Bible Strands
2 Kings 2:7
Then a company of fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing Elijah and Elisha as the two of them stood by the Jordan.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elijah and Elisha stand by the Jordan River after Elisha declines to remain behind. A group of fifty prophetic disciples positions themselves at a distance to observe the two men.
The words — The Hebrew phrase מִנֶּ֖גֶד מֵרָח֑וֹק (mi./Ne.ged me./ra.Chok) literally renders "from before from a distance," specifying the observers' spatial relationship to the protagonists.
The thread — This numerical grouping echoes earlier prophetic networks in 1 Kings 18:4 and 1 Kings 18:13, and reappears in 2 Kings 2:17 when the same fifty men are dispatched to search for Elijah.
Why it lands — The text records a factual boundary between observers and actors, requiring the reader to recognize that divine transitions are witnessed but not controlled by human institutions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 18:4 for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 1 Kings 18:13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water.
- 2 Kings 2:17 But when they pressed him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find Elijah.