Tel Rehov House Associated with the Biblical Prophet Elisha

Bible and archaeology news

Noah Wiener July 23, 2013 7 Comments 4055 views Share

The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) reported the discovery of a building that “might have been the house of Elisha the prophet” at Tel Rehov in Israel. The sixteen-year-long excavations at Tel Rehov , directed by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Amihai Mazar, investigate the largest Canaanite and Israelite site in the Beth-Shean Valley , located in one of the largest tells in the nation. The team was able to reconstruct the name Elisha in a red ink inscription on a broken piece of pottery. According to the Bible, the prophet Elisha grew up in nearby Avel Mehola and would have prophesied in the second half of the ninth century B.C. , the era of the stratum in which the sherd was found.

Our free eBook Ten Top Biblical Archaeology Discoveries brings together the exciting worlds of archaeology and the Bible! Learn the fascinating insights gained from artifacts and ruins, like the Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, where the Gospel of John says Jesus miraculously restored the sight of the blind man, and the Tel Dan inscription—the first historical evidence of King David outside the Bible.

During the 2013 field season, the team investigated a unique two-wing house with clay figurines and incense altars, an artifact type well-known from earlier investigations at Tel Rehov.* In addition to finds at the house, references to the family of Nimshi have been uncovered at and near Tel Rehov. In the Bible, Elisha sends a disciple to anoint Jehu, a member of the family of Nimshi, as the king of Israel.

The CBN report associates a particular room in the house—where archaeologists uncovered the sherd naming Elisha, a table and bench—with that of the Biblical prophet Elisha. 2 Kings 4:8-9 includes the narrative:

One day Elisha was passing through Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived,** who urged him to have a meal. So whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for a meal. She said to her husband, ‘Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God. Let us make a small roof chamber with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us.’

Amihai Mazar told CBN, “I cannot say for sure this particular Elisha that we found is the Biblical Elisha. You know it’s very difficult to say, but it is very tempting because it is exactly the period when Elisha acted – the second half of the ninth century B.C.” In the CBN article, archaeologist Stephen Pfann notes that Elisha was not a common name in ancient Israel, supporting his conviction that the Elisha named on the pottery fragment is the prophet Elisha.

While there are reasons to connect Tel Rehov with the prophet Elisha, the evidence is far from conclusive. On the BiblePlaces blog, Biblical studies professor Todd Bolen lists six important considerations related to the Tel Rehov discoveries, including the incomplete/reconstructed nature of the inscription, the association of commonplace finds with a specific Biblical character and the dissociation between Biblical prophets and incense altars, which have been found in the house in question and across the site of Tel Rehov.

Click here to read the CBN news report.

Click here to read Todd Bolen’s commentary on the report on the BiblePlaces blog.

Notes

* See Mazar, Amihai, Panitz-Cohen, Nava. “To What God?: Altars and a House Shrine from Tel Rehov Puzzle Archaeologists.” Biblical Archaeology Review, Jul/Aug 2008, 40-47, 76.

** See Long, Burke O. “The Shunammite Woman.” Bible Review, Feb 1991, 12-19, 42.

More from Amihai Mazar in the BAS Library

Was King Saul Impaled on the Wall of Beth Shean?

BAR 38:02, Mar/Apr 2012

By Amihai Mazar

To What God?

BAR 34:04, Jul/Aug 2008

By Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen

Does Amihai Mazar Agree with Finkelstein’s “Low Chronology”?

BAR 29:02, Mar/Apr 2003

By Amihai Mazar

Will Tel Rehov Save the United Monarchy?

BAR 26:02, Mar/Apr 2000

By John Camp and Amihai Mazar

Excavating in Samson Country—Philistines and Israelites at Tel Batash

BAR 15:01, Jan/Feb 1989

By George L. Kelm and Amihai Mazar

The Mysterious Pot from Tel Batash

BAR 15:01, Jan/Feb 1989

By George L. Kelm and Amihai Mazar

Molds of Figurines Cast New Light on Art in Philistia

BAR 15:01, Jan/Feb 1989

By George L. Kelm and Amihai Mazar

On Cult Places and Early Israelites: A Response to Michael Coogan

BAR 14:04, Jul/Aug 1988

By Amihai Mazar

Bronze Bull Found in Israelite “High Place” from the Time of the Judges

BAR 9:05, Sep/Oct 1983

By Amihai Mazar

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