This study examines the roles of the named and unnamed women in the Elijah and Elisha traditions. Scholars have paid attention to the roles of Elijah and Elisha in 1 and 2 Kings. However, the more I studied these traditions, the more I realized that the functions or roles of the women who meet with the prophets or the kings in 1 and 2 Kings have been under appreciated. The biblical traditions have overemphasized the named prophets’ roles. Metaphorically, it is easier for people to memorize the works of those named that of those without names. However, there is no valid reason to ignore the unnamed women in the interpretation of the biblical narratives. Rather, the roles of the named prophets, Elijah and Elisha are incomplete without consideration of those of the women in 1 Kings 17:8-24; 2 Kings 4:8-37, 5, and 8:1-6. This dissertation elaborates upon the critical meaning of the women’s voices in these narratives.

It consists of four parts: methodology, Elijah and Elisha, Jezebel, and the unnamed women. To interpret the women-related narratives, this research employs both form criticism and narrative criticism. The former provides a means of biblical interpretation through structure, genre, setting, and intention. The latter enlarges the understanding of the narrative through focus on plots, characters, or flow in the narratives. These methodologies accommodate diverse ways of understanding the biblical texts in the women-related narratives of the Elijah and Elisha traditions, since these methods highlight women’s functions and roles. Using these techniques, the unnamed women—the Zarephath woman of 1 Kings 17:8-24, the Shunammite woman of 2 Kings 4:8-37 and 8:1-6, and the Israelite girl of 2 Kings 5—are revealed as prophetesses and priestesses, even though they are denied the dignity of a name.