2 Kings 2:8

And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Elijah	אֵלִיָּ֨הוּ 'e.li.Ya.hu	H452	Elijah · proper noun, a man's name
took	וַיִּקַּח֩ vai.yi.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mantle	אַדַּרְתּ֤וֹ 'a.dar.To	H155	something ample (as a large vine · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
together	וַיִּגְלֹם֙ vai.yig.Lom	H1563	to fold · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
smote	וַיַּכֶּ֣ה vai.ya.Keh	H5221	to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
waters	הַמַּ֔יִם ha.Ma.yim	H4325	water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
divided	וַיֵּחָצ֖וּ vai.ye.cha.Tzu	H2673	to cut or split in two · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
two	שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם she.nei.Hem	H8147	two · noun, common both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
over	וַיַּעַבְר֥וּ vai.ya.'av.Ru	H5674	to cross over · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
dry	בֶּחָרָבָֽה be.cha.ra.Vah	H2724	a desert · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Kings 19:19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: an…
Exodus 14:21-22 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea…
Joshua 3:14-17 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before t…
2 Kings 2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had s…
1 Kings 19:13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, be…
Psalms 114:5-7 What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
Isaiah 11:15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shal…
Hebrews 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 2:8

Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters--Like the rod of Moses, it had the divinely operating power of the Spirit.

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 2:8

Took his mantle - Την μηλωτην αυτου, his sheep-skin, says the Septuagint. The skins of beasts, dressed with the hair on, were formerly worn by prophets and priests as the simple insignia of their office. As the civil authority was often lodged in the hands of such persons, particularly among the Jews, mantles of this kind were used by kings and high civil officers when they bore no sacred character. The custom continues to the present day; a lamb's skin hood or cloak is the badge which certain graduates in our universities wear; and the royal robes of kings and great officers of state are adorned with the skins of the animal called the ermine. They were divided hither and thither - This was…

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John Gill on 2 Kings 2:8

And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together,.... Folded it up close together, in a position to smite with it; this is thought to be not his hairy garment, but a shorter robe, that was worn upon his shoulders; but the Greek version renders it by "melotes", and so in 2 Kings 2:14, which, according to Isidore (l), was a goat's skin, hanging down from the neck, and girt at the loins; and being thus clothed, perhaps, may be the reason of his being called an hairy man, 2 Kings 1:8, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither; just as Moses lifted up his rod, and the waters of the sea were divided for the Israelites: so that they two went over on dry ground; in like man…

The Church Fathers

We must note in addition that when Elijah was about to be taken up in a whirlwind as into heaven, he took his sheepskin and rolled it up and struck the water, and it was divided on this side and that, and both crossed, that is to say, himself and Elisha. He was better prepared to be taken up after he was baptized in the Jordan, since Paul, as we explained previously, called the more incredible passage through water a baptism. It is because of this same Jordan that Elisha is capable of receiving the gift that he has desired through Elijah, for he said, "Let a double portion come on me in your spirit." Perhaps he received the gift in the spirit of Elijah in a double measure on himself because he crossed the Jordan twice, once with Elijah, and a second time when he took the sheepskin of Elijah and struck the water and said, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? And he struck the waters, and they divided on this side and that."
— Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.238-39

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Elijah — Whose God is Jehovah. (1.) “The Tishbite,” the “Elias” of the New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings 17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is mention made…
Jericho — Place of fragrance, a fenced city in the midst of a vast grove of palm trees, in the plain of Jordan, over against the place where that river was crossed by the Israelites (Josh. 3:16). Its site was…
Jordan — Heb. Yarden, “the descender;” Arab. Nahr-esh-Sheriah, “the watering-place” the chief river of Palestine. It flows from north to south down a deep valley in the centre of the country. The name…
Mantle — (1.) Heb. ‘addereth, a large over-garment. This word is used of Elijah’s mantle (1 Kings 19:13, 19; 2 Kings 2:8, 13, etc.), which was probably a sheepskin. It appears to have been his only garment, a…
Ascension · Of Elijah — Of Elijah
Elisha · his spirit — his spirit
Jordan · .Of Elijah — .Of Elijah
Jordan, The River · Remarkable events connected with: Its division by Elijah — Remarkable events connected with: Its division by Elijah
Mantle · Of Elijah — Of Elijah
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Elijah: Waters of Jordan divided — Elijah: Waters of Jordan divided
Prophets · Schools of — Schools of
Translation · Of Elijah — Of Elijah

2 Kings 2:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 2:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 2:8

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 2:8

John Gill on 2 Kings 2:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Kings 2:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 2:1-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 2:8

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 2:8

John Gill on 2 Kings 2:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Kings 2:8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Kings 2:8

Rashi on 2 Kings 2:8