2 KINGS 2:11
וַיְהִי הֵמָּה הֹלְכִים הָלוֹךְ וְדַבֵּר וְהִנֵּה רֶכֶב־אֵשׁ וְסוּסֵי אֵשׁ וַיַּפְרִדוּ בֵּין שְׁנֵיהֶם וַיַּעַל אֵלִיָּהוּ בַּסְעָרָה הַשָּׁמָיִם׃
As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared chariots of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.
The סְעָרָה "whirlwind" that took Elijah to heaven is the same word used for the storm from which God speaks in Job 40:6. Ezekiel also saw a סְעָרָה "windstorm" at the beginning of his prophecy (Ezek. 1:4), and the frightening storms of the Mediterranean (and the Red Sea?) are described this way as well (Psalm 107:25; 148:8).
רֶכֶב is a collective term, "chariotry, chariots." The chariots, usually depicted as a vehicle for Elijah, simply separated Elijah from Elisha. The mistake of assuming that the chariot was Elijah's vehicle goes back at least as far as the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus: "You who were taken up by a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with horses of fire" (Ecclus. 48:9). When God's holiness approaches mankind, he protects people by setting limits (Exodus 19:12; 30:20) or by sending his angels (Genesis 3:24) or by other means. The chariot and horses of fire appear to have served this purpose to protect Elisha from what was happening to his master.
Was Elijah dead after this? The answer is that, like Enoch before him (Genesis 5:24; Hebrew 11:5), Elijah was translated alive into heaven. The common term in the Bible and apocrypha is simply "taken up." "Enoch pleased the Lord, and was taken up; he was an example of repentance to all generations" (μετετέθη, Sirach 44:16); "No one like Enoch has been created on earth, for he was taken up from the earth" (ἀνελήμφθη, Sirach 49:14); "Elijah because of great zeal for the law was taken up into heaven" (ἀνελήμφθη, 1 Maccabees 2:58).
Elijah's body was no longer his sinful body; it would certainly have been transformed into the holy, sinless body we will all have at the resurrection. The only difference between Elijah assumption into heaven and our own on the Last Day is that his happened at the end of his life without the intervening rest stop of death. His soul was never separated from his body, and this is to God's glory, that we are shown in Elijah's translation the state that we will have in eternity with God.
2 KINGS 2:12a
וֶאֱלִישָׁע רֹאֶה וְהוּא מְצַעֵק אָבִי אָבִי רֶכֶב יִשְׂרָאֵל וּפָרָשָׁ֔יו
Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!"
Elisha's cry was famously quoted by Philip Melanchthon when he learned of Luther's death in 1546. וְהוּא מְצַעֵק "and he (himself) cried out" is noted as a hapax phrase in the Bible. The loss of Elijah was painful for Elisha, but of course Elijah was entering into eternal glory.
The accentuation of וּפָ֣רָשָׁ֔יו seems strange but is the result of rigidly followed rules of accentuation. The zaqef ends the clause, and although the munach isn't essential it appears to be standard with a zaqef qaton (Price p. 33) here is serves the purpose of metheg marking a secondary stress in the word. It is referred to as "munach-metheg" in this position (Price p. 125-126) and is often found with zaqef serving in this way (cf וַיֹּאמְרוּ in 2:15).
2 KINGS 2:12b
וְלֹא רָאָהוּ עוֹד וַיַּחֲזֵק בִּבְגָדָיו וַיִּקְרָעֵם לִשְׁנַיִם קְרָעִים׃
And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
Rending one's clothes was a common way of showing grief; normally this was a "partial" tear, but Elisha actually tore is robe in half (לִשְׁנַיִם). The action is followed immediately by Elisha picking up Elijah's robe: Elisha showed that he was leaving his old role behind and taking up this new one as the Lord's prophet.
2 KINGS 2:13
וַיָּרֶם אֶת־אַדֶּרֶת אֵלִיָּהוּ אֲשֶׁר נָפְלָה מֵעָלָיו וַיָּשָׁב וַיַּעֲמֹד עַל־שְׂפַת הַיַּרְדֵּן׃
He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.
Elijah had used his אַדֶּרֶת "cloak" to divide the water of the Jordan when the two men crossed (2:7-8). The significance of Elijah's אַדֶּרֶת was not the passing of God's grace from one man to the next. Elijah left this up to God by saying that Elisha would inherit "a double portion" of his master's spirit (a common way of talking about an heir, cf. Deut. 21:7) only if Elisha saw him when God took him away (2:10). The אַדֶּרֶת must have fallen from Elijah as he ascended; he would have no need of it in heaven.
2 KINGS 2:14a
וַיִּקַּח אֶת־אַדֶּרֶת אֵלִיָּהוּ אֲשֶׁר־נָפְלָה מֵעָלָיו וַיַּכֶּה אֶת־הַמַּיִם וַיֹּאמַר אַיֵּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֵלִיָּ֑הוּ
He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?"
The words are a very tightly crafted poem: ahyah yahweh, elohai eliyahu? When Elisha struck the water, he was showing his faith in the words of Elijah and in the response God would give.
Since the phrase "he struck the waters" is repeated in the second half of the verse, should we understand that the river did not part the first time? Is that what brought on the question from Elisha? But he struck the water (again) in 14b and the river parted once again. The idea that the river didn't part the first time is the cause of the LXX reading καὶ οὐ διέστη "but it did not part."
The word וַיֹּאמַר has the Mp note "Occurs 91 times." The reference counts the number of times this word is accented on the ultima rather than the penult.
2 KINGS 2:14b
אַף־הוּא וַיַּכֶּה אֶת־הַמַּיִם וַיֵּחָצוּ הֵנָּה וָהֵנָּה וַיַּעֲבֹר אֱלִישָׁע׃
And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.
The Lord permitted Elisha to perform this miracle: In all, there will be twelve specific miracles performed by Elisha during his ministry as prophet and a thirteenth involving his bones. The Shunamite woman given a son (4:8-17) is a prophecy on Elisha's part; not strictly a miracle he performed.
1. Dividing the water of the Jordan (2:14)
2. Healing the water (2:19-22)
3. The bears punish the student prophets (2:24)
4. Ditches to deliver Israel from Moab (3:1-27)
5. The widow's oil (4:1-7)
6. The Shunamite woman's son raised from the dead (4:18-37)
7. Death in the pot (4:36-41)
8. The feeding of a hundred (4:42-44)
9. Naaman cured of leprosy (5:1-19)
10. Gehazi given leprosy (5:20-27)
11. An axe head floats (6:1-7)
12. Arameans are blinded (6:8-23)
13. An Israelite raised to life (13:20-21)
2 KINGS 2:15a (This verse begins a new seder reading in the Hebrew text).
וַיִּרְאֻהוּ בְנֵי־הַנְּבִיאִים אֲשֶׁר־בִּירִיחוֹ מִנֶּגֶד וַיֹּאמְרוּ נָחָה רוּחַ אֵלִיָּהוּ עַל־אֱלִישָׁע
Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha."
The miracle of dividing the water of the Jordan had many witnesses; the student prophets saw and confessed their faith. The term מִנֶּגֶד "from before him / opposite him" indicates that they were there to see what happened, just across the river. Raabe's analysis: "The complex peroposition min + neged functions as an adverbial. It indicates a position 'in front, opposite, within the field of vision": A faces B and can observe B" (Obadiah, p. 172).
2 KINGS 2:15b
וַיָּבֹאוּ לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ־לוֹ אָרְצָה׃
And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ eshtafal (hishtafel) חוה wc imperfect 3 plural "bow down." Older lexicons offer shachah as a root.
2 KINGS 2:16a
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו הִנֵּה־נָא יֵשׁ־אֶת־עֲבָדֶיךָ חֲמִשִּׁים אֲנָשִׁים בְּנֵי־חַיִל יֵלְכוּ נָא֮ וִיבַקְשׁוּ אֶת־אֲדֹנֶיךָ֒
They said to him, "Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master;
The accent pattern at the end of the verse is zarqa+segolta (these two always occur together for musical reasons), where the segolta has the same disjunctive force as a zaqef. The number fifty reminds us that a large crowd of witnesses saw what just happened.
2 KINGS 2:16b
פֶּן־נְשָׂאוֹ רוּחַ יְהוָה וַיַּשְׁלִכֵהוּ בְּאַחַד הֶהָרִים אוֹ בְּאַחַת הַגֵּיאָ֯וֹת וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא תִשְׁלָחוּ׃
...perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley." And he said, "Do not send."
Note the qere for הַגֵּיאָ֯וֹת. The Mm note that follows the qere tells us that this is one of three times that this word is written plene (2 Kg. 2:16; Ezek. 6:3 and 35:8).
The search for Elijah's body was not just symbolic. They wanted to discover whether he was dead, so that they could bury him. Elijah had told Elisha that he was going to be taken away, but the other prophets had not been privy to that conversation.
2 KINGS 2:17
וַיִּפְצְרוּ־בוֹ עַד־בֹּשׁ וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁלָחוּ וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ חֲמִשִּׁים אִישׁ וַיְבַקְשׁוּ שְׁלֹשָׁה־יָמִים וְלֹא מְצָאֻה׃
But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send." So they sent fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him.
There is "a time to search and a time to give up" (Ecclesiastes 3:6), and not finding Elijah's body they arrived at the conclusion that he was in heaven, just as Enoch had been taken away.
Perhaps the timing of the taking of Enoch and Elijah preaches a message as well. Enoch's assumption took place shortly after the death of Adam. Since Adam had personally been the recipient of God's curse, Enoch's translation to heaven was a physical reminder to the people of that time that there was also a promise of salvation and not just the curse of death for mankind. When Elijah was translated, Israel was divided and both northern and southern kingdoms were going to be carried away into exile. Elijah's translation was yet another reminder to the people that for those who believe God and trust his promises, there is the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
2 KINGS 2:18
וַיָּשֻׁבוּ אֵלָיו וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב בִּירִיחוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם הֲלֹא־אָמַרְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶם אַל־תֵּלֵכוּ׃
They returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, "Did I not say to you, 'Do not go '?"
Elisha's rebuke is not severe; he had faith, and it was time to teach these other men about faith, too. Here the prohibition is changed to אַל with the jussive indicating dissuasion.
THIS ACCOUNT FOR TRANSFIGURATION:
At Transfiguration, we meditate on the Glory of God, shown in this text by Elijah's departure, the fiery chariots and horses, and also by the miraculous division of the Jordan. By moving the pericope from the usual 2:1-12 to these verse which dwell on the aftermath of Elijah's translation, we are reminded that Jesus and his apostles came down the mountain again after the glorious transfiguration to proclaim that glory to the world. As with Elisha, so with the disciples, and so with us.
THE GLORY OF A GODLY LIFE (Sermon Studies B outline)
1. Glorious when it is spent serving the Lord
2. Glorious when it departs to eternal life
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