(KJV) 2 Kings 21

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⥃Elijah Taken Up to Heaven

[1] And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up2 Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind3, that Elijah went with Elisha4 from Gilgal5. [2] And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here6, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Beth–el. And Elisha said [unto him], [As] the Lord7 liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not8 leave thee. So they went down to Beth–el9. [3] And the sons10 of the prophets that [were] at Beth–el came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master11 from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know [it]; hold ye your peace. [4] And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho12. And he said, [As] the Lord13 liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. [5] And the sons14 of the prophets that [were] at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master15 from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know [it16]; hold ye your peace. [6] And 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. [7] And fifty men17 of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off18: and they two stood by Jordan. [8] And Elijah took his mantle19, and wrapped [it] together, and smote the waters, and they were20 divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

[9] And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what21 I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said22, I pray thee, let a double portion23 of thy spirit be upon me. [10] And he said, Thou hast24 asked a hard thing25: [nevertheless], if thou see26 me [when I am] taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be [so]. [11] And 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 whirlwind27 into heaven28.29

[12] [¶]And Elisha saw [it30], and he cried, My father31, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him32 no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them33 in two pieces. [13] He took up also the mantle34 of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank35 of Jordan; [14] And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote36 the waters, and said, Where [is37] the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

⥃Elisha Succeeds Elijah

[15] And when the sons of the prophets which [were] to view38 at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit39 of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed40 themselves to the ground before him.

[16] [¶]And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men41; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit42 of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain43, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. [17] And when they urged44 him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not45. [18] And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

⥃Elisha Heals the Waters of Jericho

[19] And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city [is] pleasant, as my lord seeth46: but the water47 [is] naught, and the ground barren48. [20] And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein49. And they brought [it] to him. [21] And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast50 the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed51 these waters; there shall52 not be from thence any more death or barren [land]. [22] So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

⥃Elisha Mocked

[23] [¶]And he went up from thence unto Beth–el53: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children54 out of the city, and mocked55 him, and said unto him, Go up56, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. [24] And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them57 in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears58 out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them59. [25] And he went from thence to mount Carmel60, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

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  1. 2Kgs 2:1, Elijah, taking his leave of Elisha, with his mantle divides Jordan; 2Kgs 2:9, and, granting Elisha his request, is taken up by a fiery chariot into heaven; 2Kgs 2:12, Elisha, dividing Jordan with Elijah’s mantle, is acknowledged his successor; 2Kgs 2:16, The young prophets, hardly obtaining leave to seek Elijah, cannot find him; 2Kgs 2:19, Elisha with salt heals the unwholesome waters; 2Kgs 2:23, Bears destroy the children that mocked Elisha. ↩

  2. Gen 5:24; 1Kgs 19:4; Luke 9:51; Acts 1:9; Heb 11:5; Rev 11:12 ↩

  3. 1Kgs 18:12, 1Kgs 19:11; Job 38:1 ↩

  4. 1Kgs 19:16-21 ↩

  5. Josh 4:19, Josh 5:9 ↩

  6. Ruth 1:15-16; 2Sam 15:19-20; John 6:67-68 ↩

  7. 2Kgs 2:4, 2Kgs 2:6, 2Kgs 4:30; 1Sam 1:26, 1Sam 17:55, 1Sam 25:26; Jer 4:2 ↩

  8. Ruth 1:16-18; 2Sam 15:21; 1John 2:19 ↩

  9. Gen 28:19; 1Kgs 12:29, 1Kgs 12:33, 1Kgs 13:1-2 ↩

  10. 2Kgs 2:5, 2Kgs 2:7, 2Kgs 2:15, 2Kgs 4:1, 2Kgs 4:38, 2Kgs 9:1; 1Sam 10:10-12, 1Sam 19:20; 1Kgs 18:4, 1Kgs 20:35; Isa 8:18 ↩

  11. Deut 33:3; Acts 22:3 ↩

  12. Josh 6:26; 1Kgs 16:34; Luke 19:1 ↩

  13. 2Kgs 2:2, 2Kgs 4:30; Acts 2:42, Acts 11:23 ↩

  14. i.e. as the Targumist renders, talmeedey neveeya, "disciples of the prophets," ↩

  15. 2Kgs 2:3; Josh 1:1-2; Luke 24:51; John 17:5-7; Acts 1:2, Acts 1:11, Acts 26:25 ↩

  16. Gen 48:19; Eccl 3:7; Isa 41:1; Hab 2:20 ↩

  17. 2Kgs 2:17; 1Kgs 18:4, 1Kgs 18:13 ↩

  18. Heb. in sight, or over against ↩

  19. Την μηλωτην αυτου, his sheep skin, says the Septuagint; the skins of sheep being formerly worn by prophets as the simple insignia of their office. See note on 2Kgs 1:8. 1Kgs 19:13, 1Kgs 19:19 ↩

  20. 2Kgs 2:14; Exod 14:21-22; Josh 3:14-17; Ps 114:5-7; Isa 11:15; Heb 11:29; Rev 16:12 ↩

  21. 2Kgs 13:14-19; Num 27:16-23; Deut 34:9; 1Chr 29:18-19; Ps 72:1, Ps 72:20; Luke 24:45-51; John 17:9-13; Acts 1:8, Acts 8:17, Acts 20:25-36 ↩

  22. Num 11:17, Num 11:25; 1Kgs 3:9; 2Chr 1:9-10; John 14:12-14, John 16:7; 1Cor 12:31 ↩

  23. This probably refers to the law respecting the first-born, who had a double portion of the property of his father. As Elisha may have considered himself as the first-born of Elijah, so he requested a double portion of his spiritual influence. Num 27:20; Deut 21:17; Zech 9:12, Zech 12:8; 1Tim 5:17 ↩

  24. Mark 11:22-24; John 16:24 ↩

  25. Heb. done hard in asking ↩

  26. 2Kgs 2:12; Acts 1:9-10 ↩

  27. 2Kgs 2:1 ↩

  28. Mark 16:19 ↩

  29. 2Kgs 6:17; Ps 68:17, Ps 104:3-4; Ezek 1:4-28, Ezek 10:9-22; Hab 3:8; Zech 3:8; Zech 6:1-8; Heb 1:14 ↩

  30. 2Kgs 2:10 ↩

  31. 2Kgs 13:14; Job 22:30; Prov 11:11; Eccl 7:19, Eccl 9:16-18; Isa 37:4, Isa 37:15, Isa 37:21; Acts 27:24 ↩

  32. Prov 30:4; Mark 16:19; Luke 2:15, Luke 24:51; John 3:13; Acts 1:9; 2Cor 5:2, 2Cor 5:4; Eph 4:8; Rev 11:12 ↩

  33. Job 1:20-21; Isa 57:1-2; Acts 8:2 ↩

  34. 2Kgs 2:8; 1Kgs 19:19 ↩

  35. Heb. lip, 1Kgs 9:26 ↩

  36. 2Kgs 2:8-10; Josh 1:1-9; Mark 16:20; John 14:12; Acts 2:33, Acts 3:12-13 ↩

  37. Judg 6:13; 1Kgs 18:36-39; Ps 42:2, Ps 42:10, Ps 115:2; Joel 2:17 ↩

  38. 2Kgs 2:7 ↩

  39. Num 11:25-29, Num 27:20; Josh 3:7; Isa 11:2, Isa 59:21; John 15:26-27; Acts 1:8; 2Cor 12:9; 1Pet 4:14 ↩

  40. 2Kgs 2:19, 2Kgs 4:1-4, 2Kgs 4:37, 2Kgs 6:1-7; Josh 4:14 ↩

  41. Heb. sons of strength ↩

  42. 1Kgs 18:12; Ezek 3:14, Ezek 8:3, Ezek 11:24, Ezek 40:2; Acts 8:39; 2Cor 12:2-3 ↩

  43. Heb. one of the mountains ↩

  44. 2Sam 18:22-23; Luke 11:8; Rom 10:2 ↩

  45. Heb 11:5 ↩

  46. Num 12:11; 1Kgs 18:7, 1Kgs 18:13; 1Tim 5:17 ↩

  47. Exod 7:19, Exod 15:23; Josh 6:17, Josh 6:26; 1Kgs 16:34 ↩

  48. Heb. causing to miscarry, Exod 23:26; Deut 28:2-4, Deut 28:11, Deut 28:15-18; Hos 9:14 ↩

  49. Judg 9:45; Ezek 47:11; Zeph 2:9 ↩

  50. 2Kgs 4:41, 2Kgs 6:6; Exod 15:25-26; Lev 2:13; Matt 5:11; Mark 9:50; John 9:6 ↩

  51. Ezek 47:8-11; 1Cor 1:18-28; Rev 22:2-3 ↩

  52. Ps 107:33-38; Rev 21:4 ↩

  53. 1Kgs 12:28-32; Hos 4:15, Hos 10:5, Hos 10:15; Amos 3:14, Amos 4:4, Amos 5:5, Amos 7:13 ↩

  54. The words nearim ketannim not only signify little children but young men; for katon signifies not only little, but young, in opposition to old; and naar signifies not only a child, but a young man grown to years of maturity. Thus Isaac is called naar when twenty-eight years old, Joseph when thirty-nine, and Rehoboam when forty. These idolatrous young men, having heard of the ascension of Elijah, without believing it, blasphemously bade Elisha to follow him. The venerable prophet, from a Divine impulse, pronounced a curse "in the name of the Lord," which was immediately followed by the most terrible judgment; thus evincing the Source from which it flowed. Job 19:18, Job 30:1, Job 30:8-31; Prov 20:11, Prov 22:6, Prov 22:15; Eccl 11:10; Isa 1:4, Isa 3:5; Jer 7:18 ↩

  55. Gen 21:9; 2Chr 36:16; Job 30:1, Job 30:8-9; Ps 35:15; Isa 57:3-4; Gal 4:29; Heb 11:36 ↩

  56. 2Kgs 2:11; Matt 27:29-31, Matt 27:40-43 ↩

  57. 2Kgs 1:10-12; Gen 9:25; Deut 28:15-26; Judg 9:20, Judg 9:57; Jer 28:16, Jer 29:21-23; Lam 3:65; Amos 7:17; Mark 11:14, Mark 11:21; Acts 5:5, Acts 5:9, Acts 8:20, Acts 13:9-11; 2Cor 10:6 ↩

  58. 2Sam 17:8; Prov 17:12, Prov 28:15; Hos 13:8 ↩

  59. Exod 20:5; 1Kgs 13:24, 1Kgs 19:17, 1Kgs 20:36 ↩

  60. 2Kgs 4:25; 1Kgs 18:19, 1Kgs 18:42 ↩