2 Kings 2:14

14 Then he took the mantle Elijah had dropped and struck the waters. "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" he asked. He struck the waters himself, and they parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.^[a]

2 Kings 2:14 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 2:14

And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote
the waters
He wrapped it together, as Elijah had done, and smote the waters in like manner, to make trial whether he had the same spirit and power conferred on him:

and said, where is the Lord God of Elijah?
let him appear now, and show his power as he did by him; he knew the mantle would not do without the Lord, and the exertion of his might:

and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and
thither;
as when Elijah smote them. The words "aph-hu", rendered "he also", is left untranslated by the Septuagint, and is interpreted by Theodoret ^F14 "hidden". They stand immediately after "the God of Elijah", and may be rendered, "yea he", even he himself; meaning not Elijah, as if he was inquired after, or was present and smote the waters; but rather, as we and others, Elisha, even he also smote the waters; though some take it to be the name of God, as "Hu" was, and is with the Arabs to this day, (See Gill on Isaiah 43:13). Athanasius ^F15 interprets it of God, "Appho"; and so Elisha calls him by his title and attribute, "Aph-hu": but the words may be an answer to the prophet's question, "where is the Lord God of Elijah?" here he is, even he himself, in the faith of which the water, being smitten, parted; and with this agrees Abarbinel's note on the text; the meaning is, though we are deprived of Elijah, yet not of the providence of God; and though the servant is wanting, the Lord or master is not; for even he, the blessed God, is in his room, and his excellency is as it was before; which sense is approved of by Frischmuth ^F16

and Elisha went over;
the river Jordan, as on dry land.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 Apud Flamin. Nobil. in loc. So Suidas in voce (apfw) .
F15 De Commun. Essent. Patris vol. 1. p. 374. See Weemse of the Moral Law, l. 1. c. 7. p. 162.
F16 Dissert. de Eliae Nomine sect. 11, 12.

2 Kings 2:14 In-Context

12 As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, "My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!" Then he never saw Elijah again. He took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.

13 Elisha picked up the mantle that had fallen off Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

14 Then he took the mantle Elijah had dropped and struck the waters. "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" he asked. He struck the waters himself, and they parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.

15 When the sons of the prophets from Jericho, who were facing him, saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." They came to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.

16 Then the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "Since there are 50 strong men here with your servants, please let them go and search for your master. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has carried him away and put him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys." He answered, "Don't send [them]."

Footnotes

• [a]. 2 Kg 2:8; Ex 14:21-22; Jos 3:14-17