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2 Kings 2:18

in 2 Kings 2

When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And they came back to him, while he tarried at Jericho; and he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

KJV

And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

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This verse in 2 Kings 2

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Some reckon them in number just double. Two are recorded in these verses--a miracle of mercy to Jericho and a miracle of judgment to Bethel, Ps. ci. Here is a blessing upon the waters of Jericho, which was effectual to heal them.

This site's exposition

we your servants have fifty valiant men

on 2 Kings 2:16-18

The prophets offer fifty men to search, fearing “the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and put him on one of the mountains”. Obadiah feared the same for Elijah at 1 Kings 18:12. Elisha refuses, then yields, and the fifty search three days and find nothing.

This site's exposition

who was staying in Jericho

Elisha stays in Jericho while the fifty search, and the city becomes the scene of his next act. Matthew Henry noted that some count Elisha's miracles at double Elijah's number. Two follow at once, healing for Jericho and judgment at Bethel.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And when they came again to him, for he tarried at Jericho,.... Waiting their return to hear the report they made: which when they had: he said unto them, did I not say unto you, go not? assuring them it would be fruitless, and to no purpose; though this search of theirs served both to confirm the assumption of Elijah, and the truth of Elisha being a prophet of the Lord.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

smote the waters--The waving of the mantle on the river, and the miraculous division of the waters consequent upon it, was an evidence that the Lord God of Elijah was with him, and as this miracle was witnessed by the scholars of the prophets from Jericho, they forthwith recognized the pre-eminence of Elisha, as now the prophet of Israel.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

12 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיָּשֻׁ֣בוּand they returned

    vaiyashuvuH7725 →1056 times

  • אֵלָ֔יוto him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • וְה֖וּאand he

    vehu'H1931 →1879 times

  • יֹשֵׁ֣ב[was] remaining

    yoshevH3427 →1079 times

  • בִּירִיח֑וֹin Jericho

    birichoH3405 →57 times

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them

    ʾalehemH413 →5510 times

  • הֲלֽוֹא־¿ not

    halo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • אָמַ֥רְתִּיdid I say

    ʾamartiH559 →5305 times

  • אֲלֵיכֶ֖םto you

    ʾaleikhemH413 →5510 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תֵּלֵֽכוּ׃you go

    telekhuH1980 →1546 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 2 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Kings 2 →