Elixir - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

'ELIXIR (from the Arabic al-iksir, probably an adaptation of the Gr. i l ptov, a powder used for drying wounds, from Wpbs, dry), in alchemy, the medium which would effect the transmutation of base metals into gold; it probably included all such substances - vapours, liquids, &c. - and had a wider meaning than "philosopher's stone." The same term, more fully elixir R. V. marg. is an alteration to remove from Elisha the suggestion of an untruth.

4 The Gilgal of Elisha is near the Jordan - comp. vi. I with iv. 38, 1'I ?'m', - and cannot be other than the great sanctuary 2 m. from Jericho, the local holiness of which is still attested in the Onomastica. It is true that in 2 Kings ii. I Bethel seems to lie between Gilgal and Jericho; but v. 25 shows that Gilgal was not originally represented as Elisha's residence in this narrative, which belongs to the Carmel-Dothan series. On the other hand, for the identification with the Gilgal (Jiljilia) S.W. of Shiloh, see G. A. Smith, Ency. Bib. (s.v. Gilgal); Burney, op. cit., p. 264; Skinner, Century Bible: Kings, p. 278.

vitae, elixir of life, was given to the substance which would indefinitely prolong life; it was considered to be closely related to, or even identical with, the substance for transmuting metals. In pharmacy the word was formerly given to a strong extract or tincture, but it is only used now for an aromatic sweet preparation, containing one or more drugs, and in such expressions as "elixir of vitriol," a mixture of sulphuric acid, cinnamon, ginger and alcohol.