2 Kings 2:12

THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH FELL UPON ELISHA

"And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah, the God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they were divided hither and thither; and Elisha went over."

"He took hold of his own clothes and rent them" (2 Kings 2:12b). This, of course, was an evidence of the grief of Elisha in the loss of the companionship of Elijah.

"He took up the mantle of Elijah" (2 Kings 2:13). "This means that the responsibilities and authority were transferred from one to the other."[12]

"The Vulgate version renders this place in such a manner as to indicate that Elisha struck the Jordan twice, one in vain, and a second time successfully; but none of the other versions accept this."[13]

Elisha's smiting the waters of Jordan with Elijah's mantle enabled him to return on dry ground, just as he and Elijah had crossed over eastward. Elijah's thus dividing the waters of Jordan was interpreted by Martin, "As his `undoing' the victorious crossing of Israel under Joshua some four centuries earlier."[14] There is surely a strong possibility of this being a true understanding of what happened; because Israel's apostasy and their wholesale degeneration into the same wicked perversions of the prior Canaanites who had inhabited the land before them most positively did indicate a reversal of God's purpose in dealing with the Northern kingdom.

"Where is Jehovah, the God of Elijah" (2 Kings 2:14) ? "This question suggests that Elisha was not sure of the result at this time."[15] However, Elisha never again doubted that the power and spirit of Elijah indeed rested upon him.