2 Kings 2: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Elijah and Elisha travel from Gilgal to Bethel, then Jericho, then the Jordan, with Elisha refusing three times to stay behind; Elijah parts the river with his cloak, and after promising Elisha a double share of his spirit if Elisha sees him taken, he is carried up in a whirlwind with a chariot and horses of fire. Elisha picks up the fallen cloak, parts the Jordan with it, and is recognized by the other prophets, who search three days for Elijah and find nothing. Elisha then heals the bad water at Jericho with salt, and at Bethel he curses a group of boys who jeer at him, and two bears maul forty-two of them. The chapter marks the handover of Elijah's role to Elisha.

Claim by Claim

1. 2:1
   • The LORD was about to take Elijah up into heaven by a whirlwind.
   • Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2. 2:2
   • Elijah told Elisha to stay there.
   • Elijah said the LORD had sent him to Bethel.
   • Elisha swore by the life of the LORD and by Elijah's own life.
   • Elisha said he would not leave Elijah.
   • The two went down to Bethel.
3. 2:3
   • The sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha.
   • They asked Elisha whether he knew that the LORD would take his master away from over his head that day.
   • Elisha said he also knew it.
   • Elisha told them to be silent.
4. 2:4
   • Elijah told Elisha to stay there.
   • Elijah said the LORD had sent him to Jericho.
   • Elisha swore by the life of the LORD and by Elijah's own life.
   • Elisha said he would not leave Elijah.
   • The two came to Jericho.
5. 2:5
   • The sons of the prophets at Jericho came to Elisha.
   • They asked Elisha whether he knew that the LORD would take his master away from over his head that day.
   • Elisha said he also knew it.
   • Elisha told them to be silent.
6. 2:6
   • Elijah told Elisha to stay there.
   • Elijah said the LORD had sent him to the Jordan.
   • Elisha swore by the life of the LORD and by Elijah's own life.
   • Elisha said he would not leave Elijah.
   • The two of them went on together.
7. 2:7
   • Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance.
   • Elijah and Elisha stood by the Jordan.
8. 2:8
   • Elijah took his mantle.
   • Elijah rolled the mantle up.
   • Elijah struck the waters with it.
   • The waters divided to one side and the other.
   • The two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9. 2:9
   • After they had crossed over, Elijah told Elisha to ask what he should do for him before he was taken from him.
   • Elisha asked that a double portion of Elijah's spirit be upon him.
10. 2:10
    • Elijah said Elisha had asked a hard thing.
    • Elijah said that if Elisha saw him being taken from him, it would be so for him.
    • Elijah said that if Elisha did not see it, it would not be so.
11. 2:11
    • Elijah and Elisha were walking on and talking.
    • A chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared.
    • The chariot and horses separated the two of them from each other.
    • Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind.
12. 2:12
    • Elisha was watching.
    • Elisha cried out, calling Elijah his father.
    • Elisha cried out about the chariot of Israel and its horsemen.
    • Elisha did not see Elijah any more.
    • Elisha took hold of his own clothes.
    • Elisha tore his clothes into two pieces.
13. 2:13
    • Elisha picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him.
    • Elisha went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
14. 2:14
    • Elisha took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him.
    • Elisha struck the waters with it.
    • Elisha asked where the LORD, the God of Elijah, was.
    • Elisha struck the waters.
    • The waters divided to one side and the other.
    • Elisha crossed over.
15. 2:15
    • The sons of the prophets from Jericho saw Elisha from opposite him.
    • They said the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha.
    • They came to meet Elisha.
    • They bowed to the ground before Elisha.
16. 2:16
    • They told Elisha that his servants had fifty strong men with them.
    • They asked that the fifty men be allowed to go and search for Elisha's master.
    • They said perhaps the Spirit of the LORD had carried Elijah off and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.
    • Elisha told them not to send anyone.
17. 2:17
    • They urged Elisha until he was ashamed.
    • Elisha then told them to send.
    • They sent fifty men.
    • The men searched for three days.
    • They did not find Elijah.
18. 2:18
    • The men returned to Elisha.
    • Elisha was staying at Jericho.
    • Elisha asked them whether he had not told them not to go.
19. 2:19
    • The men of the city said to Elisha that the site of the city was good, as their lord could see.
    • They said the water was bad.
    • They said the land caused barrenness or loss of offspring.
20. 2:20
    • Elisha told them to bring him a new bowl.
    • Elisha told them to put salt in it.
    • They brought it to him.
21. 2:21
    • Elisha went out to the source of the waters.
    • Elisha threw the salt into it.
    • Elisha said that thus said the LORD.
    • Elisha declared that the LORD had healed these waters.
    • Elisha declared there would no longer be death or barrenness from there.
22. 2:22
    • The waters were healed and remained so to this day.
    • This happened according to the word that Elisha spoke.
23. 2:23
    • Elisha went up from there to Bethel.
    • As he was going up the road, small boys came out of the city.
    • The boys mocked him.
    • The boys said to him, Go up, baldhead, go up, baldhead.
24. 2:24
    • Elisha turned around behind him.
    • Elisha looked at them.
    • Elisha cursed them in the name of the LORD.
    • Two she-bears came out of the forest.
    • The bears tore forty-two of the children.
25. 2:25
    • Elisha went from there to Mount Carmel.
    • From Mount Carmel he returned to Samaria.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

2:1

A 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.

2:2

"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.

2:3

"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."

2:6

The 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.

2:7

Fifty men was a standard size for a company or squad in Israel.

2:8

The 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.

2:9

A "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.

2:11

Chariots pulled by horses were the tanks of the ancient world, the most feared thing on a battlefield, and Israel's kings were repeatedly criticized for trusting them. Fire is the standard sign of God's presence in these narratives, as at the burning bush and on Mount Carmel.

2:12

"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.

2:13

Picking up the fallen cloak is the point of the scene. Taking a predecessor's distinctive garment was how succession was shown, so Elisha is not collecting a keepsake; he is claiming the office.

2:14

When you see LORD in big letters, it stands for God's own special name.

2:15

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

2:16

The 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.

2:17

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

2:19

"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.

2:20

A 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.

2:22

"Unto this day" is a standard phrase in Hebrew historical writing meaning the situation still held when the book was compiled, generations later. It is the writer's way of pointing at evidence the original readers could go and check.

2:23

The 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.

2:24

"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.

2:25

Mount 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.