2 Kings 2:8 (YLT)

Passage

And Elijah taketh his robe, and wrappeth <FI>it<Fi> together, and smiteth the waters, and they are halved, hither and thither, and they pass over both of them on dry land.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 2:6 And Elijah saith to him, `Abide, I pray thee, here, for Jehovah hath sent me to the Jordan;' and he saith, `Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, if I leave thee;' and they go on both of them,

2 Kings 2:7 --and fifty men of the sons of the prophets have gone on, and stand over-against afar off--and both of them have stood by the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:8 And Elijah taketh his robe, and wrappeth <FI>it<Fi> together, and smiteth the waters, and they are halved, hither and thither, and they pass over both of them on dry land.

2 Kings 2:9 And it cometh to pass, at their passing over, that Elijah hath said unto Elisha, `Ask, what do I do for thee before I am taken from thee?' and Elisha saith, `Then let there be, I pray thee, a double portion of thy spirit unto me;'

2 Kings 2:10 and he saith, `Thou hast asked a hard thing; if thou dost see me taken from thee, it is to thee so; and if not, it is not.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "elijah", "taketh", "robe", "wrappeth", "together", "smiteth", "waters", and "halved". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "elijah" and "taketh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "and fifty men of the sons of..." into verse 9's "And it cometh to pass at their...", so "elijah" and "taketh" 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 "elijah" and "taketh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.