A question has arisen in my mind as I have been studying and teaching the books of Kings to my ninth and tenth grade classes. I have found many things that have suggested to me that Elisha might be a type/foreshadower of Jesus. I don't have time to go into much detail, but the main things that suggest that to me are that Elijah, Elisha's predecessor, is compared in the New Testament to John the Baptist, who is Jesus' predecessor. Also, Elisha's name in Hebrew means "God is salvation," and Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) means "Yahweh (Heb. name for God) is salvation." The final thing involves a method of structural analysis for interpreting the OT narratives that I think is legitimate and quite helpful. I have been largely following the analysis of David Dorsey in his book The Literary Structure of the Old Testament. With Elisha it shows that His miracles in 2 Kings 2-8 show his power over death and that he focuses on meeting the physical needs of common people (distinct from Elijah, who spoke mainly to kings)--that reminded me of Jesus, especially as He is described in Hebrews 2:14-16:

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants."

The thing about this is that I have not found any commentators (I have not read many, but a few) who even mention this, but the more I think about it the more I find that keeps suggesting this to me. Has anyone here ever heard of Elisha being compared to Jesus?

Yes, I believe he is. I'm looking through some old notes from an Old Testament class for information on typology. I'll let you know if I find any helpful commentaries and/of references.
John

My feeling is that this is the usual interpretation among the fathers, but I can't point you to a source right now... I'll get back to you if I think of something more precise.

Patrik

One thing that was pointed out to me years ago were that many of these many were forebearers of the Promised One who was promised. All of creation groaned and yearned for that blessed gift and the whole OT tells that story. It goes as far back as to Cain & Abel, and the grief shared by Adam & Eve over the sin of their sin. Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon - they all hinted at what the One was going to be like, yet all faltered in some way or simply were overcome by old age and death in the end.

Andrew Peterson writes a song on this entitled "So Long Moses" expressing the longing they had in the chorus:
Will he be a king on a throne
Full of power with a sword in his fist?
Prophet, tell us will there be another king like this?
Full of wisdom, full of strength,
The hearts of the people are his
Prophet, tell us will there be
another king like this?

Thanks, friends. That is interesting what you say about the fathers, Patrik, and your statement about all the forerunners was very well put, Hynesic. I am seeing more and more about how the authors of the gospels and the apostles saw Jesus as the fulfillment not just of specific prophetic statements, but of the prophets themselves and the stories of their lives (e.g., the Hebrew conception of the historical books of the OT as the "former prophets," and the story of Elisha raising the only son of the Shunammite woman and multiplying the loaves [2 Kings 4] and Jesus' similar miracles [Luke 7:11f. and the feeding of the 5000]).

On a related note, my roommate just accurately stated that Christian bookstores (in America, at least) are failures. He said he found 5 books that were not written in the past 100 years (besides the Bible, of course). Patrik, we need you to come evangelize us!

Amen!!! "Christian" bookstores are failing Christians completely! There are so many texts out there (NOT in the Christian bookstores) of great importance. I would love to see someone try to buy such helpful works as The Englishman's Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament by George V. Wigram (1874) or Thayer's Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament by Joseph H. Thayer (1896) or the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (1906).

I know that many will laugh at this and that there are many great helps printed in the last 100 years, but these are completely wonderful volumes of great importance in a diligent study of the Bible. Our forefathers were very fortunate in some respects.

Quick story. I recently visited a "Christian" college library and bookstore. I was completely disappointed in the selection of materials in the bookstore. After purchasing one marginal work, I walked toward the exit to find a few large movable bookshelves full of books. These were being "cleared out" of the library. I began to look through the materials and, to my astonishment, I found over 25 great works (most of which were at least 50 years old) from various authors. I walked out of that building with 25-30 books for under $10. They were selling most of them for $.25!!! I was so happy! My wife told me I was nuts, but it was a truly great day!!!

I am with you on the 'Christian' bookstore scene. What makes it Christian? It is full of bad writing? Please. A few months back my pastor likened 'Christian' bookstores (in some ways) to the market tables in the temple that Jesus got angry about and turned over.

mhm.

they sell more cheesey, cheaply made home decor than books.

we don't have a regular bookstore in my town, but we do have a christian bookstore called sonshine ...

the apologetics section is one little shelf of "young" books from people who all agree with each other. so weird.

Have you guys found these things? I am interested in reading/hearing about it, if so. I found a section of Dillard and Longman's intro to the OT that made the connection, and it shows many parallels between Elijah and John, but not much between Elisha and Jesus. I guess the connection between Elisha and Jesus is kind of dependent on Elijah and John, and perhaps the gospel writers picked up on that and thus presented some of Jesus' acts in language that reminds of Elisha. See Mark 6:35-44 and 2 Kings 4:42-44, and Luke 7:11-17 and 2 Kings 4:8-37. The Luke passage is especially interesting, as it happened in Nain, which is about 2 miles from where Elisha's raising of the woman's son happened in Shunem. Also note that after this, in Lk 7:18 f., when John hears of this in prison, he inquires about whether Jesus is the one they were waiting for or not. But would he have even asked this if he was looking for another Elisha? Would the similar miracle in the same area have confirmed it for him? Possibly, but maybe Luke put these two episodes together to hint at something . . .
My department head is skeptical though, so I need some church fathers to throw at him! I don't want to be defrocked for my strange doctrines!

On the bookstore thing, I can say that most of the time I see better and more interesting Christian books in regular bookstores than in Christian ones. See this post.

I have been teaching my students Psalm 130 for the past few weeks, and a question that I suppose I have always had has arisen. Is God's forgiveness something we have to wait for? The Psalm says:

A Song of Ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

After the psalmist acknowledges that there is forgiveness with God, he says that he waits for God. What is he waiting for? I guess this has long been a concept I don't really understand. What does it mean to wait for God? I don't think it is referring to His coming, as in the advent of the Messiah, or the second coming of Christ. The context seems to suggest that it is expecting and looking forward to God's working in our lives and souls, and specifically forgiving our sins. But I have usually thought of forgiveness as an instantaneous thing, that we confess and are forgiven and can move on. Perhaps the Roman Catholic teaching of penance is more in accord with this.

I know this was an important passage for Luther, and he even wrote a hymn about it, but I do not have access to his commentaries or lectures on Psalms. I have also heard that John Owen wrote 320 pages on this Psalm, and he was anything but Catholic. I gave this question to my students today as a journal entry, but I was afraid to open it up to much discussion because I am still so confused about it myself and I am somewhat afraid to make myself and the students vulnerable. I need to open up more to the Spirit in my teaching. I also realized my own tendency to question church practices that I do not like, as today I was questioning the emphasis on quick decisions for Christ and simple presentations of the gospel. I ought to be quicker to question my own actions and practices.

I was also intrigued by the statement from Pat Robertson a few weeks ago about how he believed Ariel Sharon's stroke was an act of God's judgment because he is dividing the land of Israel. He said that God would judge anyone who does that, according to the book of the prophet Joel in the Old Testament. I am usually skeptical of dispensational interpretations that link the founding of the modern nation of Israel in 1947 with the fulfillment of prophecy. I guess I can acknowledge some connection between that and prophecies about the restoration of Israel in the endtimes, but I am hesitant to equate the modern state of Israel with promises to Israel from the Old Testament. Nevertheless, I can see how a plain reading of the text would produce such an idea. Here it is, from Joel 3:1-2:
1 "In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. [a]
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning my inheritance, my people Israel,
for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Oops, I accidentally posted twice!