2 Kings 2:1

And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind,.... Thereby lifting him up from the earth, and which, as it was the purpose and will of God, Elijah had notice of,

And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. When the Lord would take up Elijah.

2 Kings 2:1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.Ver. 1. When the Lord would raise up Elijah into heaven.] Into the third heaven, not into the sky only - as some have conceited - till our Saviour’ s ascension. That Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.] Which is commonly held to have been a school or college of prophets - as was also Bethel - of whom be was the father or chief instructor. For a meet farewell to the earth, Elijah will go visit these places before his departure: these were in his way. Of any part of the earth, these were nearest unto heaven.

(1) And it came to pass . . . whirlwind.—The compiler has prefixed this heading to the following narrative by way of connection with the general thread of the history. It seems to be indicated that the event happened in the beginning of the reign of Jehoram; but see Note on 2 Chronicles 21:12. When the Lord would take up.—When Jehovah caused Elijah to go up, or ascend. This anticipates the conclusion of the story. Into heaven.—Heb., accusative of direction, as in 2 Kings 2:11. The LXX. renders, ὡςεἰςτὸνοὐρανὸν “as into heaven,” perhaps to suggest that not the visible heavens, but God, was the real goal of the prophet’s ascension. By a whirlwind.—In the storm. Gilgal.—Heb., the Gilgal, i.e., the Ring (comp. Isaiah 28:28, “wheel”), a descriptive name of more than one place. Here, Gilgal in Ephraim, the present Jiljξlia, which stands on a hill south-west of Seilϋn (Shiloh), near the road leading thence to Jericho. (See Deuteronomy 11:30; Hosea 4:15; Amos 4:4.) Hosea and Amos connect Gilgal with Bethel, as a sanctuary. It was probably marked by a ring of stones like those at Stonehenge and Avebury. From this spot the mountain land of Gilead, the Great Sea, and the snowy heights of Hermon, were all visible; so that the prophet could take from thence a last look at the whole country which had been the scene of his earthly activity.

CHAPTER II Elijah, about to be taken up to heaven, goes in company with Elisha from Gilgal to Beth-el, 1, 2. Thence to Jericho, 3-5. And thence to Jordan, 6, 7. Elijah smites the waters with his mantle; they divide, and he and Elisha pass over on dry ground, 8. Elijah desires Elisha to ask what he should do for him; who requests a double portion of his spirit, which is promised on a certain condition, 9, 10. A chariot and horses of fire descend; and Elijah mounts, and ascends by a whirlwind to heaven, 11. Elisha gets his mantle, comes back to Jordan, smites the waters with it, and they divide, and he goes over, 12-14. The sons of the prophets see that the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha, 15. They propose to send fifty men to seek Elijah, supposing the Spirit of the Lord might have cast him on some mountain or valley; after three days' search, they return not having found him, 16-18. The people of Jericho apply to Elisha to heal their unwholesome water, 19. He casts salt into the spring in the name of Jehovah, and the water becomes wholesome, 20-22. Forty-two young persons of Bethel, mocking him, are slain by two she-bears, 23, 24. He goes to Carmel, and returns to Samaria, 25. NOTES ON CHAP. II Verse 1. When the Lord would take up Elijah] It appears that God had revealed this intended translation, not only to Elijah himself, but also to Elisha, and to the schools of the prophets, both at Beth-el and Jericho, so that they were all expecting this solemn event.

Ch. 2 Kings 2:1-18. Elijah is carried up into heaven. The Spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. His first prophetic appearance (Not in Chronicles) 1. when the Lord would take up Elijah] The whole of the following narrative about Elijah’s assumption must be drawn from what was communicated by Elisha. It was probably collected by some among the sons of the prophets, and added to the previous record of Elijah’s life. The insertion of the history here would appear, from 2 Chronicles 21:12-15, to be a departure from the strict order of events. Jehoshaphat king of Judah is still alive, and in the next chapter we shall find an account of his expedition, in conjunction with Jehoram of Israel against the Moabites. In the passage just cited, however, the Chronicler tells of a letter which Elijah sent to Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, at a time, as it appears, after his father’s death. Jehoram had risen up to the kingdom of his father and had slain all his brethren with the sword, and was walking in the ways of the northern kings of the house of Ahab. The letter was to warn him of the punishment which awaited his evil deeds. We can hardly place such acts as are there described during the period in which Jehoram was as it seems associated with Jehoshaphat in the kingdom. The father must have been dead ere one brother could slay all the rest of the family. The margin of the A.V. in 2 Chronicles 21:12 describes Elijah’s letter as ‘writ before his death’, apparently with the meaning that it was prepared by prophetic foreknowledge and sent by some one else when the time came that its warning was needed. It seems much more likely that the compiler of Kings decided to make his history of Elijah complete before he went on to other matters, and has by so doing put the final scene of the prophet’s earthly life a little earlier than its proper place in the history. into heaven by a whirlwind] The R.V., to preserve the same order of words as the original, has ‘by a whirlwind into heaven’. The writer uses the figure which most nearly describes such a manifestation as that by which Elijah was translated. Human speech must of course fail to convey a true picture of so sublime a scene. Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal] No mention of Elisha as Elijah’s companion is given in the history between the day of Elisha’s call and the time of the events in this chapter. But in 1 Kings 19:21 we read that Elisha ‘ministered unto’ Elijah, and in 2 Kings 3:11 he is called ‘Elisha the son of Shaphat which poured water on the hands of Elijah’: i.e. who performed for the aged prophet such services as a young attendant could yield to his master. We may therefore conclude that Elisha’s time had been mainly spent in Elijah’s company.

The events of this chapter are related out of their chronological order.

1. When the Lord would take up Elijah — There was a set time in Jehovah’s purpose when this great miracle should be wrought. It was an event of importance to all ages, inasmuch as it would teach lessons of incalculable worth.