2 Kings 2:12

My father, my father That this title of affection was given by the younger prophets to an elder seems clear from 1 Samuel 10:12, where the question -Who is their father?" appears to refer to Samuel, and the whole passage to shew that men need not be surprised at Saul being among the prophets, if they only know that he is coming from close communication with Samuel. The use of the title -father" suits perfectly with the request that has just been made for the share which falls to the firstborn.

the chariot[R.V. chariots] of Israel, and the horsemen thereof These words are in apposition with the former clause, and mark the sense which Elisha had of the protection afforded to the land by the presence of Elijah. Horses and chariots might be prepared in abundance, but they who had God's prophet as their guide, and his voice lifted to heaven for their help, were guarded by a might against which armies were powerless. Though the noun in the Hebrew is in the singular, it has a plural sense here, and signifies -the chariotry", the mounted force of the nation, to which Elijah's presence is here compared.

and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them Grief prevailing over every other feeling, and the Oriental demonstrativeness being uncontrollable even in the lonely gorges of Gilead.

We may compare this -taking away" with the translation of Enoch, and the Ascension of Christ, as marking the three periods of the world's history, giving witness to each of man's immortality, but in very different degrees.