{"id":63399,"date":"2019-09-24T16:24:45","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T13:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63399"},"modified":"2019-09-24T16:24:45","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T13:24:45","slug":"a-closer-look-at-a-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-closer-look-at-a-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"A Closer Look at a \u201cMiracle\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"63399","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"315","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Its method and meaning","content":"

In the previous chapter, we referred to the incident in which Elisha recovered the axe head that had fallen off its handle when one of the prophet-trainees was chopping wood near the Jordan River. As the text describes the salvage operation: \u201cWhere did it fall?\u201d asked the man of God. He showed him the spot; and he cut off a stick and threw it in, and he made the ax head float\u201d (6:6). An obvious question is, why did Elisha need to fashion a brand new \u201cstick\u201d when he could have used the one from which the metal head had been dislodged? The consensus of commentators\u2014medieval and modern alike\u2014is that this magnified the miraculous nature of the process. Here are some of their insights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Radak wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did he need to carve a new stick? It would appear that miracles require new materials\u2014as in the [previous] case of the new cruse (2 Kings 2:20). So he carved a stick to serve as a handle for the axe head that had fallen off, and it fit into the socket of the axe head and they floated [to the surface] together.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, if he had used the existing handle, someone might have suspected trickery. By using a handle that had never been in contact with the axe head, it reinforced the miraculous nature of the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ralbag (Gersonides) and Malbim, however, shift the emphasis from the newness of the stick to the way the entire salvage operation stood in defiance of nature. To cite Malbim (whose commentary here is considerably more succinct):<\/span><\/p>\n

This demonstrates that the prophet has the ability to reverse nature: the stick and the axe head switched their natural properties. The wood sank in the deep water like lead, while the axe head floated to the top as though it were light wood.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

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