Elisha is canonized in the Greek Church ; his day is the 14th of June. Under that date, his life, and a collec- tion of the few traditions concerning him — few indeed when compared with those of Elijah — may be found in the Acta Sancto?-uin. In the time of Jerome a "mau- soleum" containing his remains was shown at Samaria (Reland, Palast. p. 980). Under Julian the bones of Elisha were taken from their receptacle and burnt. But, notwithstanding this, his relics are heard of sub- sequently, and the church of St. Apollinaris at Kaven- na still boasts of possessing his head. The Carmelites have a special service in honor of Elisha. — Kitto, s. v.; Smith, s. V. ; Fairbairn, s. v.
■3. Literature. — On the subject generally, Kitto, Daily Bible Illustration,^, "Solomon and Kings," 47th to 49th week ; Niemeyer, ChnraM. v, 364 sq. ; Blunt, History of Elisha (new ed. Lond. 1862); Krunnnacher, Elisha (from the German, Lond. 1838) ; Anon. Short Meditations on Elisha (Lond. 1848) ; Cassel, Der Pro- phet Elisa (Berlin, 1860) ; Stanley, Jewish Church, ii, 353 sq. On the fate of the Bethelite youths, Michae- lis, De Elisteo vindicato (Frcf. a. 0. 1734). On the mir- acle of the axe-helve, Frcise, Ferrum natans (Jen. 1689). On the Shunammitess, Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 177 sq.
Elisha (in Armenian Eyhiscke), one of the most celebrated Armenian historians, was born at the begin- ning of the 5th century. He was a pupil of the patri- arch St.Sahag (Isaac) and of St.Mesrob, by whom he was sent to the schools of Athens, Alexandria, and Constantinople. Subsequently he became almoner and secretary of prince Vartan, who, in the religious war of the Armenians against the Persians, was chief commander of the Armenian army. He died in 480. Probably he is the same person with bishop Elisha of Amathunik, who in 449 was present at the Syn-
ELISHAH
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od of Artishat, at which the bishops of Armenia re- plied to the summons of the Persian ruler Yesdegerd 11 to adopt the faith of Zoroaster. This reply, to which was added a brief apology of the Christian re- ligion, led to the religious war wliich is described I)}' Elislia. So great was the reputation of this work that its author received the surname of the Armenian Xen- ophon. It begins with the accession to the throne of Yesdegerd in 439, describes in full the schemes of per- secution devised by the Persian king against the Ar- menians, the resistance of the Ai-menian bishops and princes, the "holy alliance" concluded by the latter, and its operation and fate until the unfortunate battle at the river Technuit, in tlie province of Artas, in 451, in consequence of which the leaders of the holy alli- ance and most of the bishops were captured and taken to Persia. Tlie first edition of this work was printed at Constantinople in 1764 (new ed. 1833) ; other edi- tions appeared at Nakhidchevan (1764), Calcutta (1816), and Venice (1823 and 1838). The last Venice edition, which is the best, contains also commejitaries to the books of Joshua and Judges, a recommendation of mo- nastic life, an exposition of the Lord's Prayer, several homilies, and a work on the ecclesiastical canons. An English translation of the work was published b}' Fr. Neumann (The History of Vartun and of the Battle of the Armeniang, containing an Account of the religious Wars between the Persians and Armenians, by ElisaBus, bishop of the Amadunians, etc., Lond. 1830), It has also been translated into French by abbe G. K. Garabed (^Soulerement national de VArmmie chretienne, Par. 1844, 8vo), and into Italian by G. Cappelletti (Ven. 1841). Elisha is also the author of a history of Armenia, which, however, appears to be lost. — Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen-Lex. iii, .540 ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gener. xv, 884 ; Neumann, Versuch einer Gesch. der arinen. Litter. p. 69, 70. CA. J. S.)
"ElV shah (Reh.Elishah', il'ii'O^. deriv. unknown; Sept. 'EXirrd and 'EXimti ; Josephus, 'EXiacic, Vulg. Elisa), the oldest of tlie four sons of Javan (Gen. x, 4 ; 1 Chron. i, 7). B.C. cir. 2450. He seems to have given name to a region on the Mediterranean, "the isles (n'^^X, sho7-es) of Elishah," which are described as exporting fabrics of purple and scarlet to the mar- kets of Tyre (Ezek. xxvii, 7). If the descendants of Javan peopled Greece, we may expect to find Elishah in some province of that countrj^ The circumstance of the purple suits the Peloponnesus, for the fish af- fording the purple dye was caught at the mouth of the Eurotas, and the purple of Laconia was ver_y celebra- ted. See Purple. The name seems kindred to £lis (Rocliart, Plialeg, iii, 4), which, in a wider sense, was aiiiilit'il to the whole Peloponnesus ; and some identify Elisliiih with Hellas (Michaelis, Spicileg. i, 79). — Kitto, s. V. Josephus, however, identified the race of Eli- shah with the yEolians (Ant. i, 6, 1). His view is adopted b}' Knobel (Vdlkertafl^ p. 81 sq.). It ap- pears correct to treat it as the designation of a 7-ace ratlier than of a locality ; and if Javan represents the lonians, tlicn I'^lisliah the ^olians, whose name pre- sents considerable similarity (AioXhq having possibly been Ai'Xar), and whose predilection for maritime sit- uations quite accords with the expression in Ezekiel. In early times the j-Eolians were settled in various parts of Greece, Thessaly, Bceotia, iEtolia, Eocris, Elis, and ]\Iessenia: from Greece they emigrated to Asia IMinor, and in Ezckiel's age occupied the niarithne district in the N.W. of that country, named after them yEolis, together with the islands Lesbos and Tenedos. The purple shell-fish was found on this coast, especial- ly at Abydus (Virgil, Georg. i, 207), Phoca;a (Ovid, Metani. vi, 9), Sigeum and Lectum (Athen<eus, iii, 88). Not much, however, can be deduced from thus as to the position of the " isles of Elijihali," as that shell-fish was found in man)' parts of the MediteiTahean, espe- cially on the coast of Laconia (Pausan. iii, 21, § 6). —