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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
- NASB And Elijah took his coat, folded it, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
- NLT Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Elijah strikes the Jordan with his mantle and the waters part, letting them cross on dry ground. The miracle echoes God's mighty acts through Moses and Joshua.
Overview
The dividing of the Jordan recalls the crossing of the Red Sea and the earlier Jordan crossing under Joshua, marking Elijah as a prophet in that great tradition. The mantle, soon to pass to Elisha, becomes a sign of the prophetic power God supplies. The God who made a way through the waters is the same God who saves His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Kgs 19:19So 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.
- Exod 14:21–22Then 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,
- Josh 3:14–17So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
- 2 Kgs 2:14Then 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.
- Ps 114:5–7Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back,
- 1 Kgs 19:13When 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?”
- Isa 11:15The 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.
- Heb 11:29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
- Rev 16:12And 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.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 2:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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