Double Portion?
2KI.2.9
Let's talk EliYahu and Elisha.
Our normal English translations say:
"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.”- 2 Kings 2:9 NASB95.
However, the Hebrew doesn't actually say that....
"When they had crossed over, Eliyahu said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let TWO THIRDS of your spirit be upon me.”
The "Double Portion" in actuality is 2/3.
Big difference right?
The Hebrew here is : פִּי־שְׁנַיִם
(Pi Shenayim)
Archaeologists in Israel found weights labeled pi (פי) for a third of a shekel, and weights marked pi-mem (פימ) for two-thirds of a shekel. That suggests pi shenayim literally means two-thirds—not double.
Don't believe me?
The exact same Hebrew construction appears in Zechariah 13:8:
‘Two parts (פִּי־שְׁנַיִם) in it shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left in it.’
It's actually in Rabbinic literature where we get this idea of doubling for this phrase, and NOT within Hebrew Linguistics itself.
It's even provable that the Firstborn son gets 2/3 of his Father's portion rather than merely a "double portion".
Yosef gets 2/3 of his Father's inheritance rather than merely a portion.
Allow me to explain.
If we exclude Levi (God's portion, 1 Tribe)
And we break up 1.Yehudah, 2. Shimeon, and 3. Benyamin as the southern Kingdom. (Yehudah's portion, 3 Tribes)
4.Yosef, 5 Asher, 6.Dan, 7.Gad, 8.Issachar, , 9.Naphtali, 10.Reuben, and 11.Zebulun (Yosef's portion, 8Tribes)
1/3 of 12 = 4 (Judah+God's portion)
2/3 of 12 = 8 (Yosef)
So in short:
Shenayim = "two"
Pi = "a part" or "a fraction" (understood as 1/3 of the whole)
Pi shenayim = two parts = two-thirds
Yeshua said, “A servant is not greater than his master.” So why would Elisha ask to be twice as great as Eliyahu? Rather, Elisha is asking for a prophetic inheritance as a disciple/son.