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!
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
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 he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Elijah went over to him, and put his mantle on him.
- Exod 14:21–22Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
- Josh 3:14–17When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people,
- 2 Kgs 2:14He took Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided apart, and Elisha went over.
- Ps 114:5–7What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back?
- 1 Kgs 19:13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
- Isa 11:15Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River, and will split it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.
- Heb 11:29By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.
- Rev 16:12The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise.
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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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