2 Kings 2:1-18. Elijah is carried up into heaven. The Spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. His first prophetic appearance (Not in Chronicles) 1. _when the Lord would take up Elijah_ The whole of the following narrative about Elijah's assumption must be drawn from what was communicated by Elisha. It was... [ Continue Reading ]
_Tarry here_ Not only was Elijah himself conscious of some great event at hand but Elisha and the bands of prophets in Bethel and Jericho had an intimation that the departure of Elijah was very near. But the subject is too solemn for words. The two chief persons do not speak of it, and it is only wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_the sons of the prophets_ They were called -sons" in the same way as Elisha calls Elijah -father". See below verse 12. Whether the prophetic body in Gilgal had been warned before Elijah's departure from them that they would see him no more wé are not told; but it seems highly probable that it was s... [ Continue Reading ]
_hath sent me_to _Jericho_ The famous city which played a part in the history of Israel from their first entry into Canaan. It had been rebuilt in Ahab's reign (1 Kings 16:34) in spite of the divine curse pronounced in Joshua's time on any who should restore it (Joshua 6:26). And now it had been cho... [ Continue Reading ]
_to Jordan_ The journey tends across the river to that part of the country whither Elijah had at first fled for fear of Ahab. In that same land of Gilead, which was Elijah's birthplace (1 Kings 17:1) and whither we find the prophet's first flight directed (1 Kings 17:2-3), is to be the scene of his... [ Continue Reading ]
_And fifty men_ It is not without surprise that we come at one single centre upon so large a body of men devoting themselves to a holy life in the service of Jehovah, while Ahab's children are still on the throne of Israel. There seems also to have been, beside Jericho and Bethel, similar colleges a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Elijah took his mantle_ In 2 Kings 1:8 the mantle was not mentioned, but the word here is the same as in Zechariah 13:4, so that there can be little doubt that the expression -hairy man" above refers to the garment, and not to the head and beard. _and wrapt_it _together_ Making thus a sort of... [ Continue Reading ]
_when they were gone over_ Or, with margin of R.V., -as they went over". There was now no other place to visit, and the end was felt to be close at hand. Both probably thought how near they were coming to the spot where the earlier prophet Moses had been taken from the earth. In crossing the Jordan... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast asked a hard thing_ Because it was not Elijah's to bestow. He knew that except for God's strengthening power and comforting revelations his own heart would often have fainted. He therefore leaves the result to depend on God's judgement. If He permit Elisha to behold the assumption, then i... [ Continue Reading ]
as _they still went on, and talked_ Elisha is to remain to the last. And now that the silence has been broken, and the request made, we can understand how much Elijah would find of exhortation and encouragement to bestow as parting counsels on his successor. _a chariot of fire, and horses of fire_ C... [ Continue Reading ]
_My father, my father_ That this title of affection was given by the younger prophets to an elder seems clear from 1 Samuel 10:12, where the question -Who is their father?" appears to refer to Samuel, and the whole passage to shew that men need not be surprised at Saul being among the prophets, if t... [ Continue Reading ]
_He took up also the mantle of Elijah_ Not with any view of using it as clothing, but as a precious memento of the departed master, and as a sort of pledge of the promise which had been made to him. This heirloom was taken of the inheritance on which he was now about to enter.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and smote the waters_ He acts upon the faith that he would receive from God the power which he had desired. He is in a degree to represent Elijah and therefore he acts as Elijah had done. After these words the Complutensian text of the LXX. gives καὶ οὐ διῃρέθη, -and they were not divided". This is... [ Continue Reading ]
_which_were _to view at Jericho_ R.V. WHICH WERE AT JERICHO OVER AGAINST HIM. See above on verse 7. They were in a position from which they could see him, and he might see them. _bowed themselves to the ground_ Thus expressing their acknowledgement of him as their head, and the divinely appointed s... [ Continue Reading ]
_there be with thy servants fifty strong men_ Doubtless some from among the company of the prophets are meant. In chapter 2 Kings 4:1-4 they are described as men equal to the labour of telling trees, and doing the work of building. We cannot suppose that in such a society there were many persons ret... [ Continue Reading ]
_till_he _was ashamed_ i.e. to refuse longer so urgent, though as he knew resultless, a petition. There is no pronoun expressed in the original. Hence some have thought the expression meant -to a shameful extent" and was to be applied to the undue persistence of the petitioners. But the same phrase... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when_[R.V. omits WHEN] _they came again_[R.V. BACK] _to him_, (_for_[R.V. WHILE] _he tarried at Jericho_)] The alteration of the R.V. of course removes the parenthesis. The Hebrew has in both places only the conjunction usually rendered -And". The two clauses are literally -And they came back a... [ Continue Reading ]
Elisha heals the noxious water at Jericho (Not in Chronicles) 19. _And the men of the city_ These are the ordinary inhabitants. From the sons of the prophets they would gather that Elisha was now gifted with the spirit and power of Elijah. The situation of Jericho, near the passage of the Jordan, w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein_ The purity and freshness of the vessel were to typify the purification wrought upon the spring. Salt too is significant of preservation and purity. We are not however to think of this as the means whereby the healing was wrought, but only as an outward si... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters_ The prophet by his words carries the thought away from the sign to the thing signified, the power of God exerted at the prayer of the prophet. We cannot suppose, though no mention is made of it, that the healing was attempted without a calling upon G... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto this day_ A note of a faithful reproduction by the compiler of what was written in some earlier document. See note on 1 Kings 9:21. There is but one spring in the neighbourhood of Jericho, called now _Ain es Sultan_, and this is probably the same which existed in Elisha's time. Its waters spre... [ Continue Reading ]
Elisha curseth the mocking children and some of them are destroyed (Not in Chronicles) 23. _from thence_unto _Beth-el_ Going back by the same way which he had come some days before with Elijah. _there came forth little children_ The margin of R.V. gives -young lads". The word in the original is th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he turned back, and looked on them_ R.V. AND HE LOOKED BEHIND HIM AND SAW THEM. The young lads had come forth from the city, and Elisha had, as it seems, passed by them, before they began their mockery. The word translated -turned" in A.V. is used specially of turning the face toward any object... [ Continue Reading ]
_he went from thence to mount Carmel_ At which place, either for the purposes of devotion or because there also was a college of the prophets, we see from 2 Kings 4:25, that Elisha was known to reside from time to time. The Shunammite mother in her distress knows where the prophet is to be found. _... [ Continue Reading ]