Discovery Box2 Kings 2:1-11 
Context2:1 Just before 1 the Lord took Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal. 2:2 Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” 2 But Elisha said, “As certainly as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 2:3 Some members of the prophetic guild 3 in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” 4 He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
2:4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” 5 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 6 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, 7 before I am taken away from you?” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you.” 8 2:10 Elijah 9 replied, “That’s a difficult request! 10 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 11 pulled by fiery horses appeared. 12 They went between Elijah and Elisha, 13 and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm.
1 tn Or “when.”
2 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
3 tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”
4 tn Heb “from your head.” The same expression occurs in v. 5.
5 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
6 tn Heb “the two of them.” The referents (Elijah and Elisha) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “Ask! What can I do for you….?”
8 tn Heb “May a double portion of your spirit come to me.”
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “You have made difficult [your] request.”
11 tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”
12 tn Heb “look, a chariot of fire and horses of fire.”
13 tn Heb “and they made a division between the two of them.”
