And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

And Elias took his mantle and folded it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed over on dry ground.

And Elijah taketh his robe, and wrappeth it together, and smiteth the waters, and they are halved, hither and thither, and they pass over both of them on dry land.

And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided here and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

Then Elijah took off his robe, and, rolling it up, gave the water a blow with it, and the waters were parted, flowing back this way and that, so that they went over on dry land.

And Elijah took his cloak, and he rolled it up, and he struck the waters, which were divided into two parts. And they both went across on dry ground.

They were divided - The attestation to the divine mission of Elijah furnished by this miracle would tend to place him upon a par in the thoughts of men with the two great leaders of the nation named in the marginal references.

Took his mantle - Την μηλωτην αυτου, his sheep-skin, says the Septuagint. The skins of beasts, dressed with the hair on, were formerly worn by prophets and priests as the simple insignia of their office. As the civil authority was often lodged in the hands of such persons, particularly among the Jews, mantles of this kind were used by kings and high civil officers when they bore no sacred character. The custom continues to the present day; a lamb's skin hood or cloak is the badge which certain graduates in our universities wear; and the royal robes of kings and great officers of state are adorned with the skins of the animal called the ermine.
They were divided hither and thither - This was a most astonishing miracle, and could be performed only by the almighty power of God.

And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped [it] together, and smote the (f) waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
(f) That is, of Jordan.

And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together,.... Folded it up close together, in a position to smite with it; this is thought to be not his hairy garment, but a shorter robe, that was worn upon his shoulders; but the Greek version renders it by "melotes", and so in 2-Kings 2:14, which, according to Isidore (l), was a goat's skin, hanging down from the neck, and girt at the loins; and being thus clothed, perhaps, may be the reason of his being called an hairy man, 2-Kings 1:8,
and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither; just as Moses lifted up his rod, and the waters of the sea were divided for the Israelites:
so that they two went over on dry ground; in like manner as the Israelites did through the sea.
(l) Origin. l. 19. c. 24.

Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters--Like the rod of Moses, it had the divinely operating power of the Spirit.

When they reached the Jordan, Elijah took his prophet's cloak, rolled it up (גּלם, ἁπ. λεγ. convolvit), and smote the water with it; whereupon the water divided hither and thither, so that they both passed through on dry ground. The cloak, that outward sign of the prophet's office, became the vehicle of the Spirit's power which works unseen, and with which the prophet was inspired. The miracle itself is analogous to the miraculous dividing of the Red Sea by the stretching out of Moses' rod (Exodus 14:16, Exodus 14:21); but at the same time it is very peculiar, and quite in accordance with the prophetic character of Elijah, Moses, the leader of the people, performed his miracles with his shepherd's crook, Elijah the prophet divided the river with his prophet's mantle.

Smote the waters - These waters of old yielded to the ark, now to the prophet's mantle; which to those that wanted the ark, was an equivalent token of God's presence. When God will take his children to himself, death is the Jordan, which they must pass through. And they find a way thro' it, a safe and comfortable way. The death of Christ has divided those waters, that the ransomed of the Lord may pass over.