Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 2:1-8
Elijah's times, and the events concerning him, are as little dated as those of any great man in scripture; we are not told of his age, nor in what year of Ahab's reign he first appeared, nor in what year of Joram's he disappeared, and therefore cannot conjecture how long he flourished; it is supposed about twenty years in all. Here we are told,
I. That God had determined to take him up into heaven by a whirlwind, Kg2 2:1. He would do it, and it is probable let him know of his purpose some time before, that he would shortly take him from the world, not by death, but translate him body and soul to heaven, as Enoch was, only causing him to undergo such a change as would be necessary to the qual…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 2:3
take away thy master from they head--an allusion to the custom of scholars sitting at the feet of their master, the latter being over their heads (Act 22:3).
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 2:3
Knowest thou that the Lord - Thus we see that it was a matter well known to all the sons of the prophets. This day the Lord will take thy master and instructer from thee.
John Gill on 2 Kings 2:4
And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee,.... At Bethel:
for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho; to the school of the prophets there, to strengthen, encourage, and advise them:
and he said, as the lord liveth, &c; using the same form of oath as before:
so they came to Jericho; together, which, as the above writer says (i), was four miles from Bethel.
(i) Travels, &c. p. 205.
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Kings 2:4-7
In Bethel, and again in Jericho, to which they both proceeded from Bethel, Elijah repeated the appeal to Elisha to stay there, but always in vain. The taking away of Elijah had also been revealed to the disciples of the prophets at Jericho. Thus they both came to the Jordan, whilst fifty disciples of the prophets from Jericho followed them at a distance, to be eye-witnesses of the miraculous translation of their master. The course which Elijah took before his departure from this earth, viz., from Gilgal past Bethel and Jericho, was not merely occasioned by the fact that he was obliged to touch at these places on the way to the Jordan, but had evidently also the same higher purpose, for which…
