And Elisha... cried. — Literally, And Elisha was seeing, and he (emphatic) was shouting. (Comp. 2 Kings 2:10, “If thou see me taken away.”)
My father, my father. — Expresses what Elijah was to Elisha. (See Note on 2 Kings 2:9.)
The chariot (chariots — rèkeb) of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. — Expressing what Elijah was to the nation. The Targum paraphrases, “My master, my master, who was better to Israel than chariots and horsemen by his prayers.” The personal work and influence of a prophet like Elijah was the truest safeguard of Israel. The force of the expression will be seen, if it is remembered that chariots and horsemen constituted, in that age, the chief military arm, and were indispensable for the struggle against the Aramean states. (Comp. 2 Kings 7:6; 2 Kings 10:2; 2 Kings 13:14; 1 Kings 20:1; Psalms 20:7.)
He saw him no more. — After his outcry. He had seen him taken up.
Rent them in two pieces. — From top to bottom, in token of extreme sorrow. (For the phrase, comp. 1 Kings 11:30.)