23 And he went up H5927 from thence unto Bethel: H1008 and as he was going up H5927 by the way, H1870 there came forth H3318 little H6996 children H5288 out of the city, H5892 and mocked H7046 him, and said H559 unto him, Go up, H5927 thou bald head; H7142 go up, H5927 thou bald head. H7142
And G2532 saying, G3004 Thou that destroyest G2647 the temple, G3485 and G2532 buildest G3618 it in G1722 three G5140 days, G2250 save G4982 thyself. G4572 If G1487 thou be G1488 the Son G5207 of God, G2316 come down G2597 from G575 the cross. G4716 G1161 Likewise G3668 also G2532 the chief priests G749 mocking G1702 him, with G3326 the scribes G1122 and G2532 elders, G4245 said, G3004 He saved G4982 others; G243 himself G1438 he cannot G3756 G1410 save. G4982 If G1487 he be G2076 the King G935 of Israel, G2474 let him G2597 now G3568 come down G2597 from G575 the cross, G4716 and G2532 we will believe G4100 him. G846 He trusted G3982 in G1909 God; G2316 let him deliver G4506 him G846 now, G3568 if G1487 he will have G2309 him: G846 for G1063 he said, G2036 G3754 I am G1510 the Son G5207 of God. G2316
And G2532 when they had platted G4120 a crown G4735 of G1537 thorns, G173 they put G2007 it upon G1909 his G846 head, G2776 and G2532 a reed G2563 in G1909 his G846 right hand: G1188 and G2532 they bowed the knee G1120 before G1715 him, G846 and mocked G1702 him, G846 saying, G3004 Hail, G5463 King G935 of the Jews! G2453 And G2532 they spit G1716 upon G1519 him, G846 and took G2983 the reed, G2563 and G2532 smote G5180 him G846 on G1519 the head. G2776 And G2532 after G3753 that they had mocked G1702 him, G846 they took G1562 the robe G5511 off G1562 from him, G846 and G2532 put G1746 his own G846 raiment G2440 on G1746 him, G846 and G2532 led G520 him G846 away G520 to G1519 crucify G4717 him.
But draw near H7126 hither, ye sons H1121 of the sorceress, H6049 the seed H2233 of the adulterer H5003 and the whore. H2181 Against whom do ye sport H6026 yourselves? against whom make ye a wide H7337 mouth, H6310 and draw out H748 the tongue? H3956 are ye not children H3206 of transgression, H6588 a seed H2233 of falsehood, H8267
They were children H1121 of fools, H5036 yea, children H1121 of base men: H8034 they were viler H5217 than the earth. H776 And now am I their song, H5058 yea, I am their byword. H4405 They abhor H8581 me, they flee far H7368 from me, and spare H2820 not to spit H7536 in my face. H6440 Because he hath loosed H6605 my cord, H3499 and afflicted H6031 me, they have also let loose H7971 the bridle H7448 before H6440 me. Upon my right H3225 hand rise H6965 the youth; H6526 they push away H7971 my feet, H7272 and they raise up H5549 against me the ways H734 of their destruction. H343 They mar H5420 my path, H5410 they set forward H3276 my calamity, H1942 H1962 they have no helper. H5826 They came H857 upon me as a wide H7342 breaking H6556 in of waters: in H8478 the desolation H7722 they rolled H1556 themselves upon me. Terrors H1091 are turned H2015 upon me: they pursue H7291 my soul H5082 as the wind: H7307 and my welfare H3444 passeth away H5674 as a cloud. H5645 And now my soul H5315 is poured out H8210 upon me; the days H3117 of affliction H6040 have taken hold H270 upon me. My bones H6106 are pierced H5365 in me in the night season: H3915 and my sinews H6207 take no rest. H7901 By the great H7230 force H3581 of my disease is my garment H3830 changed: H2664 it bindeth me about H247 as the collar H6310 of my coat. H3801 He hath cast H3384 me into the mire, H2563 and I am become like H4911 dust H6083 and ashes. H665 I cry H7768 unto thee, and thou dost not hear H6030 me: I stand up, H5975 and thou regardest H995 me not. Thou art become H2015 cruel H393 to me: with thy strong H6108 hand H3027 thou opposest H7852 thyself against me. Thou liftest me up H5375 to the wind; H7307 thou causest me to ride H7392 upon it, and dissolvest H4127 my substance. H8454 H7738 For I know H3045 that thou wilt bring H7725 me to death, H4194 and to the house H1004 appointed H4150 for all living. H2416 Howbeit he will not stretch out H7971 his hand H3027 to the grave, H1164 though they cry H7769 in his destruction. H6365 Did not I weep H1058 for him that was in trouble? H7186 H3117 was not my soul H5315 grieved H5701 for the poor? H34 When I looked H6960 for good, H2896 then evil H7451 came H935 unto me: and when I waited H3176 for light, H216 there came H935 darkness. H652 My bowels H4578 boiled, H7570 and rested H1826 not: the days H3117 of affliction H6040 prevented H6923 me. I went H1980 mourning H6937 without the sun: H2535 I stood up, H6965 and I cried H7768 in the congregation. H6951 I am a brother H251 to dragons, H8577 and a companion H7453 to owls. H1323 H3284 My skin H5785 is black H7835 upon me, and my bones H6106 are burned H2787 with heat. H2721 My harp H3658 also is turned to mourning, H60 and my organ H5748 into the voice H6963 of them that weep. H1058
Whereupon the king H4428 took counsel, H3289 and made H6213 two H8147 calves H5695 of gold, H2091 and said H559 unto them, It is too much H7227 for you to go up H5927 to Jerusalem: H3389 behold thy gods, H430 O Israel, H3478 which brought thee up H5927 out of the land H776 of Egypt. H4714 And he set H7760 the one H259 in Bethel, H1008 and the other H259 put H5414 he in Dan. H1835 And this thing H1697 became a sin: H2403 for the people H5971 went H3212 to worship before H6440 the one, H259 even unto Dan. H1835 And he made H6213 an house H1004 of high places, H1116 and made H6213 priests H3548 of the lowest H7098 of the people, H5971 which were not of the sons H1121 of Levi. H3878 And Jeroboam H3379 ordained H6213 a feast H2282 in the eighth H8066 month, H2320 on the fifteenth H2568 H6240 day H3117 of the month, H2320 like unto the feast H2282 that is in Judah, H3063 and he offered H5927 upon the altar. H4196 So did H6213 he in Bethel, H1008 sacrificing H2076 unto the calves H5695 that he had made: H6213 and he placed H5975 in Bethel H1008 the priests H3548 of the high places H1116 which he had made. H6213
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Kings 2
Commentary on 2 Kings 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
2Ki 2:1-10. Elijah Divines Jordan.
1-7. when the Lord would take up Elijah—A revelation of this event had been made to the prophet; but, unknown to him, it had also been revealed to his disciples, and to Elisha in particular, who kept constantly beside him.
Gilgal—This Gilgal (Jiljil) was near Ebal and Gerizim; a school of the prophets was established there. At Beth-el there was also a school of the prophets, which Elijah had founded, notwithstanding that place was the headquarters of the calf-worship; and at Jericho there was another [2Ki 2:4]. In travelling to these places, which he had done through the impulse of the Spirit (2Ki 2:2, 4-6), Elijah wished to pay a farewell visit to these several institutions, which lay on his way to the place of ascension and, at the same time, from a feeling of humility and modesty, to be in solitude, where there would be no eye-witnesses of his glorification. All his efforts, however, to prevail on his attendant to remain behind, were fruitless. Elisha knew that the time was at hand, and at every place the sons of the prophets spoke to him of the approaching removal of his master. Their last stage was at the Jordan. They were followed at a distance by fifty scholars of the prophets, from Jericho, who were desirous, in honor of the great occasion, to witness the miraculous translation of the prophet. The revelation of this striking event to so many was a necessary part of the dispensation; for it was designed to be under the law, like that of Enoch in the patriarchal age, a visible proof of another state, and a type of the resurrection of Christ.
3. take away thy master from they head—an allusion to the custom of scholars sitting at the feet of their master, the latter being over their heads (Ac 22:3).
8. Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters—Like the rod of Moses, it had the divinely operating power of the Spirit.
9. Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee—trusting either that it would be in his power to bequeath it, or that God, at his entreaty, would grant it.
let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me—This request was not, as is commonly supposed, for the power of working miracles exceeding the magnitude and number of his master's, nor does it mean a higher endowment of the prophetic spirit; for Elisha was neither superior to, nor perhaps equally great with, his predecessor. But the phrase, "a double portion," was applied to the first-born [De 21:17], and therefore Elisha's request was, simply, to be heir to the prophetic office and gifts of his master.
10. Thou hast asked a hard thing—an extraordinary blessing which I cannot, and God only, can give. Nevertheless he, doubtless by the secret directions of the Spirit, proposed to Elisha a sign, the observation of which would keep him in the attitude of an anxious waiter, as well as suppliant for the favor.
2Ki 2:11-18. He Is Taken Up to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire.
11. behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire—some bright effulgence, which, in the eyes of the spectators, resembled those objects.
went up by a whirlwind—a tempest or storm wind accompanied with vivid flashes of fire, figuratively used for the divine judgments (Isa 29:6).
12. Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father—that is, spiritual father, as the pupils of the prophets are called their sons.
the chariot of Israel, and the horseman thereof—that is, that as earthly kingdoms are dependent for their defense and glory upon warlike preparations, there a single prophet had done more for the preservation and prosperity of Israel than all her chariots and horsemen.
took hold of his own clothes and rent them—in token of his grief for his loss.
13. He took up also the mantle of Elijah—The transference of this prophetic cloak was, to himself, a pledge of his being appointed successor, and it was an outward token to others of the spirit of Elijah resting upon him.
14-18. smote the waters—The waving of the mantle on the river, and the miraculous division of the waters consequent upon it, was an evidence that the Lord God of Elijah was with him, and as this miracle was witnessed by the scholars of the prophets from Jericho, they forthwith recognized the pre-eminence of Elisha, as now the prophet of Israel.
16-18. fifty strong men, let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master—Though the young prophets from Jericho had seen Elijah's miraculous passage of the Jordan, they had not witnessed the ascension. They imagined that he might have been cast by the whirlwind on some mountain or valley; or, if he had actually been admitted into heaven, they expected that his body would still be remaining somewhere on earth. In compliance with their importunity, he gave them permission, but told them what the result would be.
2Ki 2:19-25. Elisha Heals the Waters.
20. Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein—The noxious qualities of the water could not be corrected by the infusion of salt—for, supposing the salt was possessed of such a property, a whole spring could not be purified by a dishful for a day, much less in all future time. The pouring in of the salt was a symbolic act with which Elisha accompanied the word of the Lord, by which the spring was healed [Keil].
23, 24. there came forth little children out of the city—that is, the idolatrous, or infidel young men of the place, who affecting to disbelieve the report of his master's translation, sarcastically urged him to follow in the glorious career.
bald head—an epithet of contempt in the East, applied to a person even with a bushy head of hair. The appalling judgment that befell them was God's interference to uphold his newly invested prophet.