2:4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” 3 But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 2:5 Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
2:6 Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they traveled on together. 2:7 The fifty members of the prophetic guild went and stood opposite them at a distance, while Elijah and Elisha 4 stood by the Jordan. 2:8 Elijah took his cloak, folded it up, and hit the water with it. The water divided, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
2:9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you, 5 before I am taken away from you?” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you.” 6 2:10 Elijah 7 replied, “That’s a difficult request! 8 If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.”
2:11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot 9 pulled by fiery horses appeared. 10 They went between Elijah and Elisha, 11 and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm.
1 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
2 tn Heb “from your head.” The same expression occurs in v. 5.
3 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
4 tn Heb “the two of them.” The referents (Elijah and Elisha) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “Ask! What can I do for you….?”
6 tn Heb “May a double portion of your spirit come to me.”
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “You have made difficult [your] request.”
9 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
10 tn Heb “look, a chariot of fire and horses of fire.”
11 tn Heb “and they made a division between the two of them.”