Bible Character Explorer
Divided Monarchy • c. 850 to 795 BC
Elisha
Double PortionElijah's successor whose ministry of miracles displayed God's compassion for the ordinary and desperate
"And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee."
2 Kings 2:10 (KJV)
Overview
Elisha was called by Elijah while plowing with twelve yoke of oxen and served as his attendant for years before receiving a double portion of his spirit at Elijah's departure. His ministry, recorded across nearly two decades in 2 Kings, is marked by more recorded miracles than any other Old Testament prophet, many of them acts of provision and healing for ordinary, often desperate people: a widow's oil, a barren woman's son, a leprous general, poisoned stew, and a borrowed axe head.
Gospel Connection
Elisha's miracles of healing, provision, and raising the dead directly foreshadow the ministry of Jesus, who healed lepers, multiplied bread, and raised the dead, but without needing rituals, oil, or borrowed power, doing so by his own authority as the Son of God. Where Elisha's power required specific acts of obedience like washing in the Jordan, Jesus's healing power flowed from who he is, the greater prophet in whom all of Elisha's compassionate ministry finds its fullest expression.
Discover More
See how this life points to Christ in the Gospel Connection section above.