The prophet Elisha’s encounter with the Shunammite Woman takes up less than a chapter in 2 Kings, yet the story is filled with poignancy, action and miracles. If you are like many Bible readers, you may have passed over this brief episode impressed by Elisha’s powers but with little sense of the other protagonist, the woman. Burke O. Long addresses that imbalance in “The Shunammite Woman: In the Shadow of the Prophet?” Long’s sensitive reading gives us a new biblical heroine: A woman who, when visited by calamity, embarks on a strenuous journey and personally challenges the prophet to […]
