Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Elisha first multiplies oil for a poor widow, chapter II, verse 8. For his hostess, the barren Shunammite woman, he obtains a son, and recalls him from the dead to life, chapter III, verse 38. He sweetens a pot made most bitter by colocynth by casting in flour, chapter 17, verse 42. He multiplies loaves by a miracle, so that they suffice for a hundred men.
Vulgate Text: 4 Kings 4:1-44
1. Now a certain woman, one of the wives of the sons of the prophets, cried out to Elisha, saying: Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and behold, the creditor has come to take my two sons to be his servants. 2. And Elisha said to her: What do you want me to do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house? And she answered: Your handmaid has nothing in the house except a little oil with which to anoint myself. 3. And he said to her: Go, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels, and not a few. 4. And go in and shut your door behind you and your sons; and pour into all these vessels; and when they are full, set them aside. 5. So the woman went and shut the door behind herself and her sons; they brought the vessels to her, and she poured. 6. And when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me yet another vessel. And he said: There is not another. And the oil stopped. 7. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the oil and pay your creditor; and you and your sons, live on the rest.
8. And it happened one day that Elisha passed through Shunem: and there was a great woman there, who urged him to eat bread; and whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat bread. 9. And she said to her husband: I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually. 10. Let us therefore make a small upper room for him, and put in it for him a bed, and a table, and a chair, and a lampstand, so that when he comes to us, he may stay there. 11. And it happened one day that he came and turned into the upper room and rested there. 12. And he said to Gehazi his servant: Call this Shunammite woman. And when he had called her, and she stood before him, 13. he said to his servant: Say to her: Behold, you have taken all this care for us; what would you like me to do for you? Do you have any business, and would you like me to speak to the king or to the commander of the army? And she answered: I dwell among my own people. 14. And he said: What then does she wish me to do for her? And Gehazi said: Do not ask; for she has no son, and her husband is old. 15. So he said: Call her. And when she had been called and stood at the door, 16. he said to her: At this season, at this same hour, if life accompanies you, you shall have a son in your womb. And she answered: Please, do not, my lord, man of God, do not deceive your handmaid. 17. And the woman conceived and bore a son at the time and at the same hour that Elisha had said. 18. And the child grew. And it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers, 19. and he said to his father: My head hurts, my head hurts. And he said to a servant: Carry him and bring him to his mother. 20. And when he had carried him and brought him to his mother, she set him on her knees until noon, and he died. 21. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door; and going out, 22. she called her husband and said: Send me, I pray, one of the servants and a donkey, that I may run to the man of God and come back. 23. And he said to her: Why are you going to him? Today is not the New Moon, nor the Sabbath. And she answered: I will go. 24. And she saddled the donkey and said to the servant: Drive on and hurry; do not slow down for me unless I tell you. 25. So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel; and when the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to Gehazi his servant: Look, there is the Shunammite woman. 26. Run now to meet her and say to her: Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered: It is well. 27. And when she came to the man of God on the mountain, she caught hold of his feet, and Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said: Let her alone, for her soul is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me. 28. And she said: Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say: Do not deceive me? 29. And he said to Gehazi: Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; and lay my staff on the face of the child. 30. But the mother of the child said: As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So he arose and followed her. 31. Now Gehazi had gone on ahead of them and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no voice nor response: and he returned to meet him and told him, saying: The child has not awakened. 32. So Elisha entered the house, and behold, the dead child was lying on his bed: 33. and he went in and shut the door behind himself and the child, and prayed to the Lord. 34. And he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon him, and the flesh of the child became warm. 35. Then he returned and walked back and forth in the house, once this way and that; and he went up and stretched himself upon him; and the child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36. And he called Gehazi and said: Call this Shunammite woman. And when she was called, she came to him. And he said: Take up your son. 37. And she came and fell at his feet and bowed to the ground; and she took up her son and went out. 38. And Elisha returned to Gilgal. Now there was a famine in the land, and the sons of the prophets were dwelling before him; and he said to one of his servants: Set on the large pot and cook stew for the sons of the prophets. 39. And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it wild gourds, and filled his garment, and came and cut them into the pot of stew, for he did not know what they were. 40. So they poured out for the men to eat; and when they tasted the stew, they cried out: There is death in the pot, O man of God! And they could not eat it. 41. But he said: Bring flour. And when they had brought it, he cast it into the pot and said: Pour out for the people that they may eat; and there was nothing harmful in the pot. 42. And a man came from Baal-Shalishah, bringing to the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh grain in his sack. And he said: Give to the people that they may eat. 43. And his servant said: How am I to set this before a hundred men? But he said: Give to the people that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: They shall eat, and there shall be some left over. 44. So he set it before them; and they ate, and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.
Verse 1: A Certain Woman Cried Out to Elisha
1. NOW A CERTAIN WOMAN. Josephus, book IX, chapter II, whom the Hebrews, Theodoret, Lyranus, Abulensis, and others follow, asserts that this woman was the wife of Obadiah, the steward of Ahab, 3 Kings chapter XVIII, verse 3, and that she obtained this benefit and miracle of the multiplied oil from Elisha on account of the merits and almsgiving of her husband, who in the persecution of Jezebel had hidden and fed a hundred prophets of the Lord. For God rewards generosity with generosity, and is supremely merciful to the merciful, according to that: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," Matthew chapter V.
Verse 2: The Creditor Has Come
2. AND BEHOLD, THE CREDITOR HAS COME. The Hebrews relate that this creditor was Joram king of Israel, who had given money to Obadiah, which he had spent on secretly feeding the hundred prophets, and therefore it was now being demanded back from his wife by the king. But Abulensis refutes this, Question IV.
TO TAKE MY TWO SONS TO SERVE HIM. The Hebrews were accustomed to sell their children or take them as slaves for the debts of their parents, as is evident from Matthew chapter XVIII, verse 25, and Isaiah L, 1. The Romans did the same of old, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus attests, book II, and the Athenians, as Plutarch attests in his Life of Solon: indeed even Christians, as is evident from law 2 concerning fathers who sold their children, book IV of the Code, title 43. St. Ambrose gravely complains and deplores that this was done in his own time, in his book On Job, chapter VIII.
EXCEPT A LITTLE OIL WITH WHICH TO ANOINT MYSELF. So also the Septuagint. In Hebrew it reads: except a flask of oil. Our translation and the Septuagint add: with which to anoint myself, that is, with which I can be anointed only once, to signify that the vessel is small and the oil is small. For the use of oil properly is for anointing, which among the Hebrews was customary and frequent. Others, with Sanchez, take it as: with which to anoint myself, namely after my imminent death from famine. For it was the custom among the Hebrews, as among the Gentiles, to anoint the dead before burial.
Verse 3: Borrow Empty Vessels From All Your Neighbors
3. GO, BORROW FROM ALL YOUR NEIGHBORS EMPTY VESSELS, AND NOT A FEW. For I will cause them all to be filled with oil; and the more empty vessels you bring, the more full of oil you will receive. Tropologically this signifies that the heart must be emptied of earthly desires, so that God may fill it with the oil of His grace. Hear St. Bernard, sermon 6 On the Ascension: "Whence comes such poverty of spiritual grace in some, while in others such abundance overflows? Surely the distributor of grace is neither miserly nor poor; but where empty vessels are lacking, the oil must stop. The love of the world forces itself in on every side with its consolations, or rather its desolations, watches for entrances; it rushes in through the windows, occupies the mind; but not of him who said: My soul refused to be comforted; I remembered God, and was delighted. For holy delight shuns a mind preoccupied with worldly desires: nor could true things be mixed with vain, eternal with transient, spiritual with corporal, highest with lowest, so that you might equally relish the things that are above and the things that are on earth." St. Gregory, however, in homily 3 on Ezekiel, by oil understands the doctrine which is poured through teachers into the empty minds of men. "Because," he says, "when from the mouth of one teacher the empty minds of many hear some small thing about the love of the divinity, with grace abounding, they are filled to the brim with the ointment of divine love. Indeed the hearts of many, which were formerly empty little vessels, are now full of the ointment of the Spirit, which seemed to be poured out from only a small amount of oil." Whence St. Augustine, sermon 206 On the Seasons, teaches that the apostolic man must seek out "empty vessels," that is, people in need of instruction, into whom he may pour the oil of doctrine: for thus it will grow as the people grow.
Verse 4: And Shut Your Door
4. AND SHUT YOUR DOOR, both so that no one coming in may disturb your pouring of oil into the vessels, or delay and stop it; and so that this miracle and benefit may be secret, and you may see that God alone works it, and no man cooperates in it; and so that you alone may enjoy the oil, lest anyone demand or take some of it. Mystically St. Augustine, sermon 206 On the Seasons: "It signifies," he says, "that each person should give alms behind closed doors, that is, for the love of God alone, not in order to be praised by men, but in order to deserve to find grace with God. For he who gives alms for human praise does it with the door open, because it is open to all. But he who does good works solely for eternal life and for the remission of sins, even if he does it publicly, has done it with the door closed; because from that almsgiving he does not seek what is seen, but what is not seen: for human praise is seen, but the eternal reward is not seen."
Verse 5: They Brought the Vessels to Her, and She Poured
5. THEY BROUGHT THE VESSELS TO HER, AND SHE POURED; therefore by pouring, the oil increased. For Angels continually supplied and put more and more oil into the flask, until all the vessels were filled, and when that was done the oil stopped, as the Angel withdrew. Allegorically St. Augustine, sermon 206 On the Seasons: "In the oil," he says, "mercy is understood. Therefore the widow's debt had grown because she had lost the oil of mercy by sinning. Consider, brethren: The oil failed and the debt grew. The oil grew, and the debt perished. Greed had grown, and charity had perished; charity returns, and iniquity perishes. When Elisha, that is Christ the Lord, came, the widow, that is the Church, through the increase of oil, that is the gift of grace and mercy, or with the richness of charity, is freed from the debt of sins."
Tropologically, the same St. Augustine in the same place by oil understands charity, which is not diminished by giving, but always increases by its own diffusion. "Consider," he says, "most beloved brethren, that as long as that widow had oil in her own little vessel, it was not sufficient for herself, nor could she pay her debt. It is true, most beloved. He who loves only himself, is not sufficient for himself, nor can he pay the debt of his sins. But when in the vessels of others, that is in all neighbors and kinsmen, and in absolutely all people, he begins to pour the oil of charity, then he will be able to be sufficient for himself and to free himself from all debts. And truly, brethren, such is the nature of holy love and true charity, that it grows by giving, and the more it is spent on others, the more abundantly it is heaped up in oneself." He confirms the same from the contrast between food and oil, or charity: "Bodily food, if you wish to give it to one in need, you yourself will not be able to have what you gave him at the moment. But if you give the bread of charity to a hundred men, it remains whole. If you wish to give it to the whole world, nothing is lacking to you; indeed not only is nothing lacking, but the profit of all those to whom you were generous grows for you many times over. For example: you had one loaf of charity; if you had given it to no one, you would have that one alone. You gave to a thousand men, you acquired a thousand loaves." He adds the a priori reason: "Because so great is the possession of charity that it can be whole for each individual and complete for all. Therefore you gave to others, and you lost absolutely nothing; indeed not only did you not lose, but as I already said, whatever was bestowed by you on others, you acquired a hundredfold." Whence he adds that we should seek out people in need of bodily or spiritual bread, so that by showing charity to them, we may make it continually grow both in ourselves and in them. The same teachings are transcribed from St. Augustine by Eucherius, Angelomus, Bede, Rupert, and others.
Verse 8: Elisha Was Passing Through Shunem
8. ELISHA WAS PASSING THROUGH SHUNEM: AND THERE WAS A GREAT WOMAN THERE, great both in wealth and reputation, namely wealthy, honored, famous; and in uprightness and piety. Whence the Chaldean translates: there was a woman who feared sin. Rabbi Solomon fabulously claims this Shunammite was the sister of Abishag the Shunammite, who was given to the aged David as a wife to warm him, 3 Kings I: for from the death of David to Elisha, more than 80 years had passed. Therefore this woman would have had to exceed the hundredth year of age.
Verse 9: This Man of God Is Holy
9. I PERCEIVE THAT THIS MAN OF GOD IS HOLY. She perceived this from Elisha's modesty, abstinence, gravity, speech, constant prayer, and other heroic virtues. Therefore Rabbi Solomon fabulously claims she knew this from the fact that on the table which she had so often set for Elisha, no fly had ever settled, nor had anything dirty clung to it.
Verse 10: Let Us Make a Small Upper Room for Him
10. LET US THEREFORE MAKE A SMALL UPPER ROOM FOR HIM. The Hebrew and Chaldean read: an upper room with a small wall; a wall, that is, made of solid wall and masonry, not of light boards: or as Vatablus says: walled, that is, enclosed and fenced off by a wall, and separated from the other parts of the house, so that Elisha may dwell, pray, and meditate there alone in quiet and seclusion.
AND LET US PUT IN IT FOR HIM A BED AND A TABLE AND A CHAIR AND A LAMPSTAND, namely nothing but what is strictly necessary: for she knew that Elisha, devoted to poverty, would not accept cushions, carpets, and other furnishings as superfluous.
Verse 13: I Dwell Among My Own People
13. I DWELL AMONG MY OWN PEOPLE, as if to say: I live peacefully among my own citizens and neighbors, I love all, and am loved by all: therefore I have no dispute with anyone, such that I would need to implore the help of the king or a prince for it; indeed if I needed it, my fellow citizens would help me and intercede with the king for me: for I am known and dear to all.
Verse 16: At This Season You Shall Have a Son
16. AT THIS SEASON (that is, at this same time next year) YOU SHALL HAVE A SON IN YOUR WOMB.
DO NOT DECEIVE YOUR HANDMAID. "Deceive" — not formally: for she knew that Elisha, a holy man, did not wish to deceive her and speak against his mind, so as to falsely promise her a son; but materially, as if to say: May your word prove true, not false in reality! May your word not be merely a benevolent wish, but an efficacious prophecy, so that indeed a son may be born to me next year!
Verse 17: The Woman Conceived and Bore a Son
17. AND THE WOMAN CONCEIVED AND BORE A SON. Tropologically, hear from the Lives of the Fathers, book VI, chapter I, On Contemplation: "An elder once said: The Shunammite received Elisha because she had no attachment to any man. The Shunammite is said to represent the person of the soul, Elisha that of the Holy Spirit: at whatever hour therefore the soul withdraws from worldly confusion and disturbance, the Spirit of God will come to it, and then it will be able to bear, though it is barren."
Verse 23: Why Are You Going to Him
23. WHY ARE YOU GOING TO HIM? TODAY IS NOT THE NEW MOON (that is, the Neomenia, which was the first day of the lunar month, and therefore a quasi-feast day for the Hebrews) NOR THE SABBATH. From this it is clear, says Abulensis, Question XXX, Vatablus, Serarius, and others, that the Hebrews were accustomed to visit Elisha and other holy prophets on feast days, to receive his exhortations and pious admonitions, and to ask for his prayers and blessing.
AND SHE ANSWERED: I WILL GO, as if to say: I absolutely desire, wish, and intend to go to Elisha. She conceals the reason, lest her husband, hearing that their only son is dead, be overwhelmed with grief.
Verse 24: Drive On and Hurry
24. DRIVE ON. Lead the donkey, and me on the donkey to Elisha.
Verse 26: Is It Well With You
26. IS IT WELL WITH YOU? etc., AND SHE ANSWERED: IT IS WELL. "It is well," for although my son is dead to my great sorrow, yet I know he died by the will and decree of God, which is most just and most holy. Or because soon "it will be well" with me: for I am fully confident that he will be raised by you. Thus Christ said of the dead girl: "She is not dead, but sleeping," because He was about to raise her from death shortly, so that she would seem not so much dead as asleep, Luke VIII. But the Shunammite used this pretext with Gehazi, so that through him access to Elisha might be open to her, since Elisha, a virgin and chaste man, avoiding the company of women, if he had heard that her son was dead, would have sent his servant Gehazi to raise him, as indeed he actually did afterward.
Verse 27: She Caught Hold of His Feet
27. SHE CAUGHT HOLD OF HIS FEET, AND GEHAZI CAME NEAR TO PUSH HER AWAY. For Gehazi knew Elisha's humility, piety, and chastity, so that he would not wish to be touched and honored by this grasping of his feet, and as it were worshipped by a woman.
Verse 29: Take My Staff
29. TAKE MY STAFF. From this Cassian teaches in book I of the Institutes, chapter II, that Elisha carried a staff, and therefore that the early monks carried one, and adds its mystical signification, saying: "The carrying of which spiritually admonishes that they should never go unarmed among so many barking dogs of vices and invisible beasts of spiritual wickedness; from which the blessed David, seeking to be delivered, says: Do not deliver to the beasts the soul that confesses to You; but that they should repel them when they attack with the sign of the cross, and drive them farther away, and extinguish those raging against them by the continual memory of the Lord's passion and by the imitation of that mortification."
IF YOU MEET ANYONE, DO NOT GREET HIM. The first reason was lest Gehazi, by greeting passersby and conversing with them, should weave delays along the way, but should immediately raise the child with the applied staff before the husband learned that he was dead, as St. Augustine says, sermon 106 On the Seasons: "Walk so quickly that you may not presume to be occupied or delayed by any talk." The second reason was so that the matter might remain secret. The third, because Gehazi, say Theodoret and Procopius, was eager for praise, and therefore would have boastfully said to those he met: My master Elisha has sent me to raise the dead, and I am going to him for that purpose; and by this boasting he would have offended God, and thus hindered the miracle, and God would not have raised the child through him. The fourth, so that Gehazi might avoid all distraction of eyes and ears, and dispose himself entirely through prayer for the performance of so great a miracle. So say Cajetan, Abulensis, and St. Ambrose on Luke chapter X, book VII, on the words: "Greet no one on the way: For he ordered him," he says, "to hasten with speed, so that he might carry out the duty of the resurrection to be celebrated, lest by conversation with some passerby he should be deflected from the task by the command. Therefore here too the duty of greeting is not taken away, but the obstacle to impeding devotion is removed: so that when divine things are commanded, human things may be set aside for a while."
Verse 31: He Had Laid the Staff on the Face of the Child
31. HE HAD LAID THE STAFF ON THE FACE OF THE CHILD, AND THERE WAS NO VOICE NOR RESPONSE. St. Augustine gives the allegorical reason, sermon 106 On the Seasons, saying: "This boy (Gehazi) bore the type of blessed Moses. For God sent him with a staff into Egypt; but the staff without Christ could scourge Egypt, but could not free from original or actual sin, nor raise to life. For as the Apostle says, the law brought nothing to perfection. It was necessary that He who had sent the staff should Himself descend. The staff without Elisha was of no avail, because the cross without Christ could do nothing." St. Peter by a staff sent by him raised from death St. Maternus, his disciple and the first Bishop of Trier, as his Life records; and St. Macedonius by his staff raised Theodoret when he was nearly lifeless, as he himself reports in the Philotheus, chapter III.
THE CHILD DID NOT RISE. Why? Rabbi Solomon gives the reason, cited by Lyranus: "This," he says, "was on account of the demerit of Gehazi, who did not keep the command of Elisha, but boastfully told people he met that he had been sent to raise the dead." For he is unworthy to perform miracles who boasts of performing them. Elisha certainly both foresaw and guarded against this, saying to the servant he sent: "If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him." For as Theodoret rightly says, Question XVII: "He knew," he says, "that Gehazi was desirous of honor and would state the reason; and that vainglory would be an impediment to performing the miracle." Rabbi Eliezer gives another reason, chapter XXXIII: "Gehazi laughed," he says, "saying to those he met: Do you believe this staff can restore life?"
Verse 34: He Lay Upon the Child
34. AND HE LAY UPON THE CHILD, AND PUT HIS MOUTH UPON HIS MOUTH, etc. Francisco Vallesius, Sacred Philosophy, chapter XXXV, says: If one could say that the child was not entirely dead but had suffered a fainting spell, this cure of Elisha would have been natural: for those seized by syncope are in danger of dying from the extinction of natural heat, and are usually revived by warmth and heating (especially of human breath; for that heat is congenial and vital). Again, Elisha walked about to stimulate his own warmth which was to be infused into the child: for heat is stimulated most by exercise; whence soon, receiving it from Elisha lying upon him, the child began to yawn, the warmth already beginning to stir and disperse the breath, and with growing vigor and the animal spirits being moved, the eyes were opened, and then the instruments of the other senses, and the child was recalled to the functions of life. But from the narrative of Sacred Scripture it is clearly evident that the child was truly dead, not suffering from a fainting spell: therefore Elisha lay upon the child for the same reasons for which his master Elijah had lain upon a similarly dead child, which I recounted in 3 Kings XVII, 21.
The allegorical and chief reason was that Elisha, as by name so also by deed, might represent the incarnation of the Son of God, in which He put on our flesh and, as it were, fitted mouth to mouth, hands to hands, feet to feet. So says St. Augustine, sermon 11 On the Words of the Apostle: "What," he says, "did the dead child signify, except Adam (and the sinner, a child of Adam dead through sins)? He placed the staff upon the dead child, and he did not rise. For if a law had been given that could give life, righteousness would indeed be by the law. Therefore the law could not give life. He came, the great One to the little one, the Savior to save, the living to the dead, He Himself came. And what did He do? He contracted His youthful members, as if emptying Himself, that He might take the form of a servant. Therefore He contracted His youthful members, fitted Himself, small, to the small; that He might make the body of our humility conformed to the body of His glory. And so in that very type of Christ prophetically expressed, the dead was raised, just as the ungodly was justified." Again the same St. Augustine, sermon 106 On the Seasons: "Elisha came," he says, "and went up into the upper room, because Christ was to come and ascend the gibbet of the cross. Elisha bowed himself down to raise the child; Christ humbled Himself to raise up the world lying in sins. Elisha placed his eyes upon the child's eyes, his hands upon his hands. See, brethren, how much that man of perfect age contracted himself, that he might fit the dead and prostrate child. For what Elisha prefigured in the child, Christ fulfilled in the entire human race. Hear the Apostle saying: He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death. Because we were little ones, He made Himself little. Because we lay dead, the physician first bowed down; for indeed no one can raise up a fallen brother if he is unwilling to bow down. And the fact that the child yawned seven times shows the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, which is bestowed on the human race to raise it up at the coming of Christ." The same teachings from St. Augustine are found in Eucherius, Angelomus, Bede, Rupert, and others. Hear also St. Ambrose, volume II on Ecclesiastes chapter IV, Exhortation to Clerics, who explains these things of Christ on the cross measuring Himself to us, warming and giving us life: "Christ died together with us, to warm us, He who says: I came to cast fire upon the earth. I was dead; but because in baptism I died together with Christ, I received the light of life from Christ. And he who dies in Christ, warmed by Christ, receives the breath of life and resurrection. The child was cold, Elisha warms him with his spirit, gave him the warmth of life. He slept alongside him, that the warmth of his rest, he who had been buried with him in symbol, might arouse him. Therefore he is cold who does not die in Christ. He cannot be warmed to whom the burning fire does not draw near. He cannot gain strength for another who does not have Christ with him." Hear finally St. Bernard, sermon 16 on the Song of Songs: "He touched my eyes with His, adorning the brow of the inner man with clear lights, with faith and understanding. He joined His mouth to mine, and impressed on the dead the sign of peace; for while we were still sinners, He reconciled us to God, us who were dead to righteousness. He applied mouth to mouth, breathing again into my face the breath of life; but of a holier life than at first. For at first indeed He created me as a living soul; the second time He reformed me as a life-giving spirit. He placed His hands upon mine, giving an example of good works, a model of obedience; or certainly He put His hands to mighty deeds, to teach my hands to war and my fingers to fight. And the child yawned seven times, because he was accustomed to speak praise seven times a day," Psalm CXVIII.
Symbolically, Blessed Peter Damian, in his book On Contempt of the World, chapter XXVIII: "He," he says, "whom the rod of terror could not raise, through the spirit of love returns to life, and when he accommodated and adjusted himself to the little one, he easily raised and revived him." Again, Elisha here gave a symbol of the Eucharist, in which Christ, as St. Cyril says, mingles Himself entirely with us, and as it were applies eyes to eyes, mouth to mouth, hands to hands, soul to our soul; which was beautifully represented in a vision to Abbot Rupert of Tui: for when he was ordered by his Superior to undertake the priesthood, and thought himself unworthy of so great a rank, he saw in a vision Christ crucified inviting him to an embrace. Therefore Rupert, having embraced and kissed Christ most closely, relates that Christ, to admit the kisses more deeply, opened His divine mouth wide and presented it gaping: and at the same time it happened that, during those embraces, he was both inflamed with divine love to a greater degree, and also felt himself inspired with a desire for the priesthood, which he had previously shunned; which, as soon as it dawned, he indicated to his Abbot, and shortly thereafter carried it out with the joy of all. He also adds another thing, by which after receiving that order he was no less confirmed. For as he lay in bed, a figure in human form appeared descending from heaven, with head veiled, as if not wishing to be recognized, and it so entirely let itself down upon him that head was joined to head, feet to feet, and all the other members were intimately mingled with all his members: indeed the very substance of the soul in a certain manner, which could not be expressed in words, so pervaded and impressed itself, and indeed more quickly and deeply than the softest wax is impressed by a seal. He adds moreover, what can easily be believed, that there followed such great and incredible joy and sweetness that, had it not been quickly restrained by God, it would without doubt have drawn his soul from his body like a torrent of pleasure; as I have related, Rupert himself reports this about himself, book XII on Matthew, page 162, and from him Jerome Platus, book I On the Good of the Religious State, chapter XXXVII.
Tropologically, he who wishes to recall his neighbors, dead through sin, to the life of grace, must accommodate himself to their weakness, and through an excess of charity apply, as it were, mouth to mouth, hands to hands, tongue to tongue. A religious should do the same, so that he may accommodate himself to both other religious and to secular persons in all things, as far as is permitted, as the Apostle did, saying: "I have become all things to all men, that I might win all." For in religious life there is the highest union, harmony, familiarity, and mutual help of all, as Platus teaches from St. Basil, Chrysostom, and others, book I On the Good of the Religious State, chapters XXVII and XXVIII.
34. AND HE STRETCHED HIMSELF UPON HIM, contracting his large members so as to make them, as it were, equal to the small members of the child. The Septuagint adds: and he breathed upon him, that is, he warmed the child by blowing his breath on him. Whence it follows:
AND THE FLESH OF THE CHILD BECAME WARM, so that through the warmth it might be disposed for animation and life: just as therefore a mother disposes the embryo in the womb, by warming it, for the soul to be infused by God, so also Elisha did here. For God willed him to work this miracle in a manner conformable to nature. In a similar way God, forming Adam into a living man, "breathed into his face the breath of life," Genesis II.
Verse 35: He Returned and Walked Back and Forth
35. THEN HE RETURNED AND WALKED BACK AND FORTH IN THE HOUSE, so that by walking he might stir up both a greater warmth, which he might then breathe into the child by lying upon him, and a greater fervor of praying for the child's resurrection. Allegorically, Elisha walking represented Christ walking through Judea and everywhere scattering the seeds of the Gospel. So says Eucherius.
AND THE CHILD SNEEZED SEVEN TIMES AND OPENED HIS EYES. Vatablus and others say: he sneezed; the Septuagint: he was strengthened. For since the child had suffered from his head, as was said in verse 19, it seems his head was filled with humors which, blocking the passages of the vital spirits, had suffocated him. Therefore now, when through Elisha warmth, life, and vigor were restored to him, his head being strengthened, he expelled by sneezing the humors that were weighing him down: thus he purged the brain and restored the child to perfect health.
AND HE GATHERED WILD GOURDS FROM IT. The "colocynth" is a wild gourd, which physicians use to purge phlegm powerfully; and it is very bitter, whence it is called "the gall of the earth," says Vallesius, Sacred Philosophy, chapter XXXVI, and he adds: it is not only bitter but also harmful; so much so that if taken even in a corrected form above four obols, it can cause excessive purging, ulceration of the stomach, and death, and indeed applied externally it kills fetuses. Hence learn the devotion to poverty. Hear Theodoret: "History teaches," he says, "that the life of the prophets had no possessions. For he who was first among them (Elisha), at one time entertained them with a banquet of wild herbs: but at another time he set twenty barley loaves before a hundred men, and these had been brought by others. But he imparted such a blessing to them that he both satisfied those hundred men, and after their satisfaction very many were left over."
DEATH IN THE POT, as if to say: The stew in this pot is most bitter and worst, so that it seems to be a deadly poison. Tropologically, "death is in the pot" of worldly pleasures, which provoke gluttony and lust, and therefore bring on various diseases and present and eternal death; they are bitter, therefore, like colocynths. St. Bernard has a different interpretation, as I shall presently say.
Verse 41: Bring Flour
41. BRING FLOUR, HE SAID. For flour, because it is glutinous and soothing like starch, says Vallesius, tempers the bitterness and sharpness of the colocynths; whence it was prudently used here by Elisha, although the principal cause of the correction of the stew was divine and miraculous power. In a similar way, in curing the leprosy of Naaman, the water of the Jordan was of some help, chapter V, and in healing the ulcer of Hezekiah, the figs of Isaiah were of some help, chapter XX, 7; because they cleanse and disperse tumors, if a poultice is made from them with barley or wheat flour. So say Vallesius and Serarius, although Angelomus and others think the contrary, namely that these did not help but rather hindered, so that it might be shown that this cure was accomplished not by natural but by supernatural and divine power.
POUR OUT FOR THE PEOPLE. Theodoret notes, Question XIX, that the sons of the prophets possessed nothing of their own, but lived in common, as religious do now.
Tropologically, St. Bernard, sermon 63 among the shorter sermons: "A prelate, by the duty of his office, sets before his subjects a large pot containing wild herbs, that is, an admonition discussing serious matters, filled with bitterness, but nevertheless kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit. The subjects therefore, dreading the severity of the words, cry out: Death in the pot, and they cannot taste it. The wise steward therefore does not bring, but rather orders flour to be brought; because he does not provide, but exhorts them to have charity, by whose seasoning those things are rendered sweet which before seemed bitter. For a preacher can sound the counsels of salvation in the ears of those around; but no one but God alone can pour the taste of charity into the palate of the heart."
Verse 43: How Should I Set This Before a Hundred Men
43. THAT I SHOULD SET THIS BEFORE A HUNDRED MEN. Elisha here miraculously multiplying the loaves represents Christ, who twice fed several thousand people with a few loaves. For a mystical adaptation of each detail to preachers, see Angelomus.