Elijah, who now lived with Elisha, whom he had also consecrated as prophet according to a divine oracle, as has been said already, was with him every day, inseparably sharing with him the same way of life. When he was about to ascend into the chariots of fire, to leave and be raised to the clouds with that physical mass that drags us to the ground, after he had already crossed Gilgal and was going to reach Bethel, he ordered Elisha to stay in Gilgal. But Elisha did not obey him nor would he separate from him because those words carried him instead of completely imprisoning him. That is why, after all, Elijah took him with him. When both had reached Bethel, where they spent a few days, and Elijah was planning again to visit Jericho by himself, he ordered Elisha not to come along with him for the second time. But just as before, he continued to be disobedient and stubborn, as if he felt torn at the thought of being cut off from his master. Since he did not know what to do, Elijah consented to go again with him. Fifty more followed them. These were the sons of the prophets.

We must note in addition that when Elijah was about to be taken up in a whirlwind as into heaven, he took his sheepskin and rolled it up and struck the water, and it was divided on this side and that, and both crossed, that is to say, himself and Elisha. He was better prepared to be taken up after he was baptized in the Jordan, since Paul, as we explained previously, called the more incredible passage through water a baptism.^[1] It is because of this same Jordan that Elisha is capable of receiving the gift that he has desired through Elijah, for he said, Let a double portion come on me in your spirit. Perhaps he received the gift in the spirit of Elijah in a double measure on himself because he crossed the Jordan twice, once with Elijah, and a second time when he took the sheepskin of Elijah and struck the water and said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? And he struck the waters, and they divided on this side and that.

Therefore, he who is everywhere does not dwell in all, and he does not even dwell equally in those in whom he does dwell. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the request made by Elisha that there might be in him double the Spirit of God that was in Elijah? And how is it that among the saints some are more holy than others, except that they have a more abundant indwelling in God? How, then, did we speak the truth when we said above that God is everywhere wholly present if he is more amply present in some, less in others? But it should be noticed with care that we said he is everywhere wholly present in himself, not in things of which some have a greater capacity for him, others less.

Angels carry Elijah to heaven while angels guard Elisha on earth. Why is it so amazing if the angels who carried the master were also guarding the disciple? And what is noteworthy if the allegiance which they displayed toward the father they also offer to the son? For Elisha is the spiritual son of Elijah and the heir of his holiness. Elisha is therefore rightly called the spiritual son of Elijah, for when Elijah was ascending to heaven he left behind for Elisha a double spirit of his grace. For when an opportunity was given to Elisha to ask for whatever he wanted before Elijah was taken from him, he asked that a double spirit of Elijah be in him. Then Elijah responded: You have asked for something difficult, but it will be done for you. O precious inheritance in which more is left to the heir than was actually possessed, and the ones who receives the inheritance receives more than the giver owned! This is certainly a precious inheritance, which is doubled by some interest derived from merits when it is transferred from the father to the son! So Elijah, although he had a single spirit of holiness, left a double portion to Elisha. In an amazing way, he left more grace on earth for Elisha than he took with himself to heaven.

But do not marvel in regard to what is said about Elijah, if, just as something strange happened to him different from all the saints who are recorded, in respect of his having been caught up by a whirlwind into heaven, so his spirit had something of choice excellence, so that not only did it rest on Elisha but also descended along with John at his birth; and that John, separately, was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and separately came before Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah.^[1] For it is possible for several spirits not only worse, but also better, to be in the same person. David accordingly asks to be established by a free spirit^[2] and that a right spirit be renewed in his inward parts.^[3] But if, in order that the Savior may impart to us of the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and reverence,^[4] he was filled also with the spirit of the fear of the Lord; it is possible also that these several good spirits may be conceived as being in the person. And this also we have brought forward, because of John having come before Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah,^[5] in order that the saying Elijah has already come^[6] may be referred to the spirit of Elijah that was in John; as also the three disciples who had gone up with him understood that he spoke to them about John the Baptist.^[7] On Elisha, then, only the spirit of Elijah rested, but John came before, not only in the spirit but also in the power of Elijah. Wherefore, also, Elisha could not have been called Elijah, but John was Elijah himself. But if it is necessary to adduce the Scripture from which the scribes said that Elijah must first come, listen to Malachi, who says, And behold, I will send to you Elijah the Tishbite, down to the words Lest I come and strike the earth utterly.^[8] And it seems to be indicated by these words that Elijah was to prepare for the glorious coming of Christ by certain holy words and dispositions in their souls, those who had been made fittest for this, which those on earth could not have endured, because of the excellence of the glory, unless they had been prepared beforehand by Elijah. And likewise, by Elijah, in this place, I do not understand the soul of that prophet but his spirit and his power; for these it is by which all things shall be restored, so that when they have been restored, and, as a result of that restoration, become capable of receiving the glory of Christ, the Son of God who shall appear in glory may sojourn with them. But if also Elijah is in some sort a word inferior to the word who was in the beginning with God, God the Word,^[9] this word also might come as a preparatory discipline to the people prepared by it, that they might be trained for the reception of the perfect Word.

The prophets proclaimed the mystery of the Lord’s ascension not only by their words but also by their actions. Both Enoch, the seventh [in the line of descent] from Adam,^[1] who was transported from the world,^[2] and Elijah, who was taken up into heaven, gave evidence that the Lord would ascend above all the heavens. . . .

Elijah presented an image of this festivity of the Lord by a miracle with richer significance. When the time in which he was to be taken away from the world was near, he came to the river Jordan with his disciple Elisha. With his rolled-up cloak he struck the waters, they were divided, and both of them crossed over on dry land. And he said to Elisha, Ask what you want me to do before I am taken away from you, and Elisha said, I entreat you that your spirit may become double in me. As they went on conversing together, behold, Elijah was suddenly snatched away, and, as the Scripture says, He ascended as if into heaven. By this action of his soaring aloft it is meant that [Elijah] was not taken up into heaven itself, as was our Lord, but into the height of the air [above the earth], from where he was borne invisibly to the joys of paradise. Elisha took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him; and, coming to the river Jordan, he struck the water with it, and after calling on God, he divided the water and crossed over.

Let your love take note, my brothers, how the symbolic event agrees point by point with its fulfillment. Elijah came to the river Jordan, and having laid aside his cloak, he struck the waters and divided them. The Lord came to the stream of death, in which the human race ordinarily was immersed, and laying aside from himself for a time the clothing of flesh that he had assumed, struck down death by dying and opened up for us the way to life by rising. The change and decline of our mortal life is properly represented by the river Jordan, since the meaning of Jordan in Latin is their descent, and since as the river flows into the Dead Sea, it loses its praiseworthy waters. After [the water of the river] Jordan was divided, Elijah and Elisha crossed over on dry land; by his rising from the dead the Savior bestowed on his faithful ones the hope of rising too. After they had crossed over the river Jordan, Elijah gave Elisha the option of asking for what he wanted. The Lord too, after the glory of his resurrection had been fulfilled, implanted in his disciples a fuller comprehension of what he had promised previously, that whatever you ask in my name, I will do [for you].^[3] Elisha asked that the spirit of Elijah might become double in him. The disciples, thoroughly instructed by the Lord, desired to receive the promised gift of the Spirit, which would make them capable of preaching not only to the single nation of Judah, which he himself taught when he was present in the flesh, but to all countries throughout the globe as well. Did he not pledge the double grace of his Spirit when he said, A person who believes in me will himself also do the works that I do, and he will do even greater ones than these? As Elijah and Elisha were conversing together, a chariot with fiery horses suddenly snatched Elijah as if into heaven. By the chariot and fiery horses we are to understand the angelic powers, of whom it is written, He makes the angels his spirits and his ministers a burning fire^[4] (Elijah, being an ordinary human being, had need of them to be raised up from the earth). The Lord too was suddenly taken up as he was speaking with his apostles and as they were looking on; although he was not assisted by the help of angels, he was served by an angelic band of companions. He was truly assumed into heaven with the angels also bearing witness to it, for they said [to the apostles], This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven.^[5] When Elijah was raised up to the heavens, he let the cloak with which he had been clothed fall to Elisha. When our Lord ascended into heaven, he left the mysteries of the humanity he had assumed to his disciples, to the entire church in fact, so that it could be sanctified by them and warmed by the power of his love. Elisha took up Elijah’s cloak and struck the waters of the river Jordan with it; and when he called on the God of Elijah, [the waters] were divided, and he crossed over. The apostles and the entire church took up the sacraments of their Redeemer that had been instituted through the apostles, so that, spiritually guided by them and cleansed and consecrated by them, they too learned to overcome death’s assaults by calling on the name of God the Father and to cross over to undying life, spurning the obstacles of death.

A burdened stomach drags down the heart toward vices and depresses the mind to keep it unable to experience heavenly piety. Scripture tells us, The corruptible body is a load on the soul, and the earthly habitation presses down the mind that muses on many things.^[1] Hence, the Lord said, too, Take heed lest your hearts be overburdened with self-indulgence and drunkenness.^[2] Therefore, the stomach should be relieved by the tempering influence of a fast, so that the mind can be unburdened and attend to higher things, rise to virtues and like a winged bird fly in its entirety to the very Author of piety. The case of Elijah proves this. Relieved of bodily weight by continuing that fast that the Lord arranged, he flew to heaven as victor over death.

I have thought it necessary to dwell some time on the examination of the doctrine of transmigration, because of the suspicion of some who suppose that the soul under consideration was the same in Elijah and in John, being called in the former case Elijah and in the second case John; and that, not apart from God, had he been called John, as is plain from the saying of the angel who appeared to Zacharias, Fear not, Zacharias, for your supplication is heard, and your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John;^[1] and from the fact that Zacharias regained his speech after he had written in the tablet, that he who had been born should be called John.^[2] But if it were the soul of Elijah, then, when he was begotten a second time, he should have been called Elijah; or for the change of name some reason should have been assigned, as in the case of Abram and Abraham, Sarah and Sarai, Jacob and Israel, Simon and Peter. And yet not even thus would their argument in the case be tenable; for . . . the changes of name took place in one and the same life. But someone might ask, if the soul of Elijah was not first in the Tishbite and second in John, what might that be in both which the Savior called Elijah? And I say that Gabriel in his words to Zacharias suggested what the substance was in Elijah and John that was the same; for he says, Many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God; and he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah.^[3] For, observe, he did not say in the soul of Elijah, in which case the doctrine might have some ground, but in the spirit and power of Elijah. For the Scripture well knows the distinction spirit and soul, as, May God sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;^[4] and the passage, Bless the Lord, you spirits and souls of the righteous^[5] as it stands in the book of Daniel, according to the Septuagint, represents the difference between spirit and soul. Elijah, therefore, was not called John because of the soul but because of the spirit and the power, which in no way conflicts with the teaching of the church, though they were formerly in Elijah and afterwards in John; and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets,^[6] but the souls of the prophets are not subject to the prophets, and the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha.

What should we say about the merits of Elisha? His first praiseworthy deed was his wish to surpass his father in grace, expressed when he asked that more grace be given to him than he knew was found in him who possessed such grace. To be sure, he was greedy to make such a request, but worthy to receive merit. Because Elisha demanded more from his father than he had, his father enabled him to excel in his merits more than he would have otherwise been able to do. When this Elisha came to Jericho after the ascension of his master and was asked by the citizens to remain with them in the city, they said to him: The location of this city is good, but the water is bad, even causing sterility. Then Elisha ordered them to give him a clay vessel, and arriving at the source of the waters, he threw the salt kept in the vessel onto the waters and said: This is what the Lord says: I have healed the waters. No longer will anyone die from them or become sterile. And the waters remain healed to this very day. Consider then how great the merits of Elisha are! His first stay in the children’s city results in great fruitfulness, for when he removes the sterility of the waters, he enables the succession of heirs. By performing this one deed, he did not merely heal a single person or offer medicine to the house of one person, but restored the people of the entire city. If he had performed this act later, the sterility would have taken its course and the city would have remained without inhabitants once the entire population grew old. So when Elisha healed the waters he also healed the people. And when he blessed the source of the waters, he showed favor to the source of souls. For just as by his sanctifying act water issued forth from the hidden courses in the earth, so healthy offspring came forth from the hidden organs of the womb. Elisha not only blessed the streams that were still being held in the bowels of the springs, but also those that, though still saturated in the damp soil of the earth, would later flow forth little by little. So the Scripture says that Elisha gave his blessing at the source of the water in order that the prophet’s blessing might catch the trickling water before the bosom of the spring encompassed it. Since the holy apostle Paul says that these things were happening to them as a symbol,^[1] let us look into how this very symbol contains the truth. In other words, let us investigate what the city that suffers from sterility stands for, and what the clay vessel intends to communicate, and finally what it means that scattered salt brings the restoration of health. We read in the writings of the same apostle what is said about the church: Rejoice, O barren one who does not give birth, break forth and shout you who do not beget children.^[2] Based on this passage, the church is that sterile city, which prior to the arrival of Christ, was not able to produce sons for God while suffering from sterility because of the corruption of the water, that is, the sacrilege of the pagan nations. But when Christ came, assuming a human body as if a fragile vessel, he healed the vices of the waters, that is, he cut off the sacrileges of the peoples, and at once, the church, which had been sterile, began to be fruitful.

Let us see what these facts mean, dearly beloved. Elisha, as I have frequently suggested, is the type of our Lord and Savior. That bitter spring seems to signify Adam, from whom the human race has sprung. Before the coming of the true Elisha, that is, our Lord and Savior, the human race remained in barrenness and bitterness through the sin of the first man. Although that new vessel in which salt was thrown represents a type of the apostles, still we can fittingly accept in it the mystery of the Lord’s incarnation. Now salt is put there as wisdom, for we read, Let all your speech be seasoned with salt.^[1] Moreover, since Christ is not only the power of God but also the wisdom of God,^[2] the body of Christ like a new vessel was filled with the salt of divine wisdom when the Word was made flesh. Furthermore, the new vessel with salt was thrown into the bitter waters by Elisha, and they were changed into sweetness and fruitfulness. Similarly, the new vessel, that is, the incarnate Word, was sent by God the Father to recall the human race like bitter flowing waters to sweetness, to lead it to pure charity from evil habits and sterility of good works and to restore it to the fruitfulness of justice. Truly, brothers, does it not seem to you as though the new vessel full of the salt of divine wisdom was put into the water when Christ the Lord went down into the river to be baptized? Then all the waters were changed into sweetness and were sanctified by that new vessel, that is, the body of Christ. As a result, not only were the waters not sterile, but throughout the world by the grace of baptism they have produced a countless number of Christians like abundant fruit and an exceedingly rich harvest.

Although we believe that this truth is fulfilled in things which are seen, still we know that it also takes place spiritually in all people. That the waters signify the people is mentioned in the Apocalypse: The waters that you saw are peoples and nations.^[3] Moreover, that the vessel with salt that was put in the water represents the apostles is very clearly indicated by our Lord in the Gospel when he says, You are the salt of the earth.^[4] Therefore, by his grace he made new apostles out of old people and filled them with the salt of his teachings and divine wisdom, sending them to the whole world as to the spring of the entire human race, to remove its barrenness and bitterness. Finally, from the time that the salt of divine wisdom is afforded to human hearts, all bitterness of relations or sterility in good works is known to be removed.

Therefore, dearly beloved, as we mentioned above, understand Christ our Lord in blessed Elisha and the human race in that spring. Recognize clearly the malice of the devil, which served the first man in what was bitter and sterile. In that new vessel that was put in the spring full of salt, devoutly think of Christ’s teaching seasoned with the salt of divine wisdom and through the apostles directed to the human race. We, too, dearly beloved, without any preceding good merits have received such great goods from the Lord through his generous graces and have merited to be changed from bitterness to sweetness, summoned from barrenness to the fruitfulness of good works.

He went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead! After Elisha had settled the matters concerning his disciples in Jericho, he moved to his dwelling place in Bethel, and during his journey the facts, which the Scripture places here, happened to him. It seems that the impudence of the children resulted from the teaching of their parents, because they were iniquitous and hostile to Elijah and all his disciples. And we may also think that they had been sent by their masters to repeat what they had learned. The word proclaimed according to Elisha by the disciples of Elijah, their fellow citizens, with regard to the ascension of their master grieved the people of Bethel a great deal. That is why, I suppose, those children did not only mention his baldness but also found further insults, which they said before him to outrage his fame, so that nobody might believe his word, if he repeated in Bethel what he had told and about which he had convinced many people in Jericho. In fact, they had meditated on this evil thought and said, This is the reason for his coming. Now, Elisha, even though he was upset by the effrontery of the children, was much more enraged by the craftiness and the iniquities of their parents, and he corrected both by a harsh and terrible sentence: he punished the former, so that they might not add to their iniquity by growing up to adulthood; the latter, so that they might be corrected and cease from their wickedness. He, who had blessed the children of Jericho and benefited them to the highest degree for their faith, because, after seeing that he had divided the Jordan through his word, they had said that the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha, decreed this bitter sentence against the people of Bethel. Indeed, the people of Bethel did not believe, when they heard from children of prophets who were in their city, the news of the ascension of Elijah.

Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. On the day the Lord sent Elijah to anoint Elisha, he said that he would have taken revenge through him on the children of Israel, who had revolted against him, that is, those who escaped from the sword of Hazael^[1] and Jehu,^[2] Elisha would have caused to perish. This is, therefore, the beginning of the punishment: the word pronounced against the iniquitous began to be fulfilled.

Now according to the letter, dearly beloved, we are to believe, as we mentioned above, that blessed Elisha was aroused with God’s zeal to correct the people, rather than moved by unwholesome anger, when he permitted the Jewish children to be torn to pieces. His purpose was not revenge but their amendment, and in this fact, too, the passion of our Lord and Savior was plainly prefigured. Just as those undisciplined children shouted to blessed Elisha, Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead, so at the time of the passion the insane Jews with impious words shouted to Christ the true Elisha, Crucify him! Crucify him!^[1] What does Go up, you baldhead mean except: Ascend the cross on the site of Calvary? Notice further, brothers, that just as under Elisha forty-two boys were killed, so forty-two years after the passion of our Lord two bears came, Vespasian and Titus, and besieged Jerusalem. Also consider, brothers, that the siege of Jerusalem took place on the Paschal solemnity. Thus, by the just judgment of God the Jews who had assembled from all the provinces suffered the punishment they deserved, on the very days on which they had hung the true Elisha, our Lord and Savior, on the cross. Indeed, at that time, that is, in the forty-second year after the passion of our Lord, the Jews as if driven by the hand of God assembled in Jerusalem according to their custom to celebrate the Passover. We read in history that three million Jews were then gathered in Jerusalem; eleven hundred thousand of them are read to have been destroyed by the sword of hunger, and one hundred thousand young men were led to Rome in triumph. For two years that city was besieged, and so great was the number of the dead who were cast out of the city that their bodies equaled the height of the walls. This destruction was prefigured by those two bears that are said to have torn to pieces forty-two boys for deriding blessed Elisha. Then was fulfilled what the prophet had said, The boar from the forest lays it waste, and the beasts of the field feed on it,^[2] for as was indicated, after forty-two years that wicked nation received what it deserved from the two bears, Vespasian and Titus.

As for the spirits of the prophets, these are given to them by God and are spoken of as being in a way their property, as “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” [1 Cor 14:32] and “The spirit of Elijah rested upon Elisha” [2 Kgs 2:15]. Thus, it is said, there is nothing absurd in supposing that John, “in the spirit and power of Elijah,” turned the hearts of the fathers to the children and that it was on account of this spirit that he was called “Elijah who is to come”.