Shunammite woman (Pirḳe R. El. xxxiii.; Ber. 10b; Lev. R. xxiv.; Yer. Yeb. ii.; Sanh. xi.); he drove away Elisha's disciples (Sanh. 107b); he possessed a magnet by which he lifted up the idol made by Jeroboam, so that it was seen between heaven and earth; he had "Yhwh" engraved on it, and in consequence the idol (a calf) pronounced the first two words of the Decalogue (ib.). When Naaman went to Elisha, the latter was studying the passage concerning the eight unclean "sheraẓim" (creeping things; comp. Shab. xiv. 1). Therefore when Gehazi returned after inducing Naaman to give him presents, Elisha, in his rebuke, enumerated eight precious things which Gehazi had taken, and told him that it was time for him to take the punishment prescribed for one who catches any of the eight sheraẓim, the punishment being in his case leprosy. The four lepers at the gate announcing Sennacherib's defeat were Gehazi and his three sons (Soṭ 47a). Nevertheless, Elisha is censured for having been too severe. He "thrust him away with both hands" instead of using one for that purpose and the other for drawing him toward himself (Yer. Sanh. 29b). Elisha went to Damascus to induce Gehazi to repent, but Gehazi refused, quoting his master's own teachings to the effect that a sinner who had led others into sin had no hope (Sanh. 107b; Soṭah 47a). Gehazi was interrupted in his conversation with the king because the praises of a holy man should not be sung by a sinner (Lev. R. xvi. 4). He had been disrespectful to his teacher, calling him by name (Sanh. 100a). His character is said to have been that of a man who, though learned, was jealous and avaricious, unchaste and a cynic (Yer. Sanh. xi.). He is ostensibly the subject of Rudyard Kipling's poem Gehazi, thought to be aimed at Rufus Isaacs, a member of the British Liberal government at the time the poem was composed. Gehazi also appears in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. References Jewish Encyclopedia 9th-century BCE Hebrew people Books of Kings people Servants Simony