New English Translation
1 Kings 19:20
20He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, then I will follow you.” Elijah said to him, “Go back! Indeed, what have I done to 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
18I still have left in Israel seven thousand followers who have not bowed their knees to Baal or kissed the images of him.” 19Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen; he was near the twelfth pair. Elijah passed by him and threw his robe over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, then I will follow you.” Elijah said to him, “Go back! Indeed, what have I done to you?” 21Elisha went back and took his pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He cooked the meat over a fire that he made by burning the harness and yoke. He gave the people meat and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and became his assistant.
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 left their nets immediately and followed him.
- Matthew 9:9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.
- Matthew 19:27Then Peter said to him, “Look, we have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
- Matthew 8:21Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
- Luke 9:61Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.”
- Acts 20:37They all began to weep loudly, and hugged 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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries