_A.M. 3108. B.C. 896._ Elijah and Elisha go to Beth-el, and from thence to Jordan together, 2 Kings 2:1. The waters are divided, when smote with Elijah's mantle, and they walk through, 2 Kings 2:8. Elijah takes his leave of Elisha, and is taken up into heaven by a whirlwind, 2 Kings 2:9. Elisha, wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the Lord would take up Elijah_ It is supposed, though not expressly revealed, that Elijah flourished about twenty years, before he was translated, body and soul, to heaven, only undergoing such a change as was necessary to qualify him for being an inhabitant in that world of spirits. By transl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Tarry here_ This he desires, either, 1st, That being left alone, he might better prepare himself for his great change. Or, 2d, Out of indulgence to Elisha, that he might not be overwhelmed with grief at so sad a sight. Or, 3d, That he might try his love, and whet his desire to accompany him; it bei... [ Continue Reading ]
_The sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el_ In these very corrupt times God did not wholly forsake the Israelites, but continued the schools of the prophets among them, in which men were trained up and employed in the exercises of religion, and to which good people resorted to solemnize the feas... [ Continue Reading ]
_Tarry here, I pray thee_ Elijah seems to have said this only with a view to try Elisha, whether he would accompany him to the last, and be the witness of his translation. And Elisha certainly, by not leaving him, testified, both great fidelity to his master, and great faith in what God had revealed... [ Continue Reading ]
_The sons of the prophets that were at Jericho_ Here also was a school, where the same revelation had been made to the sons of the prophets, concerning Elijah's removal, which had been communicated to those at Beth-el. And their thoughts, like the thoughts of the others, were wholly occupied about t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fifty men stood to view_ To observe this great event, Elijah's translation to heaven, which they expected every moment: and whereof they desired to be spectators, not to satisfy their own curiosity, but that they might be witnesses of it to others. _Afar off_ As they were not permitted to accompany... [ Continue Reading ]
_And smote the waters_ These waters of old yielded to the ark, now to the prophet's mantle; which to those that wanted the ark, was an equivalent token of God's presence. When God will take his children to himself, death is the Jordan which they must pass through. And they find a way through it, a s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee_ Elijah, undoubtedly, had an inward assurance that God would grant him his last request that he should make; but we may observe here, that he expressly confines it to its being made before he was taken away, and gives no manner of hope... [ Continue Reading ]
_He said, Thou hast asked a hard thing_ A rare and singular blessing, which I cannot promise thee; which God only can give, and which he gives only when and to whom he pleases. _Nevertheless, if thou see me,_ &c. Mark, this is a sign whether thou shalt obtain what thou desirest or not. This sign he... [ Continue Reading ]
_As they still went on and talked_ Of the happy state, probably, to which Elijah was going; _behold, a chariot of fire, and horses of fire_ A bright resplendent cloud, perhaps thrown into the form of a chariot and horses, by the angels who came in it; or rather, as some think, the angels themselves... [ Continue Reading ]
_Elisha saw it, and cried, My father_, &c. So he calls him for his fatherly affection to him, and for his fatherly authority which he had over him; in which respect the scholars of the prophets are called their sons. He saw his own condition like that of a fatherless child, and laments it accordingl... [ Continue Reading ]
_He took up also the mantle of Elijah which fell from him_ God appointing it to fall, for Elisha's comfort, and the strengthening of his faith and as a pledge that, together with this mantle Elijah's spirit should rest upon him, according to his promise. And Elijah himself was now gone to a place wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_And said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah?_ Who at Elijah's request divided these waters, and is able to do it again. But according to this translation, two words are left out, namely, א Š הוא, _aph-hu._ The clause literally rendered is, _Where is the Lord God of Elijah, even He?_ which a learned f... [ Continue Reading ]
_And bowed themselves to the ground before him_ In token of their reverence for and subjection to him, as Elijah's successor, the father of the prophets, and their master and teacher. They had been trained up in the schools; Elisha was taken from the plough: yet, when they perceive that God is with... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, there be with thy servants fifty strong men_ Able to take such a journey. _Let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master_ They had received but an imperfect revelation of God's design, with respect to Elijah, when they asked Elisha if he knew that the Lord would take away his master: for t... [ Continue Reading ]
_The water is naught, and the ground barren_ Either it was so originally, at least as to that part of the city where the college of the prophets was; or it became so from the curse of God inflicted upon it, either when Joshua first took the city, or when Hiel rebuilt it: however, upon the prophet's... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he said, Bring me a new cruise_ He says _new_, partly that there might be no ground of suspicion that the cure was wrought by the natural virtue of any thing which was or had been in the cruise before, but only by God's power; and partly that there might be no legal pollution in it which might... [ Continue Reading ]
_He went forth unto the spring, and cast the salt in there_ If the salt had been a proper remedy for the brackishness of these waters and the barrenness of the land, what could so small a quantity have done, and especially as cast into the fountain? For a fountain quickly works out any thing cast in... [ Continue Reading ]
_He went up from thence unto Beth-el_ To the other school of the prophets, to inform them of Elijah's translation, and his succession to the same office; and to direct, and comfort, and establish them, as he saw occasion. _And there came forth little children_ The word נערים, _negnarim_, here render... [ Continue Reading ]
_He looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord_ “The word _curse_ has in Scripture three different acceptations. It signifies, to _inflict_ a curse; and in this sense God is said to have _cursed_ the ground after the fall. It signifies, to _wish_ a curse; and in this sense Shimei is sai... [ Continue Reading ]