WHAT DOES "DOUBLE PORTION OF YOUR SPIRIT" MEAN?

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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