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?”
Parallel translations
- 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?
- BSB 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?”
- 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 9:61–62Another also said, “I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to say good-bye to those who are at my house.”
- Matt 8:21–22Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
- Acts 20:37They all wept a lot, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him,
- Matt 4:22They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.
- Matt 19:27Then Peter answered, “Behold, we have left everything, and followed you. What then will we have?”
- Matt 4:20They immediately left their nets and followed him.
- Matt 9:9As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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
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