6. Let us compare this leisure of his with
that of others. Cic. de
Off. III. 1, § 2. Other men
for the sake of rest are wont to withdraw their minds from business,
and to retire from the company and companionship of men; to seek the
retirement of the country or the solitude of the fields, or in the city
to give their minds a rest and to enjoy peace and quietness. But
Elisha was ever active. In solitude he divided Jordan on passing
over it, so that the lower part flowed down, whilst the upper returned
to its source. On Carmel he promises the woman, who so far had
had no child, that a son now unhoped for should be born to
her. 2 [4] Kings
iv. 16. He raises the dead to life, 2 [4] Kings
iv. 34. he corrects the bitterness of the food, and
makes it to be sweet by mixing meal with it. 2 [4] Kings
iv. 41. Having distributed ten loaves to the
people for food, he gathered up the fragments that were left after they
had been filled. 2 [4] Kings
iv. 44. He makes the
iron head of the axe, which had fallen off and was sunk deep in the
river Jordan, to swim by putting the wooden handle in the
water. 2 [4] Kings
vi. 6. He changes leprosy for
cleanness, 2 [4] Kings
v. 10. drought for
rain, 2 [4] Kings
iii. 17. famine for plenty. 2 [4] Kings
vii. 1.