2 Kings 2

Gilgal’s location is unclear. Joshua 4:19 puts it on Canaan’s border and identifies it as Israel’s staging camp before they launched the attack on Jericho. But Deuteronomy 11:30 seems to put it near the center of Canaan, close to  Shechem and the sacred oaks of Moreh that Abraham passed by, as reported in Genesis 12:6. If Gilgal was within a few miles of Jericho, it would have been about 10 miles (16 km) east of Bethel. Shechem was roughly 20 miles (32 km) north of Bethel.

A more literal, yet cryptic way of translating Elisha: “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” It sounds like Elisha is asking for the right of the oldest son to receive twice as much as any of his younger brothers, and to become the Alpha Male leader of the extended family (Deuteronomy 21:17). Bible writers seemed to describe Elijah as the Number One prophet of his day—leader of the scattered communities of prophets. Elisha wanted to take Elijah’s place. Many scholars say, Elisha wasn’t asking for twice the miracle-working power of Elijah, or double Elijah’s Spirit of God. He wanted to fill the job opening. He wanted the “spirit,” in Hebrew the ruah. It’s a word that can mean “breath” or “wind” or “a spiritual being.” Maybe the term hinted that he wanted the words from heaven, he wanted to deliver God’s message. It’s ironic that the word can also mean “wind,” given what happens to Elijah.

With this approach, Elijah tossed the ball to God. God would make the decision about what to do.

Bible stories about God often include fire and wind. The stories of the Hebrew exodus out of slavery in Egypt have Moses talking to a burning bush (Exodus 3) and the people crossing a sea after an all-night wind blew back the water (Exodus 14).

Scholars don’t agree about how to explain what just happened. Was it a theophany—a physical expression of a spiritual or celestial event? Was it physical and literal—horses that could toast a hotdog? Was it physical and metaphorical—lightning and a tornado or maybe an intense thunderstorm associated with a powerful dust storm? Or was it a vision of heaven’s military carrying Elijah away. What remains of the story is the teaching that Elijah never died. Jews today set a cup of wine out for Elijah at every annual Passover meal known as a seder. Some teach that Elijah will come before the Messiah comes, as one prophet seemed to predict (Malachi 4:5). Jesus later taught that John the Baptist fulfilled that prophecy (Matthew 11:14).

This sounds like a spin-off story or spin-off miracle or both from the story in Joshua 3, with the Israelites finally crossing into the Promised Land. Here, Elijah is headed to a different Promised Land. Some scholars say this miracle was God’s way of confirming Elisha had become Elijah’s successor. And it could have been Elisha’s deliberate way of getting confirmation if he needed it. And his question to God seems to suggest he did.

The Hebrew word for “ministry” is ruah, which has many meanings: breath, wind, spiritual essence of a person, spirit being. In the context of the story, the prophets seemed to recognize that Elijah’s ministry as Israel’s  leading prophet had just fallen to Elijah’s apprentice, Elisha.

A “curse” is the opposite of what Elisha had just done when he blessed the Jericho spring. His words healed the water and hurt the boys. He didn’t throw out the babies with the bathwater. He kept the bathwater. It’s hard to knowhow Elisha cursed the boys. Maybe he did it our way, with purple words. Maybe it was a ritual collection of words. Maybe it was just a prayer for a little payback. The bears, on the other hand, may have cared nothing about Elisha’s words but a lot about the boys playing near the bear cubs.

Samaria was the capital of the northern Jewish nation of Israel. It had been ever since King Ahab’s father, Omri, built the city. Shechem and Tirzah had been capitals of earlier dynasties.