וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ לֹא־לִבִּ֣י הָלַ֔ךְ כַּאֲשֶׁ֧ר הָֽפַךְ־אִ֛ישׁ מֵעַ֥ל מֶרְכַּבְתּ֖וֹ לִקְרָאתֶ֑ךָ הַעֵ֞ת לָקַ֤חַת אֶת־הַכֶּ֙סֶף֙ וְלָקַ֣חַת בְּגָדִ֔ים וְזֵיתִ֤ים וּכְרָמִים֙ וְצֹ֣אן וּבָקָ֔ר וַעֲבָדִ֖ים וּשְׁפָחֽוֹת׃
Lalu Elisa berkata kepadanya: “Bukankah hatiku ikut pergi bersamamu ketika orang itu berbalik dari atas keretanya untuk menyambutmu? Apakah ini waktunya untuk menerima perak, dan untuk menerima pakaian, kebun zaitun, kebun anggur, kambing domba, lembu sapi, serta hamba-hamba laki-laki dan hamba-hamba perempuan?”
Malbim
At this point, Job confesses that he had not spoken sense (Job 34:35) in all his arguments. He reveals that throughout the entire debate his mind had not been at one (2Kings 5:26) with the words in his mouth (Psalms 36:4). For in truth, in his heart, he had believed all along in Providence and the immortality of the soul. His whole polemic was just an attempt to find a way to this end through the medium of study and thought: it was all by way of being a search. As the master of the prophets [Moses] had said, Show me Thy Glory. (Exodus 33:18) He too had first investigated this subject by the use of reason and had worked on composing the Book of Job, in which he recorded all his investigations and insights in these matters. But when he saw that no solution could be found by the use of reason, he had asked that God Himself make the glory of His judgments and Governance known to him, as He had to Job,4Carried away by his faithfulness to the rabbinical tradition, namely, that Moses was the author of Job, Malbim is driven into contradiction. If Moses wrote the Book of Job before the Exodus, as Malbim postulates, he must have known the truth concerning the workings of Providence that Job is about to learn from God before the revelation at Mount Sinai and the sin of the golden-calf. Consistency requires that Moses must have been asking for something else when, following these events, he asks of God: 'Show me Thy Glory'.
Alternatively, perhaps Malbim is suggesting that Job and Moses are one, and God's lectures here in the Book of Job were His reply to the request made by Moses, and He showed him... and told him; (Deuteronomy 34:1) and he was then comforted for being dust and ashes (Job 42:6).
Alternatively, perhaps Malbim is suggesting that Job and Moses are one, and God's lectures here in the Book of Job were His reply to the request made by Moses, and He showed him... and told him; (Deuteronomy 34:1) and he was then comforted for being dust and ashes (Job 42:6).
From David to Destruction
The classic Mefarshim offer a variety of explanations for Elisha’s refusal to take any of Na’aman’s gifts. Rashi explains that much of Na’aman’s wealth is generated from Avodah Zarah, and it is Halachically forbidden to benefit from Avodah Zarah. The Malbim points, in part, to the notion of Elisha seeking to create a Kiddush Hashem.219TABC alumnus Nachum Krasnopolsky (‘19) brings attention to the Gemara (Sanhedrin 74b-75a), which uses Elisha’s encounter with Na’aman to determine whether or not the Mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem (sanctification of Hashem’s name) applies to non-Jews. The Metzudat David (Melachim II 5:26) understands the refusal as stemming from Elisha’s abhorrence of deriving material benefit from the miracles he performs unless it is absolutely necessary.
From David to Destruction
Elisha vehemently disapproves of Geichazi’s actions, as is clear from Melachim II 5:26, when he rhetorically asks Geichazi, “HaEit LaKachat Et HaKesef VeLakachat Begadim VeZeitim UChramim VeTzon UBakar Va’Avadim UShifachot,” “is this a [proper] time to accept money [with which] to buy clothing, olive trees, vineyards, sheep, cattle, slaves, and maidservants?” Elisha is profoundly disappointed that his erstwhile protégé does not realize that Elisha’s ascension to the international stage is a critically important time to adopt a policy that would shield him from the affliction of arrogance.