the Greeks. Upon fleeing, Aeneas was informed by the gods that he would be destined to found Lavinium, a city with a glorious fate, which would end up being a parent-city to Rome.

In Book 9, the surviving Trojans are attacked by a people named the Rutuli, led by a man named Turnus.

And the way this Turnus gives the signal that the attack is meant to start is by throwing a spear. It's a really neat text. Here is the English translation:

Turnus, at full speed, had outridden far
his laggard host, and, leading in his train
a score of chosen knights, dashed into view
hard by the walls. A barb of Thracian breed
dappled with white he rode; a crimson plume
flamed over his golden helmet. “Who,” he cries,
“Is foremost at the foe? Who follows me?
Behold!” And, with the word, he hurled in air
a javelin, provoking instant war:

below: Aeneas and Turnus locked in mortal combat! Note the Pantheon in the background.

Now, moving right along into the 4th and 5th century CE, there was a man named Maurus Servius Honoratus. (I bet you can't say that 5 times fast.) He had the reputation of being the most learned man of the whole of his generation in Italy!

One of his most important accomplishments was his commentary of the works of Virgil. In his commentary to the Aeneid, he says that it had always been customary to proclaim war in the way that Turnus does above; throwing a spear. For once upon a time, Ancient Rome had certain priests called fetiales, devoted to the god Jupiter. They were also very much involved in foreign policy, and would send ambassadors, called Pater Patratus (which might mean father of fathers, or perhaps, father whose father is still living, or maybe, the accomplished father) to other countries for negotiations.

Here is Wikipedia's entry on the War-Proclamation ritual, called Rerum Repetitio:

Wow, how about that! I first encountered this idea of the connection to Aeneid in Jerome Smith's Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury, and found it utterly fascinating; The more I read, the more interesting this all became.

So let's connect this all back to Elisha and King Joash. To me, it seems that Elisha is having King Joash act out elements that are present in this Rerum Repetitio ceremony; There's the shooting/throwing of weapons, and there is also the symbolic declaration of war; An arrow of victory for YHWH! An arrow of victory over Aram! You shall rout Aram completely at Aphek.

Can you think of anything in contemporary life which is reminiscent of all of this?

Okay, I've got something.

In the 1980s CE, there was a hockey player on the Montreal Canadiens by the name of Claude Lemiuex. He had the tradition of staying on the ice after pre-game warmups, once all the players already returned to the locker rooms, to shoot the puck into the opponent's net. (Symbolically declaring war?)

Well, when the opponents found out, they didn't quite like it.

Here is a clip from an article which writes about the aftermath of when someone tried to put a stop to this:

Isn't that utterly wild???? Perhaps they all read the Aeneid, and knew that there was a lot at stake in letting Lemieux have his way with the puck before the game.

below: Claude "Turnus" Lemieux

Now, to go in a bit of a different direction, there's a nice comment in David Guzik's Enduring Word Commentary:

What do you think, do you buy it? I think it's quite clever. Can you think of any more parallels between shooting an arrow and prayer?

Finally, to round things out, let's look at the moment at the end of the chapter when, after Elisha's death we see the ramifications of King Joash's beating of the arrows on the ground:

So, King Joash defeated him "three times," huh? I guess Elisha knew what he was talking about.

To wrap things up, I want to introduce a new idea that I'll be going with moving forward.

Two weeks ago, we spoke about the wonders of the Israelite Wisdom-literature. Well since then, as I've reflected further, I've been thinking that the proverbs-collection does not get nearly as much attention as it deserves. So from now on I'll be leaving you with an ancient Israelite proverb to further ponder something we touched upon in this limmud - not because we need any more material after all of the above, but just to regularly benefit from something our ancient proverbs have to offer, lest we forget about his amazing resource of wisdom.

So for this week: