2 Kings 2:9

And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
over	כְעָבְרָ֗ם khe.'a.ve.Ram	H5674	to cross over · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Elijah	וְאֵ֨לִיָּ֜הוּ ve.'E.li.Ya.hu	H452	Elijah · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
said	אָמַ֤ר 'a.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Elisha	אֱלִישָׁע֙ 'e.li.Sha'	H477	Elisha · proper noun, a man's name
Ask	שְׁאַל֙ she.'Al	H7592	to inquire · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
do	אֶֽעֱשֶׂה 'e.'e.seh-	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
away	אֶלָּקַ֣ח 'e.la.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, niphal imperfect, 1st person common singular
Elisha	אֱלִישָׁ֔ע 'e.li.Sha'	H477	Elisha · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
double	שְׁנַ֥יִם she.Na.yim	H8147	two · noun, common both genders dual absolute
portion	פִּֽי pi-	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct
spirit	בְּרוּחֲךָ֖ be.ru.cha.Kha	H7307	wind · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

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

Numbers 11:17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall b…
Deuteronomy 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning…
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but i…
Acts 20:25-36 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Numbers 11:25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it…
Zechariah 12:8 In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the hous…
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæ…
Acts 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 2:9-12

Here, I. Elijah makes his will, and leaves Elisha his heir, now anointing him to be prophet in his room, more than when he cast his mantle upon him, Kg1 19:19. 1. Elijah, being greatly pleased with the constancy of Elisha's affection and attendance, bade him ask what he should do for him, what blessing he should leave him at parting; he does not say (as bishop Hall observes), "Ask of me when I am gone, in heaven I shall be better able to befriend thee," but, "Ask before I go." Our friends on earth may be spoken to, and can give us an answer, but we know not that we can have access to any friend in heaven but Christ, and God in him. Abraham is ignorant of us. 2. Elisha, having this fair oppor…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 2:9

Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee--trusting either that it would be in his power to bequeath it, or that God, at his entreaty, would grant it. let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me--This request was not, as is commonly supposed, for the power of working miracles exceeding the magnitude and number of his master's, nor does it mean a higher endowment of the prophetic spirit; for Elisha was neither superior to, nor perhaps equally great with, his predecessor. But the phrase, "a double portion," was applied to the first-born [Deu 21:17], and therefore Elisha's request was, simply, to be heir to the prophetic office and gifts of his master.

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 2:9

A double portion of thy spirit be upon me - This in reference to the law, Deu 21:17 : He shall acknowledge the first-born, by giving him a Double Portion of all that he hath-the right of the first-born is his. Elisha considered himself the only child or first-born of Elijah, as the disciples of eminent teachers were called their children; so here he claims a double portion of his spiritual influence, any other disciples coming in for a single share only. Sons of the prophets means no more than the disciples or scholars of the prophets. The original words פי שנים pi shenayim, mean rather two parts, than double the quantity.

John Gill

The Church Fathers

And again also he commanded his disciple with authority, saying, "Ask whatsoever thou wishest, and I will give it to thee before I am taken from thee;" and according to what the disciple asked and the master commanded, the Spirit ministered in very deed, and bestowed the gift upon Elisha.
— Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 2 -- On Faith

Therefore, he who is everywhere does not dwell in all, and he does not even dwell equally in those in whom he does dwell. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the request made by Elisha that there might be in him double the Spirit of God that was in Elijah? And how is it that among the saints some are more holy than others, except that they have a more abundant indwelling in God? How, then, did we speak the truth when we said above that God is everywhere wholly present if he is more amply present in some, less in others? But it should be noticed with care that we said he is everywhere wholly present in himself, not in things of which some have a greater capacity for him, others less.
— Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 187.17

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…
Elisha — God his salvation, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, who became the attendant and disciple of Elijah (1 Kings 19:16-19). His name first occurs in the command given to Elijah to anoint him as his…
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…
Ascension · Of Elijah — Of Elijah
Elisha · his spirit — his spirit
Prophets · Schools of — Schools of
Translation · Of Elijah — Of Elijah

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Kings 2:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 2:9-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 2:9

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 2:9

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Kings 2:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 2:9-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 2:9

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 2:9

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Kings 2:9-10

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Kings 2:9-10

Rashi on 2 Kings 2:8