[117] So _asafœtida_ is called "devil's dung" in Germany; and the _Herba alcali_, "sparrow's dung" by Arabs. The _Q'ri_, however, supports the _literal_ meaning; and compare 2 Kings xviii. 27; Jos., _B. J._, V. xiii. 7. Analogies for these prices are quoted from classic authors. Plutarch (_Artax._, xxiv.) mentions a siege in which an ass's head could hardly be got for sixty drachmas (£2 10_s._), though usually the whole animal only cost £1. Pliny (_H. N._, viii. 57) says that during Hannibal's siege of Casilinum a mouse sold for £6 5_s._
[118] So Clericus. Comp. Jos. ἐπηράσατο αὐτῇ.
[119] Lev. xxvi. 29.
[120] Deut. xxviii. 52-58.
[121] Jer. xix. 9.
[122] Lam. iv. 10: comp. ii. 20; Ezek. v. 10; Jos., _B. J._, VI. iii. 4.
[123] 1 Kings xxi. 27; Isa. xx. 2, 3.
[124] Compare the wrath of Pashur the priest in consequence of the denunciation of Jeremiah (Jer. xx. 2).
[125] 1 Kings xix. 2.
[126] In 2 Kings vi. 33 we should read _melek_ (king) for _maleak_ (messenger). Jehoram repented of his hasty order.
[127] The Jews say Gehazi, and his three sons (Jarchi).
[128] Lev. xiii. 46; Num. v. 2, 3.
[129] The capitals of the ancient Hittites--a nation whose fame had been almost entirely obliterated till a few years ago--were Karchemish, Kadesh, Hamath, and Helbon (Aleppo).
[130] _Lectures_, ii. 345.
2 KINGS viii. 1-6, 7-15. (Circ. B.C. 886.)
"Our acts still follow with us from afar, And what we have been makes us what we are." GEORGE ELIOT.
The next anecdote of Elisha brings us once more into contact with the Lady of Shunem. Famines, or dearths, were unhappily of very frequent occurrence in a country which is so wholly dependent, as Palestine is, upon the early and latter rain. On some former occasion Elisha had foreseen that "Jehovah had called for a famine"; for the sword, the famine, and the pestilence are represented as ministers who wait His bidding.[131] He had also foreseen that it would be of long duration, and in kindness to the Shunammite had warned her that she had better remove for a time into a land in which there was greater plenty. It was under similar circumstances that Elimelech and Naomi, ancestors of David's line, had taken their sons Mahlon and Chilion, and gone to live in the land of Moab; and, indeed, the famine which decided the migration of Jacob and his children into Egypt had been a turning-point in the history of the Chosen People.
The Lady of Shunem had learnt by experience the weight of Elisha's words. Her husband is not mentioned, and was probably dead; so she arose with her household, and went for seven years to live in the plain of Philistia. At the end of that time the dearth had ceased, and she returned to Shunem, but only to find that during her absence her house and land were in possession of other owners, and had probably escheated to the Crown. The king was the ultimate, and to a great extent the only, source of justice in his little kingdom, and she went to lay her claim before him and demand the restitution of her property. By a providential circumstance she came exactly at the most favourable moment. The king--it must have been Jehoram--was at the very time talking to Gehazi about the great works of Elisha. As it is unlikely that he would converse long with a leper, and as Gehazi is still called "the servant of the man of God," the incident may here be narrated out of order. It is pleasant to find Jehoram taking so deep an interest in the prophet's story. Already on many occasions during his wars with Moab and Syria, as well as on the occasion of Naaman's visit, if that had already occurred, he had received the completest proof of the reality of Elisha's mission, but he might be naturally unaware of the many private incidents in which he had exhibited a supernatural power. Among other stories Gehazi was telling him that of the Shunammite, and how Elisha had given life to her dead son. At that juncture she came before the king, and Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, this is the very woman, and this is her son whom Elisha recalled to life." In answer to Jehoram's questions she confirmed the story, and he was so much impressed by the narrative that he not only ordered the immediate restitution of her land, but also of the value of its products during the seven years of her exile.