1 And it cometh to pass, at Jehovah's taking up Elijah in a whirlwind to the heavens, that Elijah goeth, and Elisha, from Gilgal, 2 and Elijah saith unto Elisha, 'Abide, I pray thee, here, for Jehovah hath sent me unto Beth-El;' and Elisha saith, 'Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, if I leave thee;' and they go down to Beth-El. 3 And sons of the prophets who [are] in Beth-El come out unto Elisha, and say unto him, 'Hast thou known that to-day Jehovah is taking thy lord from thy head?' and he saith, 'I also have known — keep silent.' 4 And Elijah saith to him, 'Elisha, abide, I pray thee, here, for Jehovah hath sent me to Jericho;' and he saith, 'Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, if I leave thee;' and they come in to Jericho. 5 And sons of the prophets who [are] in Jericho come nigh unto Elisha, and say unto him, 'Hast thou known that to-day Jehovah is taking thy lord from thy head?' and he saith, 'I also have known — keep silent.' 6 And Elijah saith to him, 'Abide, I pray thee, here, for Jehovah hath sent me to the Jordan;' and he saith, 'Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, if I leave thee;' and they go on both of them, 7 — and fifty men of the sons of the prophets have gone on, and stand over-against afar off — and both of them have stood by the Jordan. 8 And Elijah taketh his robe, and wrappeth [it] together, and smiteth the waters, and they are halved, hither and thither, and they pass over both of them on dry land. 9 And it cometh to pass, at their passing over, that Elijah hath said unto Elisha, 'Ask, what do I do for thee before I am taken from thee?' and Elisha saith, 'Then let there be, I pray thee, a double portion of thy spirit unto me;' 10 and he saith, 'Thou hast asked a hard thing; if thou dost see me taken from thee, it is to thee so; and if not, it is not.' 11 And it cometh to pass, they are going, going on and speaking, and lo, a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and they separate between them both, and Elijah goeth up in a whirlwind, to the heavens. 12 And Elisha is seeing, and he is crying, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its horsemen;' and he hath not seen him again; and he taketh hold on his garments, and rendeth them into two pieces. 13 And he taketh up the robe of Elijah, that fell from off him, and turneth back and standeth on the edge of the Jordan, 14 and he taketh the robe of Elijah that fell from off him, and smiteth the waters, and saith, 'Where [is] Jehovah, God of Elijah — even He?' and he smiteth the waters, and they are halved, hither and thither, and Elisha passeth over. 15 And they see him — the sons of the prophets who [are] in Jericho — over-against, and they say, 'Rested hath the spirit of Elijah on Elisha;' and they come to meet him, and bow themselves to him to the earth, 16 and say unto him, 'Lo, we pray thee, there are with thy servants fifty men, sons of valour: let them go, we pray thee, and they seek thy lord, lest the Spirit of Jehovah hath taken him up, and doth cast him on one of the hills, or into one of the valleys;' and he saith, 'Ye do not send.' 17 And they press upon him, till he is ashamed, and he saith, 'Send ye;' and they send fifty men, and they seek three days, and have not found him; 18 and they turn back unto him — and he is abiding in Jericho — and he saith unto them, 'Did I not say unto you, Do not go?' 19 And the men of the city say unto Elisha, 'Lo, we pray thee, the site of the city [is] good, as my lord seeth, and the waters [are] bad, and the earth sterile.' 20 And he saith, 'Bring to me a new dish, and place there salt;' and they bring [it] unto him, 21 and he goeth out unto the source of the waters, and casteth there salt, and saith, 'Thus said Jehovah, I have given healing to these waters; there is not thence any more death and sterility.' 22 And the waters are healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha, that he spake. 23 And he goeth up thence to Beth-El, and he is going up in the way, and little youths have come out from the city, and scoff at him, and say to him, 'Go up, bald-head! go up, bald-head!' 24 And he looketh behind him, and seeth them, and declareth them vile in the name of Jehovah, and two bears come out of the forest, and rend of them forty and two lads. 25 And he goeth thence unto the hill of Carmel, and thence he hath turned back to Samaria.
2 Kings · Young's Literal Translation
2 Kings 2 Young's Literal Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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)