Elijah, (meaning ‘the Lord is my God’ or ‘spiritual champion’) and Elisha, (meaning ‘God will save me’ or ‘protected, God is salvation’ or ‘My God is salvation’) Their names carry the record of what they represent.

The word ‘mantle’, often refers to one’s calling.

The word ‘mantle’ in Hebrew, is Adderet.  

Adderet/Addereth: glory, a cloak.

The root meaning of Adderet is ‘Adar’ and means  glorious, splendid, marvelous, and mighty.

In a noun form it is rendered as a cloak or mantle.

Original Word: רֶתאַדָּ֫

Part of Speech: Noun Feminine

Transliteration: addereth

Phonetic Spelling: (ad-deh’-reth)

Short Definition: mantle is

Scripture speaks about the mantle Elijah threw over Elisha’s shoulders calling him to rise to the mantle of the prophet.

“And Elijah passed over to him (Elisha) and threw his mantle on him” (vs. 19).

This mantle was the official garment of a prophet.

Although there were three types of mantles worn in biblical times, this one is the adderet/addereth, a cloak that could be made of animal hair

and was a garment of distinction worn by kings and especially by prophets as in (1 Kings. 19:13, 19; 2 Kings. 2:8, 13-14; Zech. 13:4).

The mantle automatically marked a man as a prophet, a spokesman of God.

It was also a symbol of sacrifice and commitment.

The life of a prophet was not a life of luxury.

The mantle represented a man’s gift, the call of God, and the purpose for which God had called him.

Throwing it over the shoulders of Elisha was a symbolic act denoting his summons to the office of prophet, but it was also a sure sign of God’s gift that enabled him to fulfill the prophetic office and ministry.

This act by Elijah was a prophetic announcement that the gift of prophecy had been given (or would come) to Elisha.

This Mantle is very important, for it speaks of both the prophetic message of Elijah, and the double-anointing of the Holy Spirit that was given to Elisha, in order for Elisha to take up the call of God that he inherited from Elijah.

It was immediately understood by Elisha even without words and he did not hesitate in his response.

The oxen and the implements, the wooden plow with the yokes, represented the tools of his trade and the means and basis of his past life.

Verse 21, then, is basically Elisha’s declaration of his commitment to follow the Lord. In essence, he was burning his bridges and counting his past as loss for the Lord that he might gain and attain the new life and ministry that God had for him as a prophet (Phil. 3).

Elisha was showing family and friends that he had new goals, aims, aspirations, new commitments, values, and priorities.

It showed his determination to never look back, seek to go back, or leave the calling of God no matter how tough it might get.

This is a must for believers and especially spiritual leaders.

Romans 12:1-2 forms the foundation for the emphasis that follows.

Romans 12:3-21 exhorts us to know and use our gifts in ministry.

As previously noted, the word mantle in Hebrew is addereth; its root word being adar, which is also the word for the last month on the Hebrew religious or spiritual calendar.

The month of Adar, (February/March), is the best time to remove any barriers in our pursuit of personal holiness, it’s a time to create and also has the potential for the greatest joy. As Adar is the final month of the year, it is a time of completion.

Worthy of note:

Elisha was working with twelve yoke of oxen that is a huge number of animals. Two or four were a more usual number.

He had to have been very skilled and strong to manage and control so many, we miss the importance in the reference to the number of oxen that were yoked together.

updated information at: https://www.minimannamoments.com/crusts-and-crumbs-explaining-some-obscure-scriptures/

We too have a mantle or calling in our lives.

the calling, pursuit

Hebrew words:  רְדִיפָה; מִקְצוֹעַ, מִשְׁלַח יָד, עִסּוּק   מרדף  קַחלְֿךָ

pursuit of one’s calling:  קַחלְֿךָ כְּלִי רֹעֶה אֱוִלִי

What God has gifted us to do, He has called us to do. What He has called us to do, He has gifted us to do.

How do we know God’s call?

By knowing our gift(s).

Today, every believer is a priest of God (1 Pet. 2:5, 9) and is in some sense called to full-time service to represent the Lord even if their occupation is secular. As believers in Jesus/Yeshua, we are God’s representatives and called to ministry according to the gifts God gives us.

Part of this occurs in the work place, part in the home, part may occur in congregations, and part may occur with a neighbor, etc. Every believer has a spiritual gift (or gifts) and this represents at least a portion of the mantle of God’s call on one’s life.

Mantle in Hebrew is Adderet and it holds other secrets.

It comes from the word adir meaning powerful. אַדִיר

God has called you with a powerful calling.

He’ll equip you with the power to fulfill your calling.

Another reference for the Hebrew word for mantle addereth, Strong’s Number <0155> also means “glory.” 

It also means excellent.

He’s given you an excellent calling.

You’re called to excellence.

The word also means glorious or splendid.

God has given you a glorious and splendid calling for your life.

It also means worthy.

We’re never worthy in ourselves any more than Elisha was worthy of that mantle, but the Lord makes you worthy.

The mantle is always bigger than we are right now, so that we can grow into it.

Parents often buy clothes a little bigger than their child so there is room to grow into them.

As babies and children and young adults grow very quickly. Just as we do when we get saved we need to feed on the sincere milk of the word and then progress to eating meat.

As believer priests, this mantle is our God-given spiritual gift(s). As gifted ones, we are each to be good stewards of the stewardship He has entrusted to us regarding our time, talents (including our spiritual gifts), treasures, and His truth.

For these are the days of Elijah and Elisha.

song by Robin Mark

This requires Elisha’s kind of commitment. When commitment is not there, we will be tottering on the fence and we will be unable to make the tough decisions needed to follow the Lord.

This is no doubt what Jesus/Yeshua meant in Luke 14:26, 27 and 33.

The three conditions mentioned in Luke 14 deal with the necessity of total surrender. Without total surrender, we cannot be His disciples; we simply will not be able to make the sacrificial decisions that following Him will require.

This means a reevaluation of our values, priorities, attitudes, and pursuits, but above all, answering the question, who and what is the source of our faith?

Is it the Lord? Do we truly believe He will be all we need? Or is our faith in reality anchored in the details of life–pleasure, position, power, prestige, possession?

Elisha, like Elijah, was an ordinary man, but he became extra-ordinary because he was available to the Lord, because he turned his life over to the Lord, lock, stock, and barrel, and God was able to use him in tremendous ways.

You become worthy of the mantle, as you live it and walk it, you become it.

He may not have called you to be prophet like Elisha but God has given each of us a mantle to take up.

(1 Kings 19:19-21)

Hebrew/Israelite traditions recount that the mantle that fell from Elijah when he was later taken up in the whirlwind, was a tallith/talit or prayer shawl.

The tallith/talit of a prophet or master teacher would have dark purple-blue threads in the corner tassel.

People believed that the purple thread contained miracle power.

 The mantle God gives is powerful and it is given for us to live excellently, mightily, gloriously and worthily – for that, and nothing less, is the calling of your mantle.