Elijah is taken up to heaven
1Yahweh took Elijah up to heav en in a whirlwind. It happened this way: Elijah and Elisha had left Gilgal, and Elijah said to Elisha,
2 “I beg you to stay here, for Yahweh is send ing me to Bethel.” Elisha said, “I swear by Yahweh and by your life that I will never leave you.” So they went down to Bethel together.
3 The fellow prophets in Bethel went out to wel come Elisha and said to him, “Don’t you know that today Yahweh will take your master away from you?” He answered them, “Yes, I also know it. So, be quiet.”
4 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for Yahweh is only sending me to Jericho.” Elisha answered, “I swear by Yahweh and by your life that I will never leave you.”
5 So they went on to Jericho.
The fellow prophets in Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you not know that Yahweh is to take your master away today?” Elisha answered, “Yes, I know it. Be quiet.”
6 Elijah said once more to Elisha, “Stay here, I beg you, for Yahweh is only sending me to the Jordan.” But Elisha answered, “I swear by Yahweh and by your life that I will never leave you.” And as they went on their way, 1K 19,197 fifty fellow prophets of Jericho followed them at a certain distance.
7 When Elijah and Elisha stood by the Jordan
8 Elijah took his mantle, rolled it, and struck the water with it. The water parted to both sides and they crossed over on dry ground.
9 After they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “What shall I do for you before I am taken away from you? Ask me.” Elisha said, “Grant that I may have the best of your spirit.”
10 Elijah answered, “Your request is most difficult. Yet if you see me while I am being taken from you, then you shall have it. But if not, you shall not have it.”
11 As they were talking on the way, a chariot of fire with horses of fire stood between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
12 Elisha saw him and cried out, “Father, my father, chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”
When Elisha lost sight of him, he took hold of his own clothes and tore them.
13 He then picked up the mantle which had fallen from Elijah and returned to the banks of the Jordan.
14 There he struck the water with the mantle, but it did not part. So he asked, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” And as he struck the water again it parted. Elisha crossed over.
15 The fellow prophets of Jericho saw him from the other side, and said, “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha.” And as they came to him, they bowed to the ground before him saying,
16 “There are fifty valiant men here with us. Let them go in search of Elijah, for it may be that the spirit of Yahweh has left him in some mountain or valley.” Elisha replied, “Do not send anyone.”
17 But they insisted so much that Elisha let them go, and they sent fifty men to search for Elijah.
18 After three days they had not found him and they returned to Elisha, who had stayed in Jericho. He commented, “Did I not tell you not to go?”
19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “The location of this city is good, as my lord can see, but the water is bad, and so the land is unproductive.”
20 He said to them, “Bring me a new pot with salt in it.” When they brought it to him,
21 Elisha went to the fountain and threw salt in it saying, “This is what Yahweh says: I have healed this water, never more will it cause death or sickness.”
22 And the water has remained wholesome to this day, just as Elisha said.
23 From there, he went up to Bethel. He was on his way when some youths came out from the city and made fun of him saying, “Go up, baldhead! Go up, baldhead!”
24 Elisha turned around, looked at them and cursed them in the name of Yahweh. At once, two she-bears came out of the forest and killed forty-two of them.
25 From there Elisha set out for Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
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Comments 2 Kings, Chapter 2
• 2.1 The end of Elijah is one final testimony to the living God who gives life to humans.
Elijah, the solitary prophet, seems to live on high, far from human corruption. That is why God does not let him die as others do. Like Moses, whose tomb was totally unknown (Dt 34:6), Elijah, too, will seem in a certain way, to evade death. These two pillars of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, will be with Jesus during his transfiguration. Nothing, not even death can overcome the one who burned with jealous love for Yahweh, his God, and who fought for him alone.
Yahweh took Elijah up to heaven in whirlwind. When Scripture says that Elijah was taken up to heaven, we must not insist on the image of “going up” (as in the Ascension of Jesus). In those days, people believed that God lived on high, and God, who speaks to people of every age according to their own concepts, wanted Elijah to disappear visibly, as if taken up to heaven.
My father, chariots of Israel and its horsemen! The meaning of Elisha’s exclamation is made clear by Israel’s past. Before their Canaanite enemies who had war chariots and horses, the Israelites, poorly equipped, placed their trust in the Lord, who was their only strength and who became for them the chariots and the horses at the same time. Here Elijah is taken up to heaven by the divine carriage.
Elijah’s strange disappearance will encourage the Jews who hope for the Lord’s triumphant coming to begin the definitive kingdom. The con viction arises among the Jews that Elijah will return at that time and prepare for the coming of the Lord (see Sir 48:1 and Mal 3:32). See what Jesus says to that effect (Mk 9:12).
The Bible leaves us in the dark as to what happened to Elijah. Thus, it prepares us for the announcement of Jesus’ resurrection and the faith of the church in the assumption of Mary, his mother.
• 19. Of all the people in the Bible, Elisha appears as the man most gifted in working miracles, but he is not considered greater than any others because of that. He lives among the sons of prophets, meaning fellow pro phets. These are poor men, with a touch of fanaticism in their faith; living in re ligious communities with their wives and children. They will help Elisha in his mission (see 1 S 19:18).
Elisha receives Elijah’s spirit and continues his mission. Many of his miracles are related in the following chapters. Some may have been expanded or distorted by tradition for teaching purposes (as for example with the forty-two children).