2 Kings 2:12 (DBY)

Passage

And Elisha saw [it], and he cried, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own garments and rent them in two pieces.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 2:10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be [so].

2 Kings 2:11 And it came to pass as they went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire; and they parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into the heavens.

2 Kings 2:12 And Elisha saw [it], and he cried, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own garments and rent them in two pieces.

2 Kings 2:13 And he took up the mantle of Elijah which fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan;

2 Kings 2:14 and he took the mantle of Elijah which had fallen from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah, the God of Elijah? He also smote the waters, and they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "elisha", "cried", "father", "chariot", "israel", "horsemen", and "thereof". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "elisha" and "cried", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And it came to pass as they..." into verse 13's "And he took up the mantle of...", so "elisha" and "cried" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "elisha" and "cried" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.