Literary Analysis - The Miracles of Elisha
The set text (II Kings 4-7) told as literature: the themes, characters and narrative technique of the Elisha miracles. Learn to analyse how the story conveys meaning, not just retell it.
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Reading Elisha as literature 📜
Your set text is the **miracles of Elisha** in II Kings, chapters 4 to 7. This module is not about translating it - it is about **analysing** it: the **themes**, the **characters**, and the **narrative techniques** the writer uses. (Every account here is summarised in plain English - no modern Bible translation is reproduced - and the text is treated as the respected set text of a living tradition.)
The words you need 🔑
Literary analysis has its own vocabulary. These unlock the higher marks.
Match each miracle to the theme it shows 🔗
- The widow's oil (chapter 4)
- The Shunammite woman's son (chapter 4)
- The healing of Naaman (chapter 5)
- The punishment of Gehazi (chapter 5)
- God provides for those in need
- God's power reaches even over death
- Grace reaches the outsider
- Greed brings its own downfall
Know the text 📖
Which of these miracles takes place in chapter 5?
- The healing of Naaman the Aramean
- The multiplying of the widow's oil
- The recovery of the floating axe head
- The lifting of the siege of Samaria
Naaman and Gehazi ⚖️
The writer places these two figures side by side in chapter 5 - a deliberate contrast that carries much of the section's meaning.
Reading the contrast 🎭
What does the contrast between Naaman and Gehazi most clearly highlight?
- An outsider shows humble faith, while an insider falls to greed
- That foreigners can never really be healed
- That prophets care only about money
- That miracles happen at random
Analyse, do not retell 💡
The single biggest lift in the exam is to **analyse** rather than **retell**: - Retelling: Naaman washes seven times and is healed. - Analysing: the narrative delays Naaman's healing behind a test of obedience, so his healing reads as a reward for humility. Write about **how** the text creates meaning - through contrast, repetition and characterisation - and keep the respectful, analytical register (writing "the narrative presents...").
Match each character to their role 👥
- Elisha
- The Shunammite woman
- Naaman
- Gehazi
- The prophet through whom God acts
- The faithful host who is rewarded
- The foreign commander who is healed
- The servant whose greed is punished
Spot the themes ✅
Select the TWO ideas that are central themes of the Elisha narratives.
- God's power working through the prophet
- Compassion for the vulnerable
- Detailed military strategy for its own sake
- Royal romance and court gossip
The shape of Naaman's story 🪜
An interactive activity.
Analysis in one paragraph ✏️
The Elisha narratives set up a sharp _____ between Naaman and Gehazi. A recurring _____ is God's power working through the _____, and the writer repeatedly shows _____ for the vulnerable, from the widow to the _____.
Make an analytical point 🧭
An interactive activity.
Your turn: analyse ✍️
An interactive activity.
The grade-9 habit 🌟
Top answers on this set text **analyse, never retell**. They name a **theme** - faith, compassion, the prophet as God's agent - and show **how** the narrative builds it, above all through the deliberate **contrast** of Naaman and Gehazi. Anchor each point in a character's words or actions, keep the respectful analytical register ("the narrative presents..."), and treat the miracles as the text portrays them rather than asserting them as history. That is what turns a summary into an analysis.