🔼The name Elisha: Summary
- Meaning
- God Is Salvation
- Etymology
- From (1) the word אל ('el), God, and (2) the verb ישע (yasha'), to be saved.
🔼The name Elisha in the Bible
There's only one Elisha in the Bible. He is the prophet who succeeded Israel's prophet Elijah the Tishbite (1 Kings 19:16). In the New Testament his name is mentioned only once, in Luke 4:27, in the curious transliteration of Ελισσαιος; Elissaios.
🔼Etymology of the name Elisha
The name Elisha consists of two elements, the first being אל (El), either the prominent Canaanite deity whose name became applied to the God of Israel, or the common abbreviation of Elohim, the genus God:
אל אלה
In names אל ('el) usually refers to אלהים ('elohim), that is Elohim, or God, also known as אלה ('eloah). In English, the words 'God' and 'god' exclusively refer to the deity but in Hebrew the words אל ('l) and אלה ('lh) are far more common and may express approach and negation, acts of wailing and pointing, and may even mean oak or terebinth.
The second part of the name comes from the Hebrew verb ישע (yasha'), meaning to be saved, delivered:
שוע ישע
The verb ישע (yasha') means to be unrestricted and thus to be free and thus to be saved (from restriction, from oppression and thus from ultimate demise). A doer of this verb is a savior. Nouns ישועה (yeshua), ישע (yesha') and תשועה (teshua) mean salvation. Adjective שוע (shoa') means (financially) independent, freed in an economic sense.
Verb שוע (shawa') means to cry out (for salvation). Nouns שוע (shua'), שוע (shoa') and שועה (shawa) mean a cry (for salvation).
The noun תשע (tesha'), nine, looks like תושע (tohasha'), he or it will cause to save: the third person masculine singular Hiphil of the verb ישע (yasha'), to save. See our article on the Greek word for nine, εννεα (ennea).
🔼Elisha meaning
For the meaning of the name Elisha, BDB Theological Dictionary and NOBSE Study Bible Name List agree on God Is Salvation. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads God The Savior, Salvation Of My God.