God’s Word Translation
1 Kings 19:20
20So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye. Then I will follow you.” “Go back,” Elijah answered him. “I’m not stopping you.”
1 Kings 19:20 in other versions
- King James Version (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?
- New International Version (NIV)Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, "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?"
- New King James Version (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?”
Context of 1 Kings 19:20
18But I still have 7,000 people in Israel whose knees have not knelt to worship Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” 19Elijah found Elisha, son of Shaphat. Elisha was plowing behind 12 pairs of oxen. He was using the twelfth pair. Elijah took off his coat and put it on Elisha. So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye. Then I will follow you.” “Go back,” Elijah answered him. “I’m not stopping you.” 21Elisha left him, took two oxen, and butchered them. He boiled the meat, using the oxen’s yoke ⌞for firewood⌟. He gave the meat to the people to eat. Then he left to follow and assist Elijah.
Read all of 1 Kings 191 Kings 19:20 word by word
וַיַּעֲזֹ֣ב אֶת־הַבָּקָ֗ר וַיָּ֙רָץ֙ אַחֲרֵ֣י אֵֽלִיָּ֔הוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אֶשְּׁקָה־נָּא֙ לְאָבִ֣י וּלְאִמִּ֔י וְאֵלְכָ֖ה אַחֲרֶ֑יךָ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ לֵ֣ךְ שׁ֔וּב כִּ֥י מֶה־עָשִׂ֖יתִי לָֽךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And he leftעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
- the oxenבָּקָרbâqâr · cattleH1241
- and ranרוּץrûts · to run: runH7323
- afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- Elijahאֵלִיָּה'êlîyâh 'êlîyâhû · ElijahH452
- and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Let me, I pray thee, kissנָשַׁקnâshaq · to kissH5401
- my fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
- and my motherאֵם'êm · motherH517
- I will followיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
- againשׁוּבshûb · to return: againH7725
- for what have I doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
Cross-references for 1 Kings 19:20
- Matthew 4:20They immediately left their nets and followed him.
- Matthew 9:9When Jesus was leaving that place, he saw a man sitting in a tax office. The man’s name was Matthew. Jesus said to him, “Follow me!” So Matthew got up and followed him.
- Matthew 19:27Then Peter replied to him, “Look, we’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?”
- Matthew 8:21Another disciple said to him, “Sir, first let me go to bury my father.”
- Luke 9:61Another said, “I’ll follow you, sir, but first let me tell my family goodbye.”
- Acts 20:37Everyone cried a lot as they put their arms around Paul and kissed him.
Commentaries on 1 Kings 19:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Let me - kiss my father and my mother - Elisha fully understood that he was called by this ceremony to the prophetic office: and it is evident that he conferred not with flesh and blood, but resolved, immediately resolved, to obey; only he wished to bid farewell to his relatives. See below. What have I done to thee? - Thy call is not from me, but from God: to him, not to me, art thou accountable for thy use or abuse of it.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father - Not an unnatural request before following his new spiritual father. Elijah sees in his address a divided heart, and will not give the permission or accept the service thus tendered. Hence, his cold reply. See Luke 9:61-62. Go back again - i. e., “Go, return to thy plowing why shouldest thou quit it? Why take leave of thy friends and come with me? What have I done to thee to require such a sacrifice? for as a…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-21Verses 19-21 Elijah found Elisha by Divine direction, not in the schools of the prophets, but in the field; not reading, or praying, or sacrificing, but ploughing. Idleness is no man's honour, nor is husbandry any man's disgrace. An honest calling in the world, does not put us out of the way of our heavenly calling, any more than it did Elisha. His heart was touched by the Holy Spirit, and he was ready to leave all to attend Elijah. It is in a day of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-21The anointing of Elisha concludes the Lord’s instructions to Elijah. Elisha performed the other two anointings that God had originally assigned to Elijah (1 Kings 19:15–16), as recorded in (2 Kings 8:7–15; 9:1–10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. what have I done to thee?--that is, Go, but keep in mind the solemn ceremony I have just performed on thee. It is not I, but God, who calls thee. Do not allow any earthly affection to detain you from obeying His call.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 19:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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