1 Kings 19:20 (LSB)

Passage

So he forsook the oxen 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 again, for what have I done to you?”

Nearby Context

1 Kings 19:18 Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

1 Kings 19:19 So he went from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.

1 Kings 19:20 So he forsook the oxen 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 again, for what have I done to you?”

1 Kings 19:21 So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "So he went from there and found..." into verse 21's "So he returned from following him and...", so "forsook" 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 "forsook" and "oxen" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.