Chapter Two

1–12. The ascension of the prophet Elijah into heaven. 13–25. The beginning of the prophetic service and public activity of the prophet Elisha: his first miracles.

2 Kings 2:1. At the time when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. The first verse in its first half has the character of a heading to the entire section on the “ascension of Elijah” — an event, evidently, completely well-known in the circle of readers of the 4th Book of Kings; among the Hebrews this event, like the entire life of the prophet Elijah, was surrounded by a whole network of traditions. The time of the event of the ascension of the prophet Elijah relates to the time after the death of King Ahaziah of Israel (2 Kgs 1:17) and, probably, to the very beginning of the reign of Joram of Judah (to whom the prophet Elijah, per (2 Chr 21:12-15), wrote a letter of denunciation). In significance, the mysterious ascension of the prophet Elijah is akin to the mysterious taking away of the patriarch Enoch (Gen 5:24; compare Sir 48:12; see “Commentary Bible,” vol. I, p. 42–43): both events assured the Old Testament man of the existence of the afterlife and foretold the future general resurrection of the dead. Gilgal (Hebrew gilgal). Of the two places of this name, here is understood not the so-called “Hill of Circumcision” — Gilgal between the Jordan and Jericho to the east of the latter in the tribe of Benjamin, known from the history of Joshua (Josh 4:19); Samuel and Saul (1 Sam 6:16 and following) and David (2 Sam 19:15, now Jeljul (Onomasticon, 287)), but Gilgal near Bethel (compare 2 Kgs 4:38; Amos 4:4; Hos 4:5); to the southwest of Shiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim, now Jiljiljeh (Onomasticon, 319).

2 Kings 2:2. And Elijah said to Elisha: Stay here, I pray; for the Lord sends me to Bethel. But Elisha said: As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they went to Bethel. 2 Kings 2:3. And the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel went out to Elisha and said to him: Do you know that the Lord will take your master from over your head today? And he said: I know it also; be silent. 2 Kings 2:4. And Elijah said to him: Elisha, stay here, I pray; for the Lord sends me to Jericho. And he said: As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they came to Jericho. 2 Kings 2:5. And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha and said to him: Do you know that the Lord takes your master from over your head today? And he said: I know it; be silent. 2 Kings 2:6. And Elijah said to him: Stay here, I pray; for the Lord sends me to the Jordan. And he said: As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they went both. It appears that the prophet Elijah had only a general presentiment, based on the general character of the revelation, that the time had come for his departure from earthly life: in such a general form could be informed of him both the prophet Elisha and the sons of the prophets (verse 3); but the circumstances and details of the forthcoming event were not learned not only by the latter and prophet Elisha, but, probably, by the prophet Elijah himself: this is indicated by the conditional form of speech of prophet Elijah to Elisha (2 Kgs 2:10): “if you see how I am taken from you...” Given this, not knowing whether God would please for even Elisha to be a witness to the last moments of his earthly life, and also from an understandable desire for solitude in these moments from all worldly, from the world and people, the prophet Elijah not once declines even from Elisha; by this he could also be testing the love and devotion of this nearest to him student, long predetermined as his successor (1 Kgs 19:16). Here also is outlined that peculiarity of all the future activity of prophet Elisha, that it was accomplished in constant communion with the “sons of the prophets” bene-nebi’im (2 Kgs 2:3), appearing everywhere also in the subsequent activity of prophet Elisha (2 Kgs 4:1), whereas the prophet Elijah acted alone (1 Kgs 19:14). Perhaps the development of the institution of “sons of the prophets” (see the remark about this institution in 1 Kgs 20:35) at this time was caused by special tension in the struggle of the true religion of Jehovah with pagan cults, and also with the cult of the calves; the struggle with the latter is indicated by the concentration of the “sons of the prophets” in Bethel and Gilgal — the chief (along with Dan and other cities) points of service to the golden calves (compare Amos 4:4; Hos 4:5 and others). The very visitation by the prophet Elijah of these localities in the last moments of his life had the purpose, probably, of further strengthening the sons of the prophets in the theocratic task of their service (the character of reassuring exhortation to the sons of the prophets has also the words of Elisha to them: “I also know; be silent” verse 3).

2 Kings 2:7. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance opposite them; and the two of them stood by the Jordan. 2 Kings 2:8. And Elijah took his cloak and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they parted here and there, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. But the sons of the prophets were witnesses-eyewitnesses not of the principal miracle in this account — the ascension of the prophet Elijah into heaven, but only of the miraculous crossing of the two prophets over the Jordan — a crossing that recalled the miraculous crossing of the Hebrews through the Red Sea (Exod 14:16; compare Josh 4:23): then Moses in the sight of the whole people with his staff, a symbol of his dignity as a leader, strikes and divides the water, and the people believed in his divine calling (Exod 14:31); now Elijah, as a second Moses (compare 1 Kgs 19:1), before an assembly of the sons of the prophets with his cloak, a symbol of his prophetic service (now to be transmitted to Elisha, compare 1 Kgs 19:19), divides the water and thus for the last time before parting with his students testifies to himself as a true leader of prophecy. Only upon receiving the cloak of Elijah (2 Kgs 2:13) does Elisha become filled with his spirit of power, the successor of the great prophet. (Concerning the holiness of priestly garments compare Ezek 44:19).

2 Kings 2:9. And when they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha: Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you. And Elisha said: I pray, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. 2 Kings 2:10. And he said: You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me being taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so. To clarify the meaning of Elisha’s request (verse 9), which at first sight might seem to cast a shadow on his humility and modesty, it is necessary to keep in mind the relationship that existed between the two prophets: the prophet Elijah was the spiritual father (2 Kgs 2:12) of Elisha, as well as of many “sons of the prophets.” Parting with his spiritual father, the prophet Elisha, as it were, begs him to recognize him as his firstborn spiritual son: by law (Deut 21:17) the firstborn son has the advantage over other brothers in that he receives a double portion (Hebrew pi-shnayim, as here, verse 9, compare (Zech 13:8) where this expression means “two-thirds of the whole”) in comparison with each of them; and the prophet Elisha, numbering himself together with the sons of the prophets as a spiritual son of the prophet Elijah, begs him to recognize him as firstborn and from his gracious inheritance — “spirit” (Hebrew ruach) or “spirit and power” (Luke 1:17) of Elijah, the spirit of prophecy and miracle-working — to give him a superior portion, and not a double, twofold portion compared to the spirit of Elijah, as in the texts of the LXX, Vulgate, Slavonic, and Russian synodal versions: how could the prophet Elijah have communicated to his successor more than he himself had? The prophet Elijah finds Elisha’s request difficult (verse 10), inasmuch as the fulfillment of it depends on whether God will deign to allow Elisha, whether He will open to him spiritual eyes (compare 2 Kgs 6:17) to see the glorious departure of the prophet Elijah. The prophet Elisha with his spiritual eye saw (2 Kgs 2:11-12) this, and it was a sign for him that his request (verse 9) was heard and granted; on the contrary, the sons of the prophets standing near (2 Kgs 2:7) evidently saw nothing, as Elijah departed from this life, which is why they searched for him on earth (2 Kgs 2:16-18). Compare blessed Theodoret, question 7 on 4 Book of Kings.

2 Kings 2:11. And as they went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 2 Kings 2:12. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out: My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no more. And he grasped his garments and tore them in two pieces. The image of the departure of the prophet Elijah was clothed in symbolic images of a whirlwind, fire, chariots, and horses — the usual symbols of Old Testament theophanies (Isa 66:15; Hab 3:8; Ps 49:3). In this case the symbols of the whirlwind and fire corresponded to the fiery zeal of Elijah’s spirit (Sir 48:1-12); the chariots and horses, as the chief force, support and glory of a people (Exod 14:9; Deut 20:1; 1 Kgs 10:29; Isa 31:1; and further) denoted the departure of the prophet as his glorification, his triumphal passage into the world of the heavenly inhabitants (LXX, Slavonic verse 1, 11: ōs eis ton syranon, like into heaven). The symbolic meaning indicated here of chariots and horses serves also to explain the exclamation of the prophet Elisha (verse 12) with regard to the disappeared prophet Elijah: “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”: kings of other nations in war used horses and chariots. “Therefore Elisha called the great Elijah the chariot of Israel and its horseman, because he alone was sufficient to strike down the enemies and give victory to his countrymen” (blessed Theodoret, question 8). The expression of the prophet Elisha at the death of his student was used by King Joash of Israel in regard to him (2 Kgs 13:14). As a sign of grief over parting with the prophet Elijah, Elisha tears his garments.

2 Kings 2:13. And he picked up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan; 2 Kings 2:14. And he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said: Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah — He Himself? And he struck the water again, and it parted here and there, and Elisha crossed over. The cloak now taken by Elisha was a sign of the prophetic service that Elisha was from now on to receive (compare verses (2 Kgs 2:8) and (1 Kgs 19:19)), a pledge of the fulfillment of Elisha’s request (2 Kgs 2:9-10). With this symbol of his prophetic calling, the prophet Elisha goes back to the Jordan and, like Elijah (2 Kgs 2:8), strikes it (according to the LXX, Vulgate, and Slavonic texts — “twice”), — with the words of a prayerful question: “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah — He Himself?”, Hebrew aph-hu; the Seventy, not understanding this expression, wrote it down merely in Greek letters: aphō, Slavonic: “affo.” Accepting the reading of the LXX, blessed Theodoret says in explanation of verse 14: “the prophet, having resolved to cross the Jordan, imitated the teacher, and struck the water with the cloak, saying nothing at this, but thinking that for the accomplishment of the miracle the cloak alone was sufficient. Since, however, the waters did not obey him, he called upon God the teacher, invisible and inaccessible to men. For the word ‘affo’ according to the exposition of other translators is interpreted ‘hidden’ (blessed Theodoret, question 9 on 4 Book of Kings). As for Elisha himself, so for the sons of the prophets standing near, the miracle of the division of the Jordan was a sign that the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha; in a prefigurative sense this miracle, like the crossing of the Hebrews through the Red Sea and through the Jordan, foretold the saving waters of baptism (see Troparian January 5 in the vigil of Epiphany).

2 Kings 2:15. And when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him from afar, they said: The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed down to him to the ground, The sons of the prophets, upon seeing this miracle, recognize in Elisha the true successor of Elijah, the bearer of his spirit, and reverently bow (compare 1 Kgs 18:7) before the prophet.

2 Kings 2:16. And they said to him: Behold, there are with us, with your servants, fifty mighty men; let them go, I pray, and seek your master; perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him on one of the mountains, or in one of the valleys. And he said: Send them not. 2 Kings 2:17. But they urged him until he was ashamed, so he said: Send them. And they sent fifty men, and they searched three days, and did not find him. 2 Kings 2:18. And they returned to him, while he remained at Jericho, and he said to them: Did I not say to you: Do not go? But not being witnesses to the miraculous departure of the prophet Elijah and thinking, like Obadiah (1 Kgs 18:12), that the Spirit might have temporarily snatched away the great prophet, they search for him in the mountains and valleys for three days, but in vain, as the prophet Elisha had told them beforehand.

2 Kings 2:19. And the men of the city said to Elisha: Behold, I pray, the situation of this city is good, as my lord can see; but the water is bad and the land is barren. 2 Kings 2:20. And he said: Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it. And they brought it to him. 2 Kings 2:21. And he went out to the source of the water, and cast salt in it, and said: Thus says the Lord: I have made this water wholesome; there shall not be from it any more death or barrenness. 2 Kings 2:22. And the water became wholesome to this day, according to the word of Elisha, which he spoke. Elisha miraculously makes wholesome in Jericho the water that had the power to produce death and barrenness (miscarriages in humans and miscarriages in animals). “The great Moses, by putting wood, changed the bitter property of water to sweet: and Elisha by salt freed the water from the harmful effect, because the Lord God both by willing and by word and by whatever pleases Him easily transforms the properties of the elements” (blessed Theodoret, question 10).

2 Kings 2:23. And he went from there to Bethel. As he was going along the way, small children came out of the city and mocked him, saying to him: Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead! 2 Kings 2:24. He turned around and saw them and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the forest and tore apart forty-two of the children. Wicked children, wicked inhabitants of Bethel, the chief center of the cult of the calves — children who, perhaps with the knowledge of their fathers, who had reason to be hostile to the true prophet of God, dared to insult the prophet, suffer a terrible punishment for the words of the prophet for their frivolous mockery of him (“baldness” — a symbol of shame (Isa 3:17 and others)). * * * According to the Talmud, Moed dalon 26 a., “Elijah lives forever.” The Talmud and Midrash present the prophet Elijah as present in the gatherings of the wise and holy, in schools of Hebrews, in synagogues at circumcision and other rituals; he is the forerunner of the messianic time, he is an inhabitant of paradise, whom Adam’s death did not overtake; Elijah will once resolve all difficult questions, Bava mezia 37-a; will explain difficult sections of the Bible, as Ezek 45:18 a., Menachoth 45-a. Compare lebamoth 102 b. Berachoth, 58-a. — Josephus Flavius (Jewish Antiquities 9:2, 2) speaks of the death of the prophet Elijah thus: “About the time of Joram he vanished from the face of the earth, and no one to this day knows the details of his death...” Concerning Elijah, as concerning Enoch who lived before the flood, there is data in Holy Scripture, whereas concerning their death no one learned anything precise.