Abstract
There are two contrasting parts in Elisha's last story that contain a dramatic turning point: (a) hope and reality the dialogue (prophecy) of the living Elisha with the Arameans (2 Kings 13:14-19) forms a kind of Elisha's testament; (b) reality and hope the short story (lacking a dialogue) of the dead Elisha relating to the Moabites (2 Kings 13:20-21). The themes expounded (joined) in the previous stories of Elisha converge and in a way culminate in both above mentioned sections.
It is in particular the theme of death: a reflection upon death aimed to find hope in the face of death. With the help of the king, Elisha unsuccessfully tries to revive hope in Israel.
The narrator thus formulates a sharp criticism of the institute of the king in Israel (the king is absolutely dead when not even the prophet's touching does not activate him). Another theme includes the prophet's illustrative gestures and prophecy using the arrow oracle, in which even multiple numerals play a role, with which Elisha reveals the reality.
It follows from them that the subsequent story of Hazael's death still belongs to the cycle of Elisha as an interpreting addendum. The cycle of Elisha has a gradational concentric structure based on the chiastic pattern, which points to the central story that is based on the Lord's statement of saturating the people.
It is the focal point of the entire cycle, for which the narrator gradually prepares the listener (i.e. drawing attention to the Lord's statement), confirming the same again in the following story. Each of the strong messages of the cycle of Elisha in the first half are kind of served in portions (and separated with bridging stories illustrations), and then, in the second half of the composition, repeated in a mirror inverted order and thus expounded and emphasized.
Together with the first story (about the calling of Elisha), Elisha's last story thus forms a framework for the entire composition, emphasizing the fact that Elisha is just a part of the events controlled by the Lord.