Chap. II. ver. 2. — Tarry here, I pray thee;] Elijah seems to have said this to try Elisha; for he did not intend to conceal his assumption into heaven, and to have no witnesses of it. His humility indeed was great; but it was not fit to conceal the glory of God, which herein miraculously appeared. Bp. Patrick.

2 Kings 1:3

3. And the sons of the prophets] By “the sons of the Prophets,” we are to understand the scholars of the Prophets, such as they educated and trained up in religion and virtue, upon whom God by degrees bestowed the spirit of prophecy, and whom the superior Prophets employed in the same capacity as the Apostles did the Evangelists, namely, to publish their prophecies and instructions to the people, in the places where themselves could not go. Nor is it any small testimony of God’s love to an apostate people, that, in these corrupt times, and in that very place where the golden calves were worshipped, He still continued the schools of the Prophets, in order to recover them from idolatry. Nay (what is very remarkable,) there were Prophets of greater excellency for their miracles in Israel than in Judah, because they needed them more, both to turn their hardened hearts from the worship of idols, and to preserve the pious persons that remained among them from deserting their religion. Bp. Patrick.

It appears that the Jews, though they enjoyed the advantages of immediate inspiration, yet had their schools of the Prophets, (appointed, as is most probable, by the immediate direction of God Himself,) where the youth were instructed in the principles of religion, and, by a virtuous and liberal education, both qualified to discharge the ordinary functions of the ministry, and also better disposed to receive the extraordinary gifts of

prophecy and miracles. The sons of the Prophets here mentioned are such persons as received their education in these public schools. From the short and scattered accounts which we find in Scripture respecting them, we collect, that the sons of the Prophets were here educated, under the superintendence of the most eminent Prophets, in the study of true religion and useful learning, and employed in composing hymns, singing forth the praises of God, and other religious exercises; that they lived together in societies, and were subject to stated rules of government. Dr. Randolph.

— take away thy master from thy head] This is an allusion to the manner of teaching in the prophetic schools, where the scholars sat at the feet of the master, and he just over their heads. Thus, to take away a master from the head of a person, signifies, to deprive him of his instructions. Pyle. See the note on Deut. xxxiii. 3.

2 Kings 1:5

5. And the sons of the prophets] At Jericho, it appears, there was another school of the Prophets, to whom the same Holy Spirit revealed the mind of God.

2 Kings 1:8

8. — an hairy man.] Meaning probably, either that he wore a long beard and hair about his head, or that he was covered with a hairy garment, which Prophets were wont to use, as appears from Isaiah xx. 2; Zech. xiii. 4; Matt. iii. 4. The leathern girdle makes the last explanation the most probable. Bp. Patrick. He was a man roughly clad, as one that professed to be a messenger of penitence and humiliation to the world. Bp. Hall.

It is remarkable that the derrises in the East, in modern times, go clothed as Elijah did, wearing a hairy garment, and girded with a leathern girdle. Sir J. Chardin.

8. — his mantle,] The Hebrew word, by which the mantle of Elijah is always expressed, signifies a royal as well as a prophetic robe, Jonah iii. 6. The Greek translators render it by a word which signifies a robe made of lambskins. It is supposed to have been an upper garment thrown over the shoulders, and reaching down to the heels. Bp. Patrick.

2 Kings 1:9

9. — Thou man of God.] Thou that pretended to be a man of God. Bp. Hall.

10. — Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away] We are here supplied with a strong and conclusive argument against the practice in the Romish church of praying to deceased saints and martyrs. Elijah, in uttering these words, clearly intimates to Elisha that

2 Kings 1:10

10. — let fire come down from heaven.] This was not done from a revengeful feeling, but to convince a wicked prince and an idolatrous people, that Jehovah was the true God, and that He alone ought to be applied to in the time of trouble. Bp. Wilson.

— and consumed him and his fifty.] What is man in the hands of his Maker! One flash of lightning has consumed this one and fifty. And if all the hosts of Israel, yea, of the world, had been in their place, there had needed no other force. What madness is it for him, whose breath is in his nostrils, to contend with the Almighty! Bp. Hall.

Though Elijah consumed by fire from heaven the captains and soldiers whom the king sent to take him,

he did it not out of a spirit of revenge, or of his own accord, but by a Divine impulse and command. God wrought the miracle to secure the Prophet, and to punish the idolaters, to put a stop to the fury of Ahaizah, and to teach that prince and his subjects to fear the true God. Osterwald.

God destroyed the two captains and their companies, by fire from heaven, because they came to take His Prophet rudely and by force. God will have His Prophets reverenced, and not affronted, because they are allied to Him; and every affront offered to them is justly resented as an indignity to Himself. But He made a distinction, even in this case, between rude and reverent behaviour; therefore the third captain and his company, ver. 13, since they had been taught some modesty and good manners towards so eminent a Prophet of God most High, were used with tenderness, and came off unhurt. Dr. Waterland.

2 Kings 1:15

15. — and went down with him unto the king.] Here is a striking instance of the Prophet’s faith and obedience to God. He had the greatest reason to be afraid of the king and Jezebel, having, besides other unwelcome things, so lately executed a terrible judgment on two of his captains and their companies. But now, having an express command from God, he boldly goes to the king, and confirms with his own mouth that ungrateful truth, which He had already delivered to him by his messengers. Bp. Patrick.

2 Kings 1:17

17. — because he had no son.] He was succeeded by his brother Jehoram, “because he had no son.”

Elijah with his mantle divideth Jordan, and is

ziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

CHAP. II.