2 Kings 2:10

10 He said, "What you ask is difficult. If you see me being taken from you, it will be so for you, but if not, it will not happen."

2 Kings 2:10 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 2:10

And he said, thou hast asked a hard thing
Not a common privilege, but what is rarely enjoyed, and difficult to obtain, few are so favoured of God:

nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so
unto thee,
but if not, it shall not be so; meaning, that if his rapture was visible to Elisha, and he was favoured with a sight of his assumption, and be an eyewitness of it, this would be a token both to Elijah that it was agreeable to the Lord to ask of him this favour for him, and to Elisha to expect it, otherwise not.

2 Kings 2:10 In-Context

8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water. It divided {in two}, and the two of them crossed over on dry land.

9 After they crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I may do for you before I am taken away from you." Then Elisha said, "Please let there come to me a double portion of your spirit."

10 He said, "What you ask is difficult. If you see me being taken from you, it will be so for you, but if not, it will not happen."

11 Then they [were] walking, talking as they went. Suddenly a fiery chariot with horses of fire [appeared] and separated between the two of them. Elijah went up in the storm [to] the heavens

12 while Elisha [was] watching and crying out, "My father, my father; the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!" But he could not see him any longer, and he grasped his clothes and tore them in two pieces.