1 Kings 19:20 (DBY)

Passage

And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee. And he said to him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee?

Nearby Context

1 Kings 19:18 Yet I have left [myself] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him.

1 Kings 19:19 And he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing [with] twelve yokes before him, and he with the twelfth; and Elijah went over to him, and cast his mantle on him.

1 Kings 19:20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee. And he said to him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee?

1 Kings 19:21 And he returned back from him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. And he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "left", "oxen", "after", "elijah", "said", "pray", "thee", and "kiss". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "left" and "oxen", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And he departed thence and found Elisha..." into verse 21's "And he returned back from him and...", so "left" and "oxen" belong inside that flow. In 1 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "left" and "oxen" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.