2 Kings 2:8

2Ki 2:8 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.

Ver. 8. And smote the waters, and they were divided.] Elijah was a great wonder worker: and this is reckoned by some, his seventh, by others his eleventh miracle.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 2:8. And smote the waters — These waters of old yielded to the ark, now to the prophet’s mantle; which to those that wanted the ark, was an equivalent token of God’s presence. When God will take his children to himself, death is the Jordan which they must pass through. And they find a way through it, a safe and comfortable way. The death of Christ has divided those waters, that the ransomed of the Lord may pass over.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:8 Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it: Such symbolic actions visually represented God’s power (see Exod 14:16, 21, 26-27; 17:8-13; 1 Kgs 11:30-31; Ezek 4; 5:1-4).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To wit, of Jordan.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. Took his mantle] την μηλωτην αυτου, 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 the badge which certain graduates in our universities wear; and the royal robes of kings and great officers of state are adorned with the skins of the animal called the ermine.

They were divided hither and thither] This was a most astonishing miracle, and could be performed only by the almighty power of God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(8) His mantle.—The hairy ’addèreth, which characterised him as prophet. Zec_13:4, ’addèreth sç‘âr, “mantle of hair;” Syriac and Arabic, “head-dress” (wrongly).

Wrapped it together.—Rolled it up. Here only. (Comp. “my substance,” or “mass,” Psa_139:16; “blue mantles,” Eze_27:24, from the same root.) LXX., εἵλησεν; Vulg., “involvit;” Syriac, “rolled it up.”

Smote the waters.—A symbolical action like that of Moses smiting the rock, or stretching out his rod over the sea. (Comp. also the use of Elisha’s staff, 2Ki_4:29.) In all these cases the outward and visible sign is made the channel of the invisible and spiritual force of faith.

They were divided hither and thither.—Exo_14:16; Exo_14:21-22; Jos_4:22, seq.

So that.—And.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. And Elijah took his mantle] In 2Ki_1:8 the mantle was not mentioned, but the word here is the same as in Zec_13:4, so that there can be little doubt that the expression ‘hairy man’ above refers to the garment, and not to the head and beard.

and wrapt it together] Making thus a sort of roll or rod, and reminding us by his action of Moses, who smote with his rod the waters of the Nile (Exo_7:17; Exo_7:20) when they were to be turned into blood.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it came to pass, when they were gone over,.... Had got on the other side Jordan:

that Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken from thee; for, having followed him so closely, he now made no more a secret of his assumption, and having had full trial of his attachment to him, and affection for him:

and Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me; the two parts of the gifts of the spirit he had, that of prophecy, and that of doing miracles, as some think; or two parts out of three of what Elijah was possessed of; or rather double as much, and which he might desire, not from a spirit of vanity and ambition to be greater than his master, but from an eagerness to promote the glory of God, and the interest of religion, to reclaim the Israelites from their idolatry, and establish the true religion, which he might observe Elijah was not able to do with that measure of grace and gifts he had; or however this phrase denotes an abundance, a large portion or measure, as it everywhere does. Many, after Ben Gersom, have thought it refers to the double portion of the firstborn, and that Elisha does not mean a double portion with respect to Elijah, but with respect to the junior prophets, with whom he might be considered as a firstborn, and so desired a double or greater portion than they, and which may be most correct (m); and when he asked this, he did not suppose it was in Elijah's power to give him it, only that he would pray to God, at parting with him, that he would bestow it on him.

(m) See Weemse of the Moral Law, l. 2. c. 7. p. 41.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They 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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Mantle. Septuagint Greek: meloten, "sheep skin," (Menochius) such as the prophets wore. The Syriac explains it of an ornament or bandage of the head; others, of a leathren mantle to keep off rain. Ad subitas nunquam scortea diset aquas. (Martial xiv.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

8. His mantle — The shaggy garment that had been so long his prophetical badge.

Wrapped it together — Rolled it up in the form of a twisted cord, or a wonder-working rod.

Smote the waters — As if they were an enemy in his way. Elijah’s mantle was to him at Jordan what the rod of God was to Moses at the Red Sea; (Exo_14:16; Exo_14:21;) and many things in the lives of these two great prophets were strikingly parallel. Bishop Hall beautifully says: “There must be a fit parallel between these two great prophets who should meet Christ on Tabor. Both fasted forty days; both had visions of God in Horeb; both were sent to rebuke kings; both prepared miraculous tables; both opened heaven; both revenged idolatry; both quenched the thirst of Israel; both divided the waters; both of them are forewarned of their departure; the body of Moses is hid; the body of Elijah is translated.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Elijah took his mantle (the LXX have ton); the sheep-skin cape or capote, which covered his shoulders. And wrapped it together; rather, and rolled it up (eilhse, LXX); so that it resembled in some degree a rod or staff. And with this he smote the waters; consciously imitating the act of Moses when he "stretched out his hand over the Red Sea", (Exo_14:21) and divided its waters asunder.

And they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. The parallelism with the miraculous acts of Moses and Joshua (Jos_3:13) is obvious, and allowed even by those who viewthe acts themselves as having no historical foundation (Ewald, "History of Israel," vol. 4. p. 111, note, Eng. trans.). It was intended that Israel should regard Elijah and Elisha as a second Moses and Joshua, and should therefore yield them a ready obedience. If miracles are impossible, cadit quaestio; exegesis of Scripture, and even reading of Scripture, may as well be put aside. But if they are possible, and have a place in the Divine economy, here was a worthy occasion for them. The powers of the world were arrayed against the cause of true religion and so against God; the cause was about to lose its great champion and assertor, Elijah; a weaker successor was about to take his place; without some manifest display of supernatural might the cause of religion would evidently have lost ground, perhaps have been ruined altogether. It pleased God, therefore, just at this time, to grant that signs and wonders of an extraordinary character should be done by the hands of his servants Elijah and Elisha, that a halo of mystic glory should encircle them, for the better sustentation of his own cause against his adversaries, for the exaltation and glorification of his faithful ones, and for the confusion and dismay of those who were opposed to them. Now, surely, if ever, was there a dignus vindice nodus, justifying a miraculous interposition.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Smote the waters - These waters of old yielded to the ark, now to the prophet's mantle; which to those that wanted the ark, was an equivalent token of God's presence. When God will take his children to himself, death is the Jordan, which they must pass through. And they find a way thro' it, a safe and comfortable way. The death of Christ has divided those waters, that the ransomed of the Lord may pass over.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

When they reached the Jordan, Elijah took his prophet's cloak, rolled it up (גּלם, ἁπ. λεγ. convolvit), and smote the water with it; whereupon the water divided hither and thither, so that they both passed through on dry ground. The cloak, that outward sign of the prophet's office, became the vehicle of the Spirit's power which works unseen, and with which the prophet was inspired. The miracle itself is analogous to the miraculous dividing of the Red Sea by the stretching out of Moses' rod (Exo 14:16, Exo 14:21); but at the same time it is very peculiar, and quite in accordance with the prophetic character of Elijah, Moses, the leader of the people, performed his miracles with his shepherd's crook, Elijah the prophet divided the river with his prophet's mantle.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

And [he] rolled it up. He rolled it up in order that it would be easy to strike with it.

And [he] rolled it up. Not exactly rolling, but gathering together, which is called cueilir, in O.F.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.