Provisioning the Persians and the prophetic imagination: Reconceiving subversion and sovereignty in 2 Kings 6.8–23

Abstract

Second Kings 6.8–23 details an unusual interaction between the prophet Elisha and Aramean forces. Situated amid a larger report containing three accounts that depict war with Aram (2 Kgs 5.1–8.6), 2 Kgs 6.8–23 showcases Elisha’s prophetic efforts to seek the appeasement of foreign forces. This unexpected development in the context of war and tensions between narrative details of the pericope and the surrounding literary scenery, signal for some that these narratives do not collectively reflect the perspective of a single historical context. In this essay, I probe the striking depiction of Elisha’s prophetic leadership in the face of impending military conflict in 2 Kgs 6.8–23 by appealing to distinctive social and political forces of the Persian period (538–333 BCE). I argue that 2 Kgs 6.8–23 harnesses the prophetic memory of Elisha in order to subversively imagine how the postexilic community of Persian Yehud could navigate Persian imperial domination.