1 So it came about, when Yahweh was going to take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah left with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, please, because Yahweh has sent me to Bethel.” Elisha replied, “As Yahweh lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from you today?” Elisha replied, “Yes, I know it, but do not talk about it.” 4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, wait here, please, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.” Then Elisha replied, “As Yahweh lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 5 Then the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from you today?” Elisha answered, “Yes, I know it, but do not talk about it.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.” Elisha replied, “As Yahweh lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two went on. 7 Later, fifty of the sons of the prophets stood opposite them at a distance while the two stood by the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The river divided on both sides so that the two of them walked over on dry ground. 9 It came about, after they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask me what I should do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha replied, “Please let a double portion of your spirit come on me.” 10 Elijah answered, “You have asked for a difficult thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, this will happen for you, but if not, it will not happen.” 11 As they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, which separated the two men from each other, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!” He saw Elijah no more, and he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 13 He picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen off him, and went back to stand by the bank of the Jordan. 14 He struck the water with Elijah's cloak that had fallen and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the waters, they divided on both sides and Elisha crossed over. 15 When the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him across from them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah does rest on Elisha!” So they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16 They said to him, “See now, among your servants there are fifty strong men. Let them go, we ask, and look for your master, in case the Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up and thrown him onto some mountain or into some valley.” Elisha answered, “No, do not send them.” 17 But when they urged Elisha until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” Then they sent fifty men, and they looked for three days, but did not find him. 18 They came back to Elisha, while he stayed at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, 'Do not go'?” 19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “See, we beg of you, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my master can see, but the water is bad and the land is not fruitful.” 20 Elisha replied, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it,” so they brought it to him. 21 Elisha went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it; then he said, “Yahweh says this, 'I have healed these waters. From this time on, there will be no more death or unfruitful land.'” 22 So the waters were healed to this day, by the word which Elisha spoke. 23 Then Elisha went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up the road, young boys came out of the city and mocked him; they said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 Elisha looked behind him and saw them; he called on Yahweh to curse them. Then two female bears came out of the woods and injured forty-two of the boys. 25 Then Elisha went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
2 Kings · Unlocked Literal Bible
2 Kings 2 Unlocked Literal Bible
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People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Elisha
Son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah, found plowing with twelve teams of oxen when Elijah threw his cloak around him, who inherited a double portion of Elijah's spirit, worked many…
Cited in the guide: 1 Kings 19:16; 1 Kings 19:19; 2 Kings 2:9
Cross references (23)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5; 1 Kings 19:16–21; 1 Kings 19:11; Joshua 4:19
- 2 2 Kings 2:6; 2 Kings 4:30; Ruth 1:15–18; 2 Kings 2:4; 1 Samuel 1:26
- 3 2 Kings 4:38; 2 Kings 4:1; 2 Kings 9:1; 1 Kings 20:35; 2 Kings 2:15
- 4 2 Kings 2:2; Joshua 6:26; Luke 19:1; 1 Kings 16:34; 2 Kings 4:30
- 5 2 Kings 2:3; Joshua 1:1–2; Acts 1:2; Isaiah 41:1; Ecclesiastes 3:7
- 6 2 Kings 2:2; Joshua 3:15
- 7 1 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 2:17; 1 Kings 18:13
- 8 1 Kings 19:19; Exodus 14:21–22; Joshua 3:14–17; 2 Kings 2:14; Isaiah 11:15
- 9 Numbers 11:17; Deuteronomy 21:17; John 16:7; Acts 20:25–36; Zechariah 12:8
- 10 John 16:24; Mark 11:22–24; 2 Kings 2:12; Acts 1:9–10
- 11 2 Kings 6:17; Psalm 104:3–4; Hebrews 1:14; Psalm 68:17; Ezekiel 10:9–22
- 12 2 Kings 13:14; Isaiah 57:1–2; Proverbs 30:4; Acts 8:2; Isaiah 37:21
- 13 1 Kings 19:19; 2 Kings 2:8
- 14 John 14:12; Psalm 42:10; Psalm 115:2; Acts 3:12–13; Joshua 1:1–9
- 15 1 Peter 4:14; Acts 1:8; Isaiah 59:21; 2 Kings 6:1–7; Isaiah 11:2
- 16 1 Kings 18:12; Acts 8:39; Ezekiel 11:24; Ezekiel 3:14; 2 Corinthians 12:2–3
- 17 2 Kings 8:11; Hebrews 11:5; Romans 10:2; Luke 11:8; 2 Samuel 18:22–23
- 19 Exodus 23:26; Deuteronomy 28:2–4; Deuteronomy 28:11; Deuteronomy 28:15–18; 1 Kings 16:34
- 20 Zephaniah 2:9; Judges 9:45; Ezekiel 47:11
- 21 Exodus 15:25–26; 2 Kings 4:41; Leviticus 2:13; Revelation 21:4; Revelation 22:2–3
- 23 2 Chronicles 36:16; Job 19:18; Job 30:1; Amos 5:5; Proverbs 22:6
- 24 Acts 13:9–11; Acts 5:5; Hosea 13:8; Acts 5:9; Amos 7:17
- 25 2 Kings 4:25; 1 Kings 18:19–20; 1 Kings 18:42
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
When God's Prophet Elisha was going up, children called after him mocking, "Go up thou bald head, Go up thou bald head:" but he, not so much in cruelty as in mystery, made those children to be devoured by bears out of the wood. If those children had not been devoured, would they have lived even till now?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)