SUMMARY
ElishaMiracle working prophet who succeeded Elijah. ministers to the desperate need of a widowA widow is a woman whose spouse has died, often plunging her into poverty and putting her in a vulnerable position in society. Jesus, in his concern for the poor, regards widows with compassion and concern..
ANALYSIS
Just as ElijahA miracle working Israelite prophet who opposed worship of Baal. had ministered to the desperate need of a widow at the point of death in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16), so now Elisha helps the widow of one of the company of the prophets struggling to pay off her husband’s debts. With no husband to provide for her, she was in danger of debt slavery, as permitted in Exodus 21:7. In Elisha’s ingenious solution, the single oil jar that symbolized the widow’s poverty miraculously became the instrument of her deliverance. The story testifies to Elisha’s concern for the poor and the empowerment of the widow without abrogating the legal strictures of the culture.
