2 Kings 2:10
New International Version
“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

New Living Translation
“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”

English Standard Version
And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.”

Berean Standard Bible
“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”

King James Bible
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

New King James Version
So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.

New American Standard Bible
He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.

NASB 1995
He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

NASB 1977
And he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

Amplified Bible
He said, “You have asked for a difficult thing. However, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

Christian Standard Bible
Elijah replied, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me being taken from you, you will have it. If not, you won’t.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Elijah replied, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me being taken from you, you will have it. If not, you won’t.”

American Standard Version
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he said: “You have multiplied the request. If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so to you, and if not, it shall not be.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Eliu said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou shalt see me when I am taken up from thee, then shall it be so to thee; and if not, it shall not be so.

Contemporary English Version
"It won't be easy," Elijah answered. "It can happen only if you see me as I am being taken away."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it.

English Revised Version
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Elijah said, "You have asked for something difficult. If you see me taken from you, it will be yours. Otherwise, it will not."

Good News Translation
"That is a difficult request to grant," Elijah replied. "But you will receive it if you see me as I am being taken away from you; if you don't see me, you won't receive it."

International Standard Version
"That's a hard thing to ask for," Elijah answered, "but if you see me while I'm being taken from you, it will happen for you. But if you don't see me, it won't happen."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he said: 'Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.'

Literal Standard Version
and he says, “You have asked a hard thing; if you see me taken from you, it is to you so; and if not, it is not.”

Majority Standard Bible
“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”

New American Bible
He replied, “You have asked something that is not easy. Still, if you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted; otherwise not.”

NET Bible
Elijah replied, "That's a difficult request! If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don't, it will not happen."

New Revised Standard Version
He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.”

New Heart English Bible
He said, "You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so."

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou shalt see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

World English Bible
He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be so for you; but if not, it will not be so.”

Young's Literal Translation
and he saith, 'Thou hast asked a hard thing; if thou dost see me taken from thee, it is to thee so; and if not, it is not.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Elijah Taken to Heaven
9After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 10“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.” 11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.…

Cross References
Acts 1:10
They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

Genesis 5:24
Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away.


Treasury of Scripture

And he said, You have asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so to you; but if not, it shall not be so.

Thou hast

Mark 11:22-24
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God…

John 16:24
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

2 Kings 2:12
And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

Acts 1:9,10
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight…

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2 Kings 2
1. Elijah, taking his leave of Elisha, with his mantle divides Jordan
9. and, granting Elisha his request, is taken up by a fiery chariot into heaven
12. Elisha, dividing Jordan with Elijah's mantle, is acknowledged his successor
16. The young prophets, hardly obtaining leave to seek Elijah, cannot find him.
19. Elisha with salt heals the unwholesome waters
23. Bears destroy the children that mocked Elisha














(10) Thou hast asked a hard thing.--Because to grant such a petition was not in Elijah's own power, but in God's only. And therefore in the next words the prophet connects the fulfilment of his follower's wish with a condition depending entirely upon the Divine will: "If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee (Keil)." 'If the Lord think thee worthy to witness my departure, thou wilt be worthy to win thy boon.' Elijah thus disclaims power to fulfil the request. At the same time, it is implied that his departure will be something exalted above the perception of ordinary men" (Thenius).

When I am taken.--Literally, taken (participle pu'al, shortened form, as in Exodus 3:2; Isaiah 18:2).

Verse 10. - And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing; literally, thou hast been hard in asking (ἐσκλήρυνας τοῦ αἰτήσασθαι, LXX.). Perhaps the "hardness" of the request was in the thing asked, not in the quantity of the thing. Had Elisha asked for anything that Elijah had it directly in his power to give, as for his mantle, or his blessing, or his prayers in the other world, to grant the request would have been easy. But he had asked for something that was not Elijah's to give, but only God's. Elijah could not bequeath his spirit, as a man bequeaths his property; he could only pray God that Elisha's pious request might be granted. Nevertheless, if thou see ms when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. Our translators have thought to clear the sense by inserting "nevertheless" and "when I am." But the inserted words would be better away. As Elijah cannot either grant or refuse a request for a spiritual gift, which it is not in his power to Bestow, he is divinely instructed to give Elisha a sign, by which he shall know whether God grants his prayer or not. The sign of acceptance is to be his actually seeing his master's translation. Probably the chariot and horses were not visible to the natural human eye, any more than the angelic hosts were who compassed Elisha himself about at Dothan (2 Kings 6:17).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“You have requested
לִשְׁא֑וֹל (liš·’ō·wl)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7592: To inquire, to request, to demand

a difficult thing,”
הִקְשִׁ֣יתָ (hiq·šî·ṯā)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7185: To be hard, severe or fierce

said Elijah.
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“[Nevertheless,] if
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you see
תִּרְאֶ֨ה (tir·’eh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

me
אֹתִ֜י (’ō·ṯî)
Direct object marker | first person common singular
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

as I am taken
לֻקָּ֤ח (luq·qāḥ)
Verb - QalPass - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

from you,
מֵֽאִתָּךְ֙ (mê·’it·tāḵ)
Preposition-m | Direct object marker | second person masculine singular
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

it will be
יְהִֽי־ (yə·hî-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Jussive - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

yours.
לְךָ֣ (lə·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

But if
וְאִם־ (wə·’im-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

not,
אַ֖יִן (’a·yin)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

then it will not
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

be [so].”
יִהְיֶֽה׃ (yih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be


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OT History: 2 Kings 2:10 He said You have asked a hard (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
2 Kings 2:9
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