2 Kings 2:8

2 Kings 2:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!

Context of 2 Kings 2:8

6Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. 7Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 10“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

2 Kings 2:8 word by word

וַיִּקַּח֩ אֵלִיָּ֨הוּ אֶת־אַדַּרְתּ֤וֹ וַיִּגְלֹם֙ וַיַּכֶּ֣ה אֶת־הַמַּ֔יִם וַיֵּחָצ֖וּ הֵ֣נָּה וָהֵ֑נָּה וַיַּעַבְר֥וּ שְׁנֵיהֶ֖ם בֶּחָרָבָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Elijahאֵלִיָּה'êlîyâh 'êlîyâhû · ElijahH452
• tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• his mantleאַדֶּ֫רֶת'addereth · clothingH155
• togetherגָּלַםgâlam · to foldH1563
• and smoteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
• the watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
• and they were dividedחָצָהchâtsâh · to divideH2673
• hither and thither, so that they twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• went overעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• on dryחָֽרָבָהchârâbâh · dry groundH2724

Cross-references for 2 Kings 2:8

• 1 Kings 19:13When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
• 2 Kings 2:14He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
• Exodus 14:21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,
• Joshua 3:14So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.
• Psalms 114:5Why was it, sea, that you fled? Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
• Isaiah 11:15The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
• Hebrews 11:29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
• Revelation 16:12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 2:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Took his mantle - , 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8They were divided … - The attestation to the divine mission of Elijah furnished by this miracle would tend to place him upon a par in the thoughts of men with the two great leaders of the nation named in the marginal references.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Elijah folded his cloak and hit the water with it. These symbolic actions showed God's power (see Exodus 14:16, 21, 26–27; 17:8–13; 1 Kings 11:30–31; Ezekiel 4; 5:1–4).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. 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.Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 2:8

• Ascension
• Elisha
• Jordan
• Mantle
• Miracles
• Prophecy
• Prophets
• Translation
• Water

In the dictionaries

• Elijah
• Double
• Heal
• Jordan
• Lord
• Mantle
• Mock
• Rest
• Friend; Friendship
• Jehoram; Joram

Commentaries on 2 Kings 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings