Bible Strands
2 Kings 2:8
And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elijah strikes the Jordan River with his rolled cloak while fifty sons of the prophets watch, enabling him and Elisha to cross on dry ground immediately before Elijah's departure. The words — וַ/יִּקַּח (va/i.yi.Kach) translates literally as "and he took," and וַ/יַּכֶּ֣ה (va/i.ya.Keh) means "and he struck," describing the two sequential physical actions Elijah performs with his garment. The thread — The waters parting at Elijah's command runs parallel to the Red Sea crossing at Exodus 14:21 and the Jordan crossing at Joshua 3:14. Why it lands — The narrative requires the reader to acknowledge that prophetic succession is validated by observable divine power rather than human negotiation.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 19:19 So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.
- Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,
- Joshua 3:14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
- 2 Kings 2:14 Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.
- 1 Kings 19:13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
- Psalms 114:5 Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back,
- Isaiah 11:15 The LORD will devote to destruction the gulf of the Sea of Egypt; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams for men to cross with dry sandals.
- Hebrews 11:29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
- Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.