(6) Said unto him.--Syriac adds, "unto Elisha;" Arabic, as 2Kings 2:4, and so three MSS.

And he said.--LXX., "and Elisha said"--an improvement.

"Not only Elisha, the intimate companion and future successor of Elijah, but all the disciples of the different 'schools of the prophets,' have the presentiment of the loss which threatens them. The Spirit has warned them all; they communicate their fears, but Elisha forbids them to give free course to their sorrow. A respectful silence, a resignation not exempt from foreboding, suits this condition of things. Elisha clings to his master, as though he could keep him back; the disciples follow them with their eyes. The monotony of the successive scenes adds to the solemn effect of the total description" (Reuss).

Verse 6. - And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. Elijah makes a third effort to detach his follower from him, or a third trial of his fidelity. He is ordered, not to a town, where his follower might find lodging and refreshment and companionship, but into the open country - to the Jordan. And then, who can say whither? Will it not be best for Elisha to leave him now, and not continue a wandering which threatens to be endless? But the follower is staunch; nothing daunts him; and he makes the same reply as before. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.

2:1-8 The Lord had let Elijah know that his time was at hand. He therefore went to the different schools of the prophets to give them his last exhortations and blessing. The removal of Elijah was a type and figure of the ascension of Christ, and the opening of the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Elisha had long followed Elijah, and he would not leave him now when he hoped for the parting blessing. Let not those who follow Christ come short by tiring at last. The waters of Jordan, of old, yielded to the ark; now, to the prophet's mantle, as a token of God's presence. When God will take up his faithful ones to heaven, death is the Jordan which they must pass through, and they find a way through it. The death of Christ has divided those waters, that the ransomed of the Lord may pass over. O death, where is thy sting, thy hurt, thy terror!And Elijah said unto him, tarry, I pray thee, here,.... At Jericho, seemingly very desirous to get rid of him, that he might not see his assumption:

for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan: where passing that he was to be taken up:

and he said, &c; Elisha swore, as before, he would not leave him:

and they two went on; to Jordan, which was six miles from Jericho (k).

(k) Travels, &c. p. 205.