Part 382

Double spirit.... A double portion of thy spirit, as the eldest son and heir: or thy spirit which is double in comparison of that which God usually imparteth to his prophets.

2:10. And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it.

2:11. And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold, a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2:12. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces.

2:13. And he took up the mantle of Elias, that fell from him: and going back, he stood on the bank of the Jordan;

2:14. And he struck the waters with the mantle of Elias, that had fallen from him, and they were not divided. And he said: Where is now the God of Elias? And he struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and Eliseus passed over.

2:15. And the sons of the prophets, at Jericho, who were over against him, seeing it, said: The spirit of Elias hath rested upon Eliseus. And coming to meet him, they worshipped him, falling to the ground.

They worshipped him.... viz., with an inferior, yet religious veneration, not for any temporal, but spiritual excellency.

2:16. And they said to him: Behold, there are with thy servants, fifty strong men, that can go, and seek thy master, lest, perhaps, the spirit of the Lord, hath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said: Do not send.

2:17. But they pressed him, till he consented, and said: Send. And they sent fifty men: and they sought three days, but found him not.

2:18. And they came back to him: for he abode at Jericho, and he said to them: Did I not say to you? Do not send.

2:19. And the men of the city, said to Eliseus: Behold the situation of this city is very good, as thou, my lord, seest: but the waters are very bad, and the ground barren.

2:20. And he said: Bring me a new vessel, and put salt into it. And when they had brought it,

2:21. He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there shall be no more in them death or barrenness.

2:22. And the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Eliseus, which he spoke.

2:23. And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head.

2:24. And looking back, he saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord: and there came forth two bears out of the forest, and tore of them, two and forty boys.

Cursed them.... This curse, which was followed by so visible a judgment of God, was not the effect of passion, or of a desire of revenging himself; but of zeal for religion, which was insulted by these boys, in the person of the prophet; and of a divine inspiration: God punishing in this manner the inhabitants of Bethel, (the chief seat of the calf worship,) who had trained up their children in a prejudice against the true religion and its ministers.

2:25. And from thence he went to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

4 Kings Chapter 3

The kings of Israel, Juda, and Edom, fight against the king of Moab. They want water, which Eliseus procureth without rain: and prophesieth victory. The king of Moab is overthrown, his city is besieged: he sacrificeth his firstborn son: so the Israelites raise the siege.

3:1. And Joram the son of Achab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda. And he reigned twelve years.

3:2. And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his father and his mother: for he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.

3:3. Nevertheless, he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them.

3:4. Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep, and he paid to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with their fleeces.

3:5. And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had made with the king of Israel.

3:6. And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered all Israel.

3:7. And he sent to Josaphat; king of Juda, saying: The king of Moab is revolted from me: come with me against him to battle. And he answered: I will come up: he that is mine, is thine: my people are thy people: and my horses, thy horses.