2 Kings
2 Kings 2
1When Yahweh was about to take Elijah up by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel.”
Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?”
He said, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”
4Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.”
He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.
5The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?”
He answered, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”
6Elijah said to him, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.”
He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” Then they both went on. 7Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan. 8Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground. 9When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.”
Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”
10He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be so for you; but if not, it will not be so.”
11As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”
He saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces. 13He also took up Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 14He took Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided apart, and Elisha went over. 15When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho facing him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps Yahweh’s Spirit has taken him up, and put him on some mountain, or into some valley.”
He said, “Don’t send them.”
17When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.”
Therefore they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but didn’t find him. 18They came back to him, while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go?’ ”
19The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, please, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren.”
20He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” Then they brought it to him. 21He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or barren wasteland.’ ” 22So the waters were healed to this day, according to Elisha’s word which he spoke.
23He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!” 24He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in Yahweh’s name. Then two female bears came out of the woods, and mauled forty-two of those youths. 25He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
Commentary
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 65 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry4
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
Elijah's times, and the events concerning him, are as little dated as those of any great man in scripture; we are not told of his age, nor in what year of Ahab's reign he first appeared, nor in what year of Joram's he disappeared, and therefore cannot…
Here, I. Elijah makes his will, and leaves Elisha his heir, now anointing him to be prophet in his room, more than when he cast his mantle upon him, Kg1 19:19. 1. Elijah, being greatly pleased with the constancy of Elisha's affection and attendance, bade him…
We have here an account of what followed immediately after the translation of Elijah. I. The tokens of God's presence with Elisha, and the marks of his elevation into Elijah's room, to be, as he had been, a father to the sons of the prophets, and the chariots…
John Gill25
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind,.... Thereby lifting him up from the earth, and which, as it was the purpose and will of God, Elijah had notice of, as appears by his motions to different places, under a…
And Elijah said unto Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee,.... Seemingly unwilling he should go with him, and be present at his assumption; which was either out of modesty, not affecting the spread of the honour and glory to be conferred upon him; or to prevent…
And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel,.... Or the disciples of them, as the Targum; here, though a place where one of Jeroboam's calves was set up, was a school of the prophets, perhaps founded by Elijah as a nursery for religion, and a check upon…
Adam Clarke17
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
When the Lord would take up Elijah - It appears that God had revealed this intended translation, not only to Elijah himself, but also to Elisha, and to the schools of the prophets, both at Beth-el and Jericho, so that they were all expecting this solemn event.
Tarry here, I pray thee - He either made these requests through humility, not wishing any person to be witness of the honor conferred on him by God, or with the desire to prove the fidelity of Elisha, whether he would continue to follow and serve him.
Knowest thou that the Lord - Thus we see that it was a matter well known to all the sons of the prophets. This day the Lord will take thy master and instructer from thee.
Keil & Delitzsch8
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
In Bethel the disciples of the prophets came to meet Elisha, and said to him, "Knowest thou that Jehovah will take thy master from over thy head to-day?" ראשׁ מעל לקח expresses in a pictorial manner the taking away of Elijah from his side by raising him to…
In Bethel, and again in Jericho, to which they both proceeded from Bethel, Elijah repeated the appeal to Elisha to stay there, but always in vain. The taking away of Elijah had also been revealed to the disciples of the prophets at Jericho. Thus they both…
When they reached the Jordan, Elijah took his prophet's cloak, rolled it up (גּלם, ἁπ. λεγ. convolvit), and smote the water with it; whereupon the water divided hither and thither, so that they both passed through on dry ground. The cloak, that outward sign…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown11
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
take away thy master from they head--an allusion to the custom of scholars sitting at the feet of their master, the latter being over their heads (Act 22:3).
Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters--Like the rod of Moses, it had the divinely operating power of the Spirit.
Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee--trusting either that it would be in his power to bequeath it, or that God, at his entreaty, would grant it. let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me--This request was not, as is commonly supposed…
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