2 Kings 2:11

11 And so it happened. They were walking along and talking. Suddenly a chariot and horses of fire came between them and Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven.

2 Kings 2:11 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 2:11

And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked
About the donation of the gifts of the Spirit requested, about the state of religion in Israel, and about the training up of prophets in the colleges, and about Elisha's succession as a prophet in his room, and his discharge of that office, and such like things, as may be supposed, in which he gave him instruction and advice:

that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire;
either angels in this form, see ( Psalms 104:4 ) ( 68:17 ) , in which they appeared for the glory and honour of the prophet, and as emblems of his flaming love and zeal for the purity of religion, and that his assumption might be conspicuous to Elisha; and perhaps by this means might be seen by the fifty men on the other side Jordan: this chariot, drawn with these horses, was not seen in the heaven, but as running on the earth, and came between the two prophets, and separated them from each other, taking up Elijah into it by means of a wind whirling about him, and which was no other than the ministry of angels; or these might be a conflux of exhalations or clouds, formed in this likeness by a supernatural power, and, by the solar rays striking on them, might appear fiery or red; and so his assumption was much in such like manner as our Lord was taken up in a cloud, ( Acts 1:9 ) ,

and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven;
body and soul; such a change passing on him, as he went through the region of the air, which divested him of his mortality and corruption, and fitted him for the invisible world.

2 Kings 2:11 In-Context

9 When they reached the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, "What can I do for you before I'm taken from you? Ask anything." Elisha said, "Your life repeated in my life. I want to be a holy man just like you."

10 "That's a hard one!" said Elijah. "But if you're watching when I'm taken from you, you'll get what you've asked for. But only if you're watching."

11 And so it happened. They were walking along and talking. Suddenly a chariot and horses of fire came between them and Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven.

12 Elisha saw it all and shouted, "My father, my father! You - the chariot and cavalry of Israel!" When he could no longer see anything, he grabbed his robe and ripped it to pieces.

13 Then he picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him, returned to the shore of the Jordan, and stood there.