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In 1 Kings 19 we see Elijah finds Elisha plowing with 12 yoke of oxen. What would this have said about Elisha to the people of the time?
Note: I'm not looking for a modern allegorical answer about the significance of the 12 yoke of oxen, but for an understanding of how Elisha would have been perceived at the time based on this information (though if the people of the time would have understood it allegorically, that is OK)
I'm reasonably certain that 24 oxen is, well, a lot of cow. What can we learn from this? First and foremost, that Elisha's family or clan was well-off.
Let's go to an authority. The Anchor Yale Bible, I Kings. Page 455:
19 He found Elisha son of Shaphat; he was plowing. The detail conveys more than local color; Elisha's prosaic background points up the diving quality of his selection. cf. 1 Sam 11:5-6; Amos 7:14-15.
There were twelve teams ahead of him. The large number of teams is generally taken as a sign of wealth; it was this that Elisha would have to give up if he were to follow Elijah.
The entire Elisha cycle is a set of legendary stories with strong echoes in folklore all-over. Reference the Anchor Bible for I and II Kings.
So you should expect to see details that are part of the art of storytelling. Some might even go so far as to say, 'tall tales.'
The immediate implication of all that beef is that it's a big deal for Elisha to throw all this over in favor of following Eliyahu. He is not some poor person with little to lose. (Though he is also not rich enough to get someone else to do his plowing for him.) It also suggests that he is a skillful, powerful, man. Controlling that much ambulatory hamburger is not an easy job.
You might also note two other bits of comparison to relatively nearby texts. First, note that the oxen end up as a sacrificial meal. This supports the idea that they belonged to him, not to the whole village or even perhaps the clan.
Second, note the 'sons of the prophets.' In the Hebrew Bible, prophets come in two flavors. There are the named prophets, who we might think of as ranging from Jonah to Jeremiah along some axis of seriousness. Then there are the nameless sons of the prophets. They travel around, they seem to engage in glossolalia and related practices. They are marginal characters in society. Presenting Elisha as this story presents him very firmly makes him a person of substance, not at all like one of them.
Arab farmers worked together for social and security reasons, and a single plow was not very effective.
However, the fact that the author mentions twelve pairs rather than simply many is a call to the ancient reader to understand the liturgical significance. Numbers are always significant in the Bible because an "accounting" communicates legal accountability. Hence, Jesus was "numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12). This is also the reason the Jewish saints are numbered in Revelation 7 but the Gentile saints are not. The Jews were under the Law and therefore "numbered," so the passage replicates the repetitive nature of the book of Numbers. (Note that the Levites, not "connected" to the Land, were not to be numbered: Numbers 1:49).
What is the "liturgical significance." It is sacrificial. Elijah built a twelve stone altar on Carmel as a sacrificial substitute for Israel. What Elijah did in miniature (a "mountain" covered in blood and washed in water), God did at full size, slaying the priests of Baal and disposing of the bodies in the brook. The twelve stones were a "liturgical model" of Carmel. The heavenly fire upon the sacrifice became the fire of the Spirit in the hearts of God's armed servants.
Elisha's oxen also become a liturgical model of Israel. Since oxen are "servants" they picture priesthood, men who humble themselves before God and serve in His household. As a side note, the four faces of the cherubim correspond to the four compass points of the Tabernacle, with the face of the ox corresponding to the Bronze Altar, and the house of Moses and Aaron. Solomon's bronze sea was carried by twelve oxen, the twelve priestly tribes under the crystal sea (replicating the architecture of Israel under the "sapphire pavement" of Exodus 24). The picture is of Israel bearing the burden of the Law for the nations. Indeed, 70 bulls were sacrificed at the Feast of Booths for the 70 nations listed in Genesis 10.
Elisha's twenty-four oxen are no doubt priestly, so what is the significance of yoking? Yoking has to do with binding in Covenant, as Israel bound herself to false gods in Numbers, replicating the sin of the golden ox. We see the phrase in both the Old and New Testaments:
So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. (Numbers 25:3)
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? (2 Cor 6:14)
In Numbers, the passage follows the order of the Ten Words, with this "yoking" corresponding to taking the Lord's name in vain. Taking the Lord's name refers to taking the Covenant oath, the "amen" which makes one accountable to God.
So it seems the twelve yoke of oxen are not the tribes in this case but the priests bound by Covenant, most likely a reference to the twenty-four courses of Aaronic priests set up by David (1 Chron. 24:1-19). The flesh is boiled with the yokes and eaten by the people, a reversal of the sacrifices for the people being eaten by the priests and by God. The old priesthood would be utterly consumed and its authority temporarily transfered to God's legal witnesses, the prophets.
So, Elijah calls Elisha from service under the Davidic Covenant to the prophetic ministry given to him on Horeb earlier in the chapter. Elijah was now a new Moses commissioned to deal with Israel's idolatry. He comes down the mountain and "the golden calf" is consumed. In this case, it is the Temple of Solomon.
We see the same ministry in Paul, who is commissioned in the wilderness, then sent to the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy. The legal witness of the prophets brings down fire from heaven (Pentecost) and for those who reject this sign, the eventual destruction of the old house and its priesthood. Aligning these two events it seems that this consumption of the numbered oxen is like the Pentecostal sealing of the 144,000 "numbered" firstfruits Jewish believers in Revelation 7. Their sacrificial "consumption" (martyrdom) seals the guilt of the old order.
A couple thoughts I had were:
It says in the ESV that Elisha "was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him." The first image that came to my mind was that of a long string of 12 sets of oxen but that would seem to me an inefficient way to plow. How would you turn such a long train? One yoke is much easier to maneuver. Then we read that Elisha "was with the twelfth." It would seem a rather obvious and unnecessary statement to make since it already stated that the oxen were in front of him. My conclusion then is that there were 12 men driving 12 sets of oxen with Elisha handling the twelfth in the rear. To the reader of that day this would indicate that Elisha was a man of wealth.
could it be that the oxen were insignificant only to the fact that it showed us that the very thing that we are bound buy has to be released in order for us to complete Gods divine will? What was holding him back? Wealth, work the constant idea that the oxen and the plow been stand in his way, there were 12 things that kept him from totally committing and the plow.Some times as men and women of God we are held back by the things that are so visible to the naked eye that we miss then true meaning of the word. We want so analyze break down the word for its most in-depth meaning that we miss the real meaning.
In reference to your excellent expository answer may I add that I also see the fact the Elisha is wealthy and plowing with the oxen shows that he does not think too highly of himself and is willing to join with his servants in plowing along with them. Such is our example in Yeshua willing to co labor among us who are his humble servants.
Can we look it from another angle? Plowing in biblical times was mainly done by bondservants.. Could Elisha have been a bond servant in stead of being wealthy as we all are set to imagine? Being someone who is from lowly background but being called into higher ministry of plowing the hard hearts of men instead of plowing the hard ground which he was do well experienced in?
Elijah and Elisha had never met, how did they recognise each other? The Bible didn't tell but there are subtle pictures in the scene. Let reviewed 1 Kings 19:19-21 (NIV)
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.
In verse 19, it was seen Elisha was a servant who was driving the twelfth pair of oxen in the field. When Elijah threw his cloak around him, this was a scene similar in the parable of the prodigal son, a sign that the father reinstated his son status. Elisha recognised the sign, and knew his new master, Elijah came to get him.
In verse 20, we saw Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah, which meant Elijah walked away after gave his cloak to Elijah.
Verse 21 we saw Elisha cook his yoke of oxen with his equipment. A scene that he gave up everything he had to follow Elijah. From here we saw his determination.
It should be a misunderstanding to see Elisha was wealthy when the scripture mentioned 12 yoke of oxen and only Elisha was named. It was not possible an ordinary man could drive 12 yoke of oxen. He was just one of the twelve servants who drove his own yoke of oxen, which he slaughtered and cooked to the people.
We may understand that there was not much opportunity in those days and finding a good master would ensure a better life. Elisha was surely wise to observe his opportunity and he had the determination to give up everything to follow Elijah.
My thoughts are that this man did everything with all his heart and clearly was a practical hands on person also he was a man of great faith as well being in tune with the Spirit of God, purpose and identity, 12 yoke yes a yoke is a team, we have to stick to the facts on the page, 12 yoke or teams, more practical for a very large areas if one can handle that many teams,finish the ends with smaller team (s) physically he may have reached the limit of practical sensibility with that many yoke, and yes he would have been fairly rich, which makes it even more precious to the Lord as Jesus said it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom than a ships rope to go through the eye of a needle. He was ready for the next paradigm shift. (Peshitta Aramaic translation - G.Lamsa verson)
Phil
