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NASB | 2 Kings 2:9 ¶ When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Kings 2:9 ¶ And when they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." |
Bible Question:
Greetings in Christ Jesus, charis et al. Somewhere back down the line many years ago I came across the following definition of the "double portion". (If this has already been discussed in this thread I apologize for the redundancy of my post.) The "double portion" indeed was the inheritance of the first-born. But it was not twice the possessions of the father (this would be impossible--nobody can give away more than they actually possess); rather, it was two-thirds of the total inheritance. Now, if we take a "whole" and divide it into three parts, the one that gets two-thirds of the whole is considered to have received the "double portion", because in fact he has received twice the amount of the remainder of the inheritance. When I was a child I remember hearing men say that Elisha performed twice as many major miracles as Elijah because he received a "double portion" of his spirit. I think such reasoning is very superficial. I do not believe Elisha had "twice" the anointing of Elijah, nor do I believe he only had two-thirds of the anointing of Elijah. I believe Elisha asked for and received the inheritance of the first-born; i.e., even though he was not the literal son of Elijah, he became his spiritual successor--just as a literal first-born son would become the natural successor to his father. Oh well, this is just my 2 cents' worth--which is a double portion of one-third of three. :) Kind regards, Tim D. Cormier Tennessee Preacher |
Bible Answer: Dear 10EC, (I know it's Tim, but I like 10EC! :-)) Greetings in Jesus' name! I have heard that one too! Let me add yet another: The 50 got a 'single-portion,' and Elisha got twice as much as these 'less-faithful' prophets. (they weren't present when Elijah was taken up) Therefore, Elisha got a 'double-portion.' However, all that said, I agree with you that it is probably not 2X of anything, or even 2/3, but the 'full-portion' of the God-given gift. (dare I say ministry, spirit, endowment or anointing [Greek! :-)]?) After all, both Elijah and Elisha were 'great' prophets! But to argue which had more 'power' is akin to the sons of Zebedee trying to be closer to the Lord than the other disciples, yes? By the way, I have heard that there is a lot of abuse of the word 'anointing' which may be the reason for some amount of 'sensitivity' to this word. As I am far away from the blessing of 'mainstream American Christianity' I was unaware that we cant use this word without rousing xenophobic reaction. Peace! Blessings to you for your 2 cents! This is my 2 yen. (presently worth 1.48 cents, or .0174 Euros) In Christ Jesus, charis |