Acts 19:12: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

II Kings 2:14: And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, where is the LORD God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

I was recently reading a book about vibrations by a quantum physicist who presented his theories in a nice dumbed down fashion so that even an average Joe like myself could almost figure out what he was talking about. As this scientist presented his theory of vibrations, I began to think about a possible connection between the mantle of Elijah and Acts 19:11 where people took Paul’s handkerchief (Gk. Soudaria) and apron (GK. Simkinthia) and used these objects of linen to heal people when Paul was not even present.

The basis of the theory presented by this scientist was that everything that exists in the natural universe is made up of vibrating atoms and molecules.  When God created a tree, He spoke a certain vibration and that vibrated the atoms to form a tree.   It is sort of like the synthesizer you find on Star Trek where Captain Picard speaks to the computer and orders a hot cup of tea.  The computer vibrates the molecules in the air to the exact order for a cup of tea and suddenly a cup of tea appears. Such a machine is scientifically possible but nowhere near a development stage at this time.   Still, it might explain some strange words in the Hebrew used in II Kings 2:14.

First I would like to look at Acts 19:12 where people took handkerchiefs and aprons from Paul and used them to heal the sick.   The Greek word for handkerchief is soudaria which means a cloth or piece of linen used to wipe the sweat from one’s face and the word for apron is simikinthia which is merely an apron, something worn to protect ones under clothing.   Now if we take these Greek words we end up with people like the old boy I met on a bus in Chicago who had sets of handkerchiefs that he was peddling.  He said they were blessed by a bishop and bore different colors.  One color was for healing, another for casting out demons etc. I suspected the one spotted with certain stains suggested his nose also added a little blessing.  I will get back to this idea at the end of my little study.

Checking my Aramaic Bible I find the words used for handkerchiefs and aprons are really words which express the borders of his garments.  The word for garment is katan is the Aramaic and is the exact word used today for the tallit katan. The tallit katan is a garment worn for possibly thousands of years by the Hebrews as a prayer shawl which had on its borders tzitzits or tassels.  Most likely people snatched the tassels off of Paul’s tallit katan and used these for healing.   One particular tassel or thread, as we all know or are aware, is that purple thread or the tekhelet the blue thread.  The origin of the blue dye used for this thread was lost in the dispersion, but recently rabbis are convinced they have rediscovered the source of the original blue dye which they say came from a certain type of snail.  Scientists have found that this dye from this snail does contain certain medicinal value, particularly for cancer.  Research is ongoing and there is plenty on the internet for you to browse if you are interested.   For my purposes I believe that what these people took from Paul were the tassels for his tallit katan.

I believe the mantle that was left by Elijah and passed on to Elisha may very well have been a tallit katan. To be fair, there is considerable debate that the tallit katan was actually in use during the time of Elisha.   The word used in Hebrew for the mantle is ‘adareth.  This word is really another word for glory. It is often used to express something that is glorious or marvelous, but there is no reason that it cannot be used as a noun and simply mean the glory.  In other words Elijah could very well have left some sort of prayer garment which he used when in prayer.   Remember I Kings 19:11 when he left a cave and covered his face with his ‘adareth or mantle.   I don’t believe he was using it to protect him from the elements, but to enter into a deep prayer or devekut or an intimate time with God.

Elisha picked up this ‘adareth and said: “Where is the God of Elijah.”   There is a curious use of words here following this question.  It is aph hu in Hebrew and remains untranslated in many translations.   Some have assume it would be rendered as “he also” which is a literal rendering.  Some would say: “Here he is” or as used in the Greek Septuagint apspso which means “yea he.”   Just that alone would suggest that the glory of the Lord encompassed this ‘adareth (mantle) and brought about the following miracles as it did with the threads of Paul’s tallit katan (handkerchiefs and aprons).  Jewish literature teaches that this mantle was placed in a special closet in the holy place of the temple after Elisha’s death.  It might explain why the angel appeared to Zacharias in the holy place of the temple and why people thought John the Baptist was Elijah as his father may have been instructed by Gabriel to remove Elijah’s ‘adareth (mantle) and give it to his son as he would be the forerunner for the Messiah as prophesied that Elijah would return before the Messiah came.  Maybe Paul, as a member of the Sanhedrin and leader of the Jews took possession of Elijah’s mantle or tallit katan from John the Baptist after he was executed.  Ah, but such is fodder for Urban Legend and if I put that out over the internet, low, some preacher may start an expedition to discover Elijah’s mantle for last day miracles.  Forget I even mentioned it.

Yet, I am given pause to wonder about this scientist and his talk of vibrations.  He said everything, rocks, trees, mountains, people, animals and even stars and planets give off vibrations.  In fact they have been able to record these vibrations and listening to the vibrations and it is like listening to beautiful music.  The scientist further explained that everything that exists has its own song and everything and everyone has a different song.  It would not stretch the imagination to conclude that an infinite God could have infinite songs that he could give to every object, animal or person in the universe. Everything would have its own song.   Perhaps Elijah’s ‘adareth (mantle) and Paul’s tallit katan (handkerchief and apron) each contained a song and people were healed with a song from God.   Remember when the woman touched the hem of Jesus’s garment and was healed (Mark 5:25-29)?  Jesus said virtue went out from him.  In Aramaic the word virtue is chayla which literally means vibrations.

Oh, one last thing, remember aph hu (yea he or here he is)?  Aph comes from the Hebrew root word aneph which means to breathe through the nostrils.  Hu is the pronoun he.   So when Elisha asked: “Where is the God of Elijah?”   The answer came in aph hu ‘adareth – God breathed though his nostrils into the mantle (‘adareth).  Remember ‘adareth actually means glory so more precisely, “God imparted his glory (‘adareth) in a mantle.”