2 Kings 2

This is what happened when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were traveling together, leaving Gilgal.

1And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

NoteA whirlwind is a violent windstorm, a whirling column of air. Gilgal was a town name used of more than one place; since the travelers then "went down" to Bethel, which sits in the hill country, this Gilgal was probably a highland town north of Bethel rather than the better-known Gilgal near the Jordan.

2Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, because the LORD has sent me on to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives, and as surely as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

2And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.

Note"As surely as the LORD lives, and as surely as you live" was the standard strong oath of the time, swearing by something whose existence is beyond doubt, roughly "I swear it, absolutely." Bethel and Jericho, named here and in verse 4, were established towns with resident prophetic communities; Bethel lay in the hills about ten miles north of Jerusalem, Jericho down in the Jordan valley.

3The group of prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, "Do you know that today the LORD is going to take your master away from you?" "Yes, I know," he said. "Don't talk about it."

3And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

Note"Sons of the prophets" (the King James wording) does not mean their fathers were prophets. It is the ordinary Hebrew way of naming members of a guild or company, a band of prophets living and working together under a senior figure. The King James "from thy head" translates a Hebrew idiom for taking a master away from the disciple who serves under him. "Hold ye your peace" means "be quiet, stop talking."

4Then Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please stay here, because the LORD has sent me on to Jericho." But he said, "As surely as the LORD lives, and as surely as you live, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho.

4And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.

5The group of prophets at Jericho came to Elisha and said, "Do you know that today the LORD is going to take your master away from you?" "Yes, I know," he answered. "Don't talk about it."

5And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

6Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, because the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan River." But he said, "As surely as the LORD lives, and as surely as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on together.

6And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.

NoteThe Jordan is the river running down the valley east of these towns; it formed the boundary of the settled land. The journey has gone steadily downhill from the hill country to the valley floor.

7Fifty men from the group of prophets went and stood watching from far off, while the two of them stood beside the Jordan.

7And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.

8Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The water split to one side and the other, so the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

8And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

NoteThe cloak (King James "mantle") was a prophet's outer garment, and here it functions as the sign of his office and authority, which is why Elisha's picking it up in verse 13 matters. Rolling it up turns loose cloth into something that can be swung like a staff.

9After they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what you want me to do for you before I am taken away from you." Elisha said, "Please give me a double share of your spirit."

9And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

NoteA "double portion" is a legal term from inheritance law: the eldest son received twice the share of any other son. Elisha is not asking for twice as much of Elijah's spirit as Elijah had; he is asking to be treated as Elijah's chief heir among the prophets.

10Elijah said, "You have asked for a hard thing. Still, if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if you do not see it, it will not."

10And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

11As they kept walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire suddenly appeared and came between the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

11And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!" Then he saw Elijah no more. He took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two.

12And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

Note"My father" was how a disciple addressed the master he served under; it is not a claim about family. "The chariots and horsemen of Israel" was the language of military strength, the striking force of an army. Tearing one's own clothes was the standard public sign of grief or shock, done openly so that others could see it.

13He also picked up the cloak that had fallen off Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

13He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;

14He took the cloak that had fallen off Elijah and struck the water with it, and said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" When he struck the water, it split to one side and the other, and Elisha crossed over.

14And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

15The group of prophets from Jericho, who were watching from a distance, saw him and said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." They came to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.

15And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

NoteBowing to the ground was the ordinary gesture of respect to a recognized superior, not necessarily an act of worship.

16They said to him, "Look, we your servants have fifty strong men. Please let them go and search for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the LORD has lifted him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley." Elisha said, "Do not send them."

16And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.

NoteThe idea behind the search is a familiar one in these stories: that the spirit of the LORD could physically carry a prophet off and set him down somewhere else. The prophets assume Elijah may simply have been dropped in rough country nearby.

17But they kept pressing him until he was ashamed to refuse, so he said, "Send them." They sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find Elijah.

17And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.

Note"Until he was embarrassed to keep saying no" renders a Hebrew phrase for being pressed past the point where refusing is socially possible.

18When they came back to Elisha, who had stayed in Jericho, he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"

18And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

19The men of the city said to Elisha, "Please notice, sir, that this city is in a good spot, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land does not produce crops."

19And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.

Note"The land does not produce crops" translates a word that covers both miscarrying and failing to bear fruit; bad water was thought to cause both, dead crops and lost pregnancies among people and livestock.

20He said, "Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.

20And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.

NoteA new, unused jar is specified deliberately: containers that had held other things were considered unsuitable for a task like this. Salt was widely used as a purifying and preserving agent, and also accompanied agreements as a token of permanence.

21He went out to the spring where the water came from, threw the salt into it, and said, "This is what the LORD says: I have healed this water. It will never again cause death or keep the land from producing."

21And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

22So the water has stayed healthy right up to this day, just as Elisha had said it would.

22So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

23From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was going up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and made fun of him, chanting, "Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!"

23And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

NoteThe word translated "boys" covers a wide range, from young children to young men in their teens or older, so their age is genuinely uncertain in the Hebrew. "Go on up" throws Elijah's departure back at Elisha, go up after your master, if you can. Baldness was shameful in this culture, and a shaved head could also mark someone out; the taunt is an insult to his person and his standing.

24He turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

24And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

Note"Called down a curse" means he pronounced a formal curse, a spoken formula invoking harm, the recognized counterpart to a blessing, not merely swearing at them. "Mauled" translates a verb meaning to tear or rip; it does not say the forty-two died.

25From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

25And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

NoteMount Carmel is the ridge running to the coast in the north, associated with Elijah earlier in these books. Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel, where the king lived.