Were Elijah and Elisha related

Answer 1

A:In spite of the similarities in their names, there is nothing in The Bible to suggest that Elijah and Elisha were related. 'Elijah' is a simple compound of two Hebrew words that are names of God, 'El-YHWH' (El and Yahweh or Jehovah), or perhaps two gods known to have been worshipped in ancient Israel. Archaeologists and biblical scholars say that El, the Semitic father of the gods and Yahweh were once quite separate gods, but over time became syncretised as one God, the national God of Israel. 'Elisha' is a compound of two Hebrew words that mean "El saves" (or God saves).

Both Elijah and Elisha were capable of performing miracles and both had solar aspects, and there is evidence that they might have been worshipped as incarnations of a sun god, long before being transformed in Hebrew tradition into mortal heroes. In Elijah's one great biblical miracle (1Kings 18:19), he challenged the king to let the opposing priests compete with him to call upon their gods to start a fire under a bullock carcass, something he demonstrated he could do with ease. Elijah called down fire from heaven onto his opponents in 2 Kings chapter 1. Rather than die, Elijah was taken up into heaven by in a whirlwind, accompanied by a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11) - travel through the heavens in a fiery chariot was the preferred means of transport for the ancient sun gods.

Elijah simply granted his supernatural powers to his companion and protege, Elisha, who soon demonstrated that he had these powers by becoming the third person, after Joshua and Elijah, to divide the waters of the Jordan.

So much of the stories about Elijah and Elisha can be regarded as mythical that the names and solar aspects really could indicate the earliest origins of the two prophets was as the sun god, who in turn was El-YHWH, the national God of Israel. This is a hypothesis that would explain the surprising similarities in the stories about Elijah and Elisha, making them related as incarnations of the same God in earliest tradition.

Answer:

No, they were not. Elisha was a faithful disciple of the Prophet Elijah and became one of his successors - main one as he received a 'double-portion' of blessing from him - God's Holy Spirit empowering him to do acts. Elisha took the mantle of Elijah and continued with it as God directed Him to do. The story may be read in 2 Kings and is highly recommended so the reader may properly discern the facts as presented.