Was Jesus The Only One To Rise From The Dead In The Bible? – 247 News Around The World

Resurrection predates Jesus in the Bible by centuries. In fact, the story told in Luke 7 — of Jesus resurrecting the son of a widow — echoes an episode from the Old Testament. In the first book of Kings, God commanded Elijah to go to Zarephath and seek out a widow for food and shelter. The widow only had flour and olive oil to sustain her during a drought, and Elijah told her that neither of her meager stores would be exhausted until rain came to Zarephath — and so it was. But her son grew ill and died, and after seeing the widow’s grief, Elijah put the boy on a bed and beseeched God to resurrect him.

Elijah’s disciple, Elisha, also had the power of resurrection — he revived the son of a Shunammite woman in the second book of Kings. Elisha foretold the boy’s birth, but some time after it came to pass, the boy complained of a headache and died. At first, Elisha tried to revive the boy by having his servant place his staff on the child’s face. When that failed, Elisha prayed to God and laid himself over the boy, who gradually came back to life.

Even after death, Elisha retained some power of resurrection. After his burial, a group of Israelites were trying to hold a funeral for a man when they saw raiders. They threw the man into Elisha’s tomb, and he was revived when his body touched the prophet’s bones.