_ELIJAH WITH HIS MANTLE DIVIDETH THE WATERS OF JORDAN, AND PASSETH OVER ON DRY GROUND WITH ELISHA, WHO REQUESTETH A DOUBLE PORTION OF HIS SPIRIT. A CHARIOT OF FIRE TAKES UP ELIJAH; ELISHA DIVIDES THE WATERS OF JORDAN WITH THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH, HEALETH THE WATERS OF JERICHO, AND CURSETH THE CHILDREN... [ Continue Reading ]
KNOWEST THOU THAT THE LORD WILL TAKE AWAY THY MASTER FROM THY HEAD TO-DAY?— Houbigant renders this, _the Lord will elevate thy master above thy head to-day,_ alluding to Elijah's being carried up into heaven.... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS MANTLE— In the two books of kings there is mention made five times of this mantle, and in every place it is called אדרת _adret,_ which denotes a _royal,_ as well as a prophetical mantle. As the high priesthood and supreme civil authority centered in the same person, _mantles_ made of skins, furs... [ Continue Reading ]
LET A DOUBLE PORTION OF THY SPIRIT BE UPON ME— Elisha speaks to Elijah as a son to his father, from whom he requests that he would esteem him as a first-born son, to whom a double portion of goods was assigned. Nor does he ask a _double quantity_ of that spirit which Elijah had, but only so much of... [ Continue Reading ]
A CHARIOT OF FIRE, &C.— We cannot presume to enter into any precise explanation of these words. We may suppose, that a bright and radiant cloud, which, as it ascended, might appear like a _chariot and horses,_ raised Elijah from the earth, and, leaving this globe behind, wafted him into the seats of... [ Continue Reading ]
MY FATHER, MY FATHER, THE CHARIOT OF ISRAEL, AND THE HORSEMEN THEREOF!— He calls him his _father,_ as being his master and instructor; and the expression, _the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof,_ most probably alludes to the chariot and horses which he had just then beheld, and seems to im... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD HATH TAKEN HIM UP— From some expressions in Scripture it seems as if the Spirit of the Lord frequently used to carry the prophets through the air, and with great swiftness remove them to distant places. Obadiah speaks of it as a common thing, 1 Kings 18:12. And in the New Test... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE—CAST THE SALT IN THERE, AND SAID, &C.— The manner in which Elisha sweetened this fountain, and made the soil fruitful by casting salt into the water, was in order to make the miracle more conspicuous; for salt is a thing which of all others makes water less drinkable, and ground more barren.... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE CAME FORTH LITTLE CHILDREN, &C.— _Young lads._ In order to rescue the character of the prophet from the objections of infidels on account of the catastrophe of these _children,_ we may observe, that it appears from other passages of Scripture, (as Genesis 43:8. 1 Kings 3:7; 1 Kings 3:28.) that... [ Continue Reading ]