--- title: "2 Kings 2 - Study King James Bible with the church pulpit commentary" description: "Read 2 Kings 2 with the church pulpit commentary commentary. 1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said unto Eli" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2" --- [ Read](/kjv/2-kings/2)[ Commentary](/study/2-kings/2)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/2-kings/2) Audio 1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Beth-el. And Elisha said *unto him, As* the LORD liveth, and *as* thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el. 3 And the sons 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 master 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 Jericho. And he said, *As* the LORD liveth, and *as* thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that *were* at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know *it;* 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 men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.* 8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped *it* together, and smote the waters, and they were 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 what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: *nevertheless*, if thou see 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 whirlwind into heaven. 12 ¶ And Elisha saw *it*, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;* 14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where *is* the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. 15 And when the sons of the prophets which *were* to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16 ¶ And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.** 17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. 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? 19 ¶ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city *is* pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water *is* naught, and the ground barren.* 20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought *it* to him. 21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall 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. 23 ¶ And he went up from thence unto Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. 25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. [2 Kings 1](/study/2-kings/1) [2 Kings 3](/study/2-kings/3) ## Commentary To verse 1 *A MEMORABLE PARTING* **‘And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.’** ** [2 Kings 2:1](/kjv/2-kings/2/1)** ****I. In this last journey the first thing to impress us is the loyal attachment of Elisha.**—He reminds us of Ruth, pleading with Naomi and saying to her, ‘Entreat me not to leave thee.’ Elijah was not afraid to be alone—no man who ‘dwells deep’ is afraid of that. He may have wished, too, to spare Elisha pain, for he knew not the way of his departure. But with a splendid constancy that would not be gainsaid Elisha clung to his master as he journeyed; he followed him from Bethel down to Gilgal, and then from Gilgal to the east of Jordan. Does that not by contrast suggest another scene where a greater than Elijah is going to His death? Does it not recall our Lord and Saviour taking His last journey to the Cross? For as Jesus went on His sad way to Calvary, ‘all His disciples forsook Him and fled.’ It is by such a contrast that we gauge Elisha’s loyalty, and see how staunch and true he was, and learn how suitable a one he was to carry forward the championship of God. **II. Then, in the next place, we are arrested by the miracle upon the banks of Jordan.**—Elijah smote the waters with his mantle, and immediately they went over on dry ground. Once the Red Sea had given a path to Israel when the rod of Moses had been lifted over it. Once this very Jordan had been parted before the feet of the priests who bore the ark. But now it was not a rod that gave the sign, nor was it the shadow of the sacred ark; it was the touch of the prophet’s mantle on the waters. Now the prophet’s mantle was the sign and symbol of all that as a prophet he had been. By his mantle he had been distinguished. When men descried it, they said, ‘There is Elijah.’ Rough, hairy, beaten with many a storm, it was a silent monitor in a luxurious age—it was the emblem of Elijah’s character. There was no power in the mantle by itself. God is a God of mystery, but not of magic. It was all that Elijah had been—all he had tried to do—that was honoured in this memorable hour. And the Jordan parted at the mantle’s touch, because the mantle was the epitome of that, and because the service and sacrifice which Jehovah loves, were symbolised for men in that rude cloak. The man who can say with St. Paul, ‘I have fought the fight,’ or with Elijah, ‘I have tried to serve,’ that man, when his day of life is closing, shall have the prophet’s mantle for his own. **III. Lastly, Take the ascension of Elijah, and compare it with the ascension of the Lord.**—It is a study of the deepest interest to compare and contrast the two. In both, there had been a time of preparation; there were those who knew that the parting was at hand. In both, it occurred not in the weakness of age, but in the season when powers are at their prime. None but Elisha, the beloved disciple, saw the departure to heaven of Elijah; and on the slopes of Olivet there were not any strangers—only the little circle of His own. Elijah went heavenward in fire and tempest; Christ in a quiet scene of perfect calm—the storm is hushed, the elements are at rest, there broods a peace that passes understanding. Read over the story of Elijah’s translation, and you feel the shock and strangeness of it all. But read again the ascension of the Lord, and it seems as sweetly natural as dawn. So may we find, if we have eyes to see, the difference between the prophet and his King. The one at his best is but a child of earth; the other belongs by very right to heaven. Let us rejoice in these great and noble men who witnessed so bravely for righteousness in Israel. But over them all, and crowned with many crowns, is our King Who has ascended to the Father. **Illustrations** (1) ‘Note a distinction between the power which is immediate and the power which is derived. The appeal to the fathers is good, and tradition is deserving of reverence, but, after all, the God of Elijah is also our God. Our trust should be in Him.’ (2) ‘It is interesting to note, as Dean Stanley does, that from this descending mantle has been drawn the figure of speech which has passed into a proverb for the succession of the gifts of gifted men. It is one of the representations by which, in the Roman Catacombs, the early Christians consoled themselves for the loss of their departed friends.’ ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2","name":"2 Kings 2 - Study King James Bible with the church pulpit commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read 2 Kings 2 with the church pulpit commentary commentary. 1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said unto Eli","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary","name":"the church pulpit commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings","name":"2 Kings"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-church-pulpit-commentary/2-kings/2","name":"2"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```