2 Kings 2:1

Elijah Makes a Swift Departure

2:1 Just before ¹  the Lord took Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.

2 Kings 2:13-14

2:13 He picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him, and went back and stood on the shore of the Jordan. 2:14 He took the cloak that had fallen off Elijah, ²  hit the water with it, and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided and Elisha crossed over.

2 Kings 1:15

1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down ³  with him to the king.

2 Kings 2:8

2:8 Elijah took his cloak, folded it up, and hit the water with it. The water divided, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

2 Kings 2:11

2:11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot ⁴  pulled by fiery horses appeared. ⁵  They went between Elijah and Elisha, ⁶  and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm.

2 Kings 2:15

2:15 When the members of the prophetic guild in Jericho, ⁷  who were standing at a distance, ⁸  saw him do this, they said, “The spirit that energized Elijah ⁹  rests upon Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.

2 Kings 10:17

10:17 He went to Samaria and exterminated all the members of Ahab’s family who were still alive in Samaria, ¹⁰  just as the Lord had announced to Elijah. ¹¹ 

2 Kings 1:10

1:10 Elijah replied to the captain, ¹²  “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down ¹³  from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.

2 Kings 1:13

1:13 The king ¹⁴  sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell ¹⁵  on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours.

2 Kings 1:17

1:17 He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah. ¹⁶  In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son. ¹⁷ 

2 Kings 2:2

2:2 Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” ¹⁸  But Elisha said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

2 Kings 2:4

2:4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” ¹⁹  But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

2 Kings 2:6

2:6 Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they traveled on together.

2 Kings 3:11

3:11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we might seek the Lord’s direction?” ²⁰  One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant.” ²¹ 

2 Kings 9:36

9:36 When they went back and told him, he said, “The Lord’s word through his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, has come to pass. He warned, ²²  ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh.

2 Kings 10:10

10:10 Therefore take note that not one of the judgments the Lord announced against Ahab’s dynasty has failed to materialize. The Lord had done what he announced through his servant Elijah.” ²³ 

¹ tn Or “when.”

² tn Heb “Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen off him.” The wording is changed slightly in the translation for the sake of variety of expression (see v. 13).

³ sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.

⁴ tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”

⁵ tn Heb “look, a chariot of fire and horses of fire.”

⁶ tn Heb “and they made a division between the two of them.”

⁵ map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

⁶ tn Heb “and the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho, [who were standing] opposite, saw him and said.”

⁷ tn Heb “the spirit of Elijah.”

⁶ tn Heb “and he struck down all the remaining ones to Ahab in Samaria until he destroyed him.”

⁷ tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to Elijah.”

⁷ tn Heb “answered and said to the officer of fifty.”

⁸ tn Wordplay contributes to the irony here. The king tells Elijah to “come down” (Hebrew יָרַד, yarad), but Elijah calls fire down (יָרַד) on the arrogant king’s officer.

⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “went up and approached and kneeled.”

⁹ tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through Elijah.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Jehoram replaced him as king…because he had no son.” Some ancient textual witnesses add “his brother,” which was likely added on the basis of the statement later in the verse that Ahaziah had no son.

¹⁰ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹¹ map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

¹² tn Heb “that we might inquire of the Lord through him?”

¹³ tn Heb “who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” This refers to one of the typical tasks of a servant.

¹³ tn Heb “It is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, saying.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Know then that there has not fallen from the word of the Lord to the ground that which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab. The Lord has done that which he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah.”