WHAT DOES "DOUBLE PORTION OF YOUR SPIRIT" MEAN?

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There are two places in the King James Version of the Bible where specific reference is made of the phrase "double portion".

Deuteronomy 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the firstborn . . . by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his”.

2 Kings 2:9 “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?” Elisha answered, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me” 

The term simply refers to the right of the firstborn as seen in the expression in Deuteronomy 21:17. What Elisha asked for was to be treated as the firstborn among the sons of the prophets. Here are excerpt from notable Bible Commentaries:

Elisha asks to be treated as the firstborn among “the sons of the prophets,” and so to receive twice as great a share of “the spirit and power” of his master as any of the rest. “Let me be the firstborn among thy spiritual sons;” “Make me thy true spiritual heir;” not “Give me twice as great a share of the spirit of prophecy as thou possesses thyself,” as many have wrongly interpreted. - Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers.

This request was not, as is commonly supposed, for the power of working miracles exceeding the magnitude and number of his master's, nor does it mean a higher endowment of the prophetic spirit; for Elisha was neither superior to, nor perhaps equally great with, his predecessor. But the phrase, "a double portion," was applied to the first-born [Deut 21:17], and therefore Elisha's request was, simply, to be heir to the prophetic office and gifts of his master. - Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary.

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