So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Elisha left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” He said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?”
- KJV And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
- NKJV And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”
- NASB Then he left the oxen behind and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back, for what have I done to you?”
- NLT Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Elisha asks to bid his parents farewell before following, and Elijah lets him respond freely. The call is real yet leaves room for Elisha's own decision.
Overview
Elisha's request to say goodbye shows the cost of leaving family and former life to follow the prophetic call. Elijah's enigmatic reply puts the decision back on Elisha, who must count the cost himself. The scene anticipates Jesus' teaching that following God's call takes precedence over all earthly ties, though here farewell is granted.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Luke 9:61–62Still another said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family.”
- Matt 8:21–22Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- Acts 20:37They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him.
- Matt 4:22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
- Matt 19:27“Look,” Peter replied, “we have left everything to follow You. What then will there be for us?”
- Matt 4:20And at once they left their nets and followed Him.
- Matt 9:9As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 19:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.