The water is naught, and the ground barren - The barrenness of the ground was the effect of the badness of the water.

my Lord seeth

Numbers 12:11 And Aaron said to Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech you, lay not the sin on us, wherein we have done foolishly...

1 Kings 18:7,13 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Are you that my lord Elijah...

1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.

the water

Exodus 7:19 And the LORD spoke to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your rod, and stretch out your hand on the waters of Egypt, on their streams...

Exodus 15:23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter...

Joshua 6:17,26 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live...

1 Kings 16:34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn...

barren [heb] causing to miscarry

Exodus 23:26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in your land: the number of your days I will fulfill.

Deuteronomy 28:2-4,11,15-18 And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of the LORD your God...

Hosea 9:14 Give them, O LORD: what will you give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Gentleness Succeeding Strength
'He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 14. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. 15. And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Formation and History of the Hebrew Canon.
1. The Greek word canon (originally a straight rod or pole, measuring-rod, then rule) denotes that collection of books which the churches receive as given by inspiration of God, and therefore as constituting for them a divine rule of faith and practice. To the books included in it the term canonical is applied. The Canon of the Old Testament, considered in reference to its constituent parts, was formed gradually; formed under divine superintendence by a process of growth extending through …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

The Call of Elisha
God had bidden Elijah anoint another to be prophet in his stead. "Elisha the son of Shaphat . . . shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room" (1 Kings 19:16), He had said; and in obedience to the command, Elijah went to find Elisha. As he journeyed northward, how changed was the scene from what it had been only a short while before! Then the ground was parched, the farming districts unworked, for neither dew nor rain had fallen for three and a half years. Now on every hand vegetation was springing …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings