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Read›2 Kings›Chapter 2

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

2 Kings 2:16

In 11 translations

BSB
“Look now,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty valiant men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and put him on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.” “Do not send them,” Elisha replied.
KJV
¶ And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.strong…: Heb. sons of strengthsome mountain: Heb. one of the mountains
WEB
They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps Yahweh’s Spirit has taken him up, and put him on some mountain or into some valley.” He said, “Don’t send them.”
ASV
And they said unto him, Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest the Spirit of Jehovah hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.
LSV
and say to him, “Now behold, there are fifty men with your servants, sons of valor: please let them go, and they seek your lord, lest the Spirit of YHWH has taken him up, and casts him on one of the hills or into one of the valleys”; and he says, “You do not send.”
YLT
and say unto him, 'Lo, we pray thee, there are with thy servants fifty men, sons of valour: let them go, we pray thee, and they seek thy lord, lest the Spirit of Jehovah hath taken him up, and doth cast him on one of the hills, or into one of the valleys;' and he saith, 'Ye do not send.'
DBY
and said to him, Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty valiant men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest perhaps the Spirit of Jehovah have taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some ravine. And he said, Ye shall not send.
DRC
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.
GNV
And said vnto him, Beholde nowe, there be with thy seruants fiftie strong men: let them go, we pray thee, and seeke thy master, if so be the Spirite of the Lord hath taken him vp, and cast him vpon some mountaine, or into some valley. But he said, Ye shall not sende.
JPS
And they said unto him: 'Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master; lest peradventure the spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley.' And he said: 'Ye shall not send.'
LXXE
And they said to him, Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty men of strength: let them go now, and seek thy lord: peradventure the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up, and cast him into Jordan, or on one of the mountains, or on one of the hills. And Elisaie said, Ye shall not send.Gr. sons of strength Hebraism.Gr. lest at any time.

Word by word Hebrew · tap a word

Words in brackets are English the glossers added; the Hebrew has no word for them, and they can carry a choice of tense or meaning.

Where the editions differ

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Spelling, punctuation and minor wording (2)
  • Leningrad Codex reads הַגֵּיאָ֑וֹת; read aloud (Qere) reads הַגֵּאָי֑וֹת (“the valleys”).
  • Written (Ketiv): הַגְּיָאוֹת. Read aloud (Qere): הַגֵּאָי֑וֹת (“the valleys”) — the form shown in the word-by-word reader.

Edition differences: STEP Bible, based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0). Names and codes expanded; consecutive words grouped. Comparisons follow the editions used by the source; see version details.

Original-language editions

WLC
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֡יו הִנֵּה־נָ֣א יֵֽשׁ־אֶת־עֲבָדֶיךָ֩ חֲמִשִּׁ֨ים אֲנָשִׁ֜ים בְּנֵֽי־חַ֗יִל יֵ֣לְכוּ נָא֮ וִיבַקְשׁ֣וּ אֶת־אֲדֹנֶיךָ֒ פֶּן־נְשָׂאוֹ֙ ר֣וּחַ יְהוָ֔ה וַיַּשְׁלִכֵ֨הוּ֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד הֶהָרִ֔ים א֖וֹ בְּאַחַ֣ת הגיאות וַיֹּ֖אמֶר לֹ֥א תִשְׁלָֽחוּ׃Read aloud as (qere): הַגֵּאָי֑וֹת
LXX-Br
καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἰδοὺ δὴ μετὰ τῶν παίδων σου πεντήκοντα ἄνδρες υἱοὶ δυνάμεως· πορευθέντες δὴ ζητησάτωσαν τὸν κύριόν σου, μή ποτε ᾖρεν αὐτὸν πνεῦμα Κυρίου, καὶ ἔῤῥιψεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ ἢ ἐφʼ ἓν τῶν ὀρέων ἢ ἐφʼ ἕνα τῶν βουνῶν· καὶ εἶπεν Ἑλισαιὲ, οὐκ ἀποστελεῖτε.

Who and where

👤 God◆ Prophecies of Elisha

People, places and events the Theographic dataset links to this verse.

How traditions read it

Identified with the Holy Spirit in Christian tradition · Holy Spirit

The Hebrew speaks of the spirit (rûaḥ) of God or of the LORD. Christian tradition identifies it with the Holy Spirit, a person of the Trinity; Jewish tradition reads it as God's own power or presence, not a separate person.

In the reference works topics that cite this verse

From public-domain Bible dictionaries and topical indexes (1884–1915).

Cross-references most cited first

  • 1 Kings 18:12I do not know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you off when I leave you. Then when I go and tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the LORD from my youth.
  • Acts 8:39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.
  • 2 Corinthians 12:2–3I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not…
  • Ezekiel 11:24And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me,
  • Ezekiel 40:2In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city.
  • Ezekiel 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
  • Ezekiel 8:3He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the…

From the OpenBible.info cross-reference set (votes from readers; not every link is a quotation or allusion).

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