Abstract:
In this article the point of departure is that the 'meaning' of literature is
to a large extent determined by literary as well as historical contexts.
The literature which comes up for discussion, namely the Elisha cycle, is
therefore studied within the literary context of the book of Kings as well
as the larger context of the corpus of the Deuteronomistic history. The
socio-historical setting of the literature - to be more specific, the dogmata
which were the order of the day during the Babilonian - exile codetermines
the parameters within which the legends about Elisha are understood.