2 Kings 2:25

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) To mount Carmel.—To cultivate the memory of his master in solitude. Elijah had often lived there (comp. 1 Kings 18), as its caves were well fitted for solitude and concealment. Elisha may have retired thither to prepare himself for his public ministry by prayer and fasting. (Comp. Matthew 4:1, seq.)

To Samaria.—Where he had his permanent abode. (Comp. 2Kings 6:32.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:19-25 Observe the miracle of healing the waters. Prophets should make every place to which they come better for them, endeavouring to sweeten bitter spirits, and to make barren souls fruitful, by the word of God, which is like the salt cast into the water by Elisha. It was an apt emblem of the effect produced by the grace of God on the sinful heart of man. Whole families, towns, and cities, sometimes have a new appearance through the preaching of the gospel; wickedness and evil have been changed into fruitfulness in the works of righteousness, which are, through Christ, to the praise and glory of God. Here is a curse on the youths of Bethel, enough to destroy them; it was not a curse causeless, for it was Elisha's character, as God's prophet, that they abused. They bade him go up, reflecting on the taking up of Elijah into heaven. The prophet acted by Divine impulse. If the Holy Spirit had not directed Elisha's solemn curse, the providence of God would not have followed it with judgment. The Lord must be glorified as a righteous God who hates sin, and will reckon for it. Let young persons be afraid of speaking wicked words, for God notices what they say. Let them not mock at any for defects in mind or body; especially it is at their peril, if they scoff at any for well doing. Let parents that would have comfort in their children, train them up well, and do their utmost betimes to drive out the foolishness that is bound up in their hearts. And what will be the anguish of those parents, at the day of judgment, who witness the everlasting condemnation of their offspring, occasioned by their own bad example, carelessness, or wicked teaching!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Carmel - Where Elisha held gatherings for religious purposes 2 Kings 4:23-25 during one period of his life, if he did not actually reside there.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

23, 24. there came forth little children out of the city—that is, the idolatrous, or infidel young men of the place, who affecting to disbelieve the report of his master's translation, sarcastically urged him to follow in the glorious career.

bald head—an epithet of contempt in the East, applied to a person even with a bushy head of hair. The appalling judgment that befell them was God's interference to uphold his newly invested prophet.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He went from thence; partly, to decline the fury of the people of Beth-el; partly, that he might retire himself from men, and converse more freely with God, and so fit himself more for the discharge of his employment; and partly, that he might visit the sons of the prophets who lived in that place, or near it.

He returned to Samaria, by the direction of God’s Spirit, for the service which he did, 2 Kings 3:11, &c.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he went from thence to Mount Carmel,.... Where Elijah used to frequent, and where also there might be a school of the prophets; this, according to Bunting (a), was fifty six miles from Bethel:

and from thence he returned to Samaria; the capital of the kingdom of Israel; there to bear his testimony against idolatry, to reprove for it, and reclaim from it; this, as the same writer says (b), was thirty two miles from Carmel.

(a) Travels, &c. p. 206. (b) Ibid.

Geneva Study Bible

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

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25. he went from thence to mount Carmel] At which place, either for the purposes of devotion or because there also was a college of the prophets, we see from 2 Kings 4:25, that Elisha was known to reside from time to time. The Shunammite mother in her distress knows where the prophet is to be found.

and from thence he returned to Samaria] In which city we learn, from the story of Naaman in chapter 5 below, that Elisha had a house. The Israelitish maid also speaks of him there as ‘the prophet that is in Samaria’. His most permanent home therefore was most likely in the royal city, and his visits to Carmel and other places made from time to time, as need required.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 25. - And he went from thence to Mount Carmel. Ewald thinks that Carmel was, on the whole, the main residence of Elijah, and "through him became a special prophetic locality" ('History of Israel,' vol. 4. p. 68). If so, we may account for Elisha's visiting it on this occasion by his desire to communicate the facts of Elijah's removal from earth to those who had been his intimates in that quarter. And from thence he returned to Samaria. Elisha does not imitate the wild, half-savage life and almost constant seclusion of his master. He "prefers from the first the companionship of men," fixes his home in the capital of his country, Samaria (2 Kings 5:9; 2 Kings 6:32); is a friendly counselor of the king (2 Kings 6:9), and highly honored by him (2 Kings 8:4); his whole life, indeed, is, compared with that of Elijah, one of ease and tranquility. But, though living "in the world," he is not "of the world." As Ewald says, "In spite of all the seductions to which he was abundantly exposed through the great consideration in which he was held, he retained at every period of his life the true prophetic simplicity and purity, and contempt for worldly wealth and advantages" ('History of Israel,' vol. 4. p. 83). He is thus, far more than Elijah, a pattern for Christian ministers, especially for such as are highly placed, who will do well to follow his example.



2 Kings 2:25

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Elisha went from Bethel to Carmel (see at 1 Kings 18:19), probably to strengthen himself in solitude for the continuation of his master's work. He returned thence to Samaria, where, according to 2 Kings 6:32, he possessed a house.