On their arrival they learnt that Elisama was dangerously ill. The agitation of mind and fatigue, attending on his flight, had overpowered his feeble frame; he had been attacked by a fever, under which he was hourly sinking. A Levite, who was the physician of Ramoth, and possessed great knowledge of the human frame and the virtues of plants, had been summoned. Strengthening baths had been employed, and [the precious balm of Gilead] applied externally and internally. These were the two chief remedies of the Hebrews.[[150]] But here they had lost their power; Elisama fell into a deathlike slumber. When he was delirious, the image of Myron seemed to be constantly before his eyes; and he upbraided him with his ingratitude, and warned his son Helon to beware of him, as it would not be the last of his misdeeds. On the following day his reason returned for some hours, and he spoke calmly and clearly. It was the last revival of the flame of life. He requested Helon to repeat to him the prayer of Moses, the man of God. “Lord, thou hast been our refuge in all generations,” Ps. xc. He heard it with great attention, and the emotions of his heart were visible, at many passages, in his looks and his clasped hands. He lay for a long time with closed eyes, but his lips were in motion, and it was evident he was addressing himself to God, probably in a penitential psalm; for once, when his voice grew stronger, he was heard to say,
My days pass away as a shadow,
And I wither as grass;
But thou, Jehovah, shalt endure for ever,
And thy name remaineth from generation to generation;
Thou wilt arise and have mercy on Zion.
For the time is come that thou shouldest favour her,
The appointed hour is come.
His voice again became faint, and it was after some interval that he was heard to say—
He weakeneth my strength in the way,