2 Kings 2:12

2:12 While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!”¹ Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two.

2 Kings 3:2

3:2 He did evil in the sight of² the Lord, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.

2 Kings 13:14

Elisha Makes One Final Prophecy

13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness.³ King Joash of Israel went down to visit him.⁴ He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot⁵ and horsemen of Israel!”⁶

¹sn Elisha may be referring to the fiery chariot(s) and horses as the Lord’s spiritual army that fights on behalf of Israel (see 2 Kgs 6:15-17; 7:6). However, the juxtaposition with “my father” (clearly a reference to Elijah as Elisha’s mentor), and the parallel in 2 Kgs 13:14 (where the king addresses Elisha with these words), suggest that Elisha is referring to Elijah. In this case Elijah is viewed as a one man army, as it were. When the Lord spoke through him, his prophetic word was as powerful as an army of chariots and horses. See M. A. Beek, “The Meaning of the Expression ‘The Chariots and Horsemen of Israel’ (II Kings ii 12),” The Witness of Tradition (OTS 17), 1-10.

²tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

³tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”

⁴tn Heb “went down to him.”

⁵tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”

⁶sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.