Please read Chapters 1-10 of II Kings for Thursday. Please read also Chapter 17. We'll be focusing on two themes: whether or not the story of Elisha has the makings of tragedy and whether or not the story of the nation of Israel as a whole has the makings of tragedy.Greek tragedies stand out, not only for their overall message, but also for the many "gems" of wisdom and beautifully phrased insights into the human condition included in the choral passages. Please cite here one or two lines from the assigned chapters that seem to you equivalent in function/form to the choral sections of Greek tragedies. If you don't think it particularly useful to view II Kings as tragedy, cite instead a line or two that you consider a good example of historical/biographical insight, or that reflects the prophetic character of the book.
2 King 4
ReplyDeleteThis chapter stood out to me on a few different levels. Elisha performs miracles that make lives better but also teaches important Christian values. He provides the widow with oil but insists she first pay off her debts before she uses the money on herself and her family. Elisha helps the widow by giving her means to help herself and get out of debt so she can support her family instead of worrying about creditors.
The story of the child dying and then being brought back to life by Elisha was one that stuck with me. The Shunammite mother had faith that her son would be healed even as he lie dead. This is tragic but because of Elisha's charity, he is brought back.
I don't know if I would consider the story of Elisha to be a tragedy. His faith seems to be strong and he performs miracles. I can definitely see the story of Israel being a tragedy, for the same reasons it always seems to be. They listen to God, but only for a little while then there back to worshiping idols. Really speaks to the tendency of people forgetting. There were a lot of lines I found to be good examples of the prophetic nature of II Kings.
ReplyDelete2 Kings 8:1-3
Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, "Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years." So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field.
Verses 8 and 9 of Chapter 10 are, to me, similar to what a Greek chorus would recite as a foreshadowing of things to come. When the Queen of Sheba visits Solomon she is "overwhelmed" by everything she sees and hears. As she remarks to Solomon, "How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” Cue tragic, heartbreaking laughter.
ReplyDeleteI tend to think this book to be biographical. The reason being we have so much insight into the life and times of the man named Elisha!
ReplyDeletesecond Kings chapter two has been one of my favorite chapters and verses in the bible for a reason. Mainly, it shows what those dirty little cretins get when they disrespect their elders! (I sound a bit like my grandfather here to be honest) and it shows Elisha's no nonsense attitude. To me Elisha has always been a strong leader and personality, maybe even as great as Elisha (who I really think is the bees knees!)
That is but what example of the interesting life and trials of Elisha as he solves problems and heals people (even after death no less!) This is why I think its more biographical than purely historical. It has some things lined up like a history text yes, but it is also amazingly entertaining! I could feel myself emotionally invested in the character of Elisha and thus think that this book leans away from the historical side a wee bit.