oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. The drought broken, ‘ploughing’ must be under way in earnest. The ‘twelve yoke of oxen’ (i.e. separate pairs of yoked oxen) indicate that Elisha is from a wealthy estate; there are at least eleven other family members or employees involved. The number ‘twelve’ may be a subtle continuation of the theme of the ideal unity of the people of God (cf. 18:31) in the mind of the writer. Important as ‘ploughing’