In II Kings 2:14, do you believe Elisha strikes the water twice with the mantle of Elijah or just once?<\/p>\n\t
“Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over<\/em>” (II Kings 2:14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The difficulty comes in because the phrase “and he struck the water” appears twice in the same tense. The Latin Vulgate took the position that he struck the water twice and thus rendered it: “And he smote the waters,\u00a0but they did not divide<\/em>; and he said, Where is the God of Elijah even now? And he struck the waters and they were divided hither and thither.” But notice that the translator added a phrase that is not in the original Hebrew in order to explain why he thought the waters were struck twice. The Catholic Bibles, which rely heavily on the Latin Vulgate, follow suit in their translations.<\/p>\n
All other translations that I know of have taken the position that Elisha struck the waters once and thus render the second phrase as a repeat of what Elisha has already done. There is an additional case for this because the word for “also” does appear in the second phrase (something the Latin Vulgate left out).<\/p>\n
The translations leaving it slightly vague as to whether the waters were struck once or twice are the most faithful to what the Hebrew states. I doubt it makes too much difference in the understanding of the events, one way or the other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: In II Kings 2:14, do you believe Elisha strikes the water twice with the mantle of Elijah or just once? Answer: “Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1151,1128],"class_list":["post-19187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-elisha","tag-ii-kings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88260,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/picking-up-elijahs-mantle\/","url_meta":{"origin":19187,"position":0},"title":"Picking up Elijah\u2019s Mantle","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Elijah did what he could to keep truth alive in a generation of Israelites that forgot God's law and were into the latest fads and popular religions of their day. Baal had become the sensation, and God's order had become boring in the eyes of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54926,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/elishas-commitment\/","url_meta":{"origin":19187,"position":1},"title":"Elisha’s Commitment","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Kings 19:19-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Elijah had despaired that his work had been for naught - I Kings 19:14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God told him that he had work to do - I Kings 19:15-17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Elijah thought he was alone, but now he learns Hazael and Jehu are to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41151,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/elijah\/","url_meta":{"origin":19187,"position":2},"title":"Elijah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 17:1-13 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Bible is filled with memorable characters. Among the prophets, Elijah stands out. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t know much about his background. He just suddenly appears on the scene forecasting doom to Ahab - I Kings 17:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His name means \u201cYahweh is my God\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21048,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-point-of-the-story-of-elisha-the-42-youths-and-the-bears\/","url_meta":{"origin":19187,"position":3},"title":"What is the point of the story of Elisha, the 42 youths, and the bears?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I do not quite understand the story in II Kings 2:23-25. What is the point there? Is it okay for a prophet to curse somebody in the name of the Lord? How about other believers of God? Can they curse somebody in the name of the Lord? According to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48989,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-is-in-the-small-stuff\/","url_meta":{"origin":19187,"position":4},"title":"God Is in the Small Stuff","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Rhonda Smart I am always delighted when I come across stories in the Bible that at first glance may seem insignificant but upon a deeper dive, I realize they serve as one more way for God to show just how much he loves us. Even though He has a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0011-9-300x241.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":67063,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-king-of-moab-sacrificing-his-son-cause-great-wrath-against-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":19187,"position":5},"title":"How can the King of Moab sacrificing his son cause great wrath against Israel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you also explain II Kings 3:26-27 for me? 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