2 Kings 2:17

17 But they urged him until embarrassing [him], so he said, "Send them." So they sent fifty men, and they looked for three days, but they could not find him.

2 Kings 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 2:17

And when they urged him until he was ashamed
To deny them any longer, being so very pressing and importunate:

he said, send;
lest they should think he had not the respect for his master he should have had; or was so fond of his office, that he did not choose he should be found alive if he could, and return and reassume it:

they sent therefore fifty men;
some one way, and some another:

and they sought three days, but found him not;
and then returned.

2 Kings 2:17 In-Context

15 When the sons of the prophets who [were] at Jericho saw him from [the] other side, they declared, "The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha," and they came to meet him and bowed down to him to the ground.

16 Then they said to him, "Look, there are with your servants fifty able men. Please let them go and look for your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has lifted him up and thrown him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys," but he said, "You must not send them."

17 But they urged him until embarrassing [him], so he said, "Send them." So they sent fifty men, and they looked for three days, but they could not find him.

18 Then they returned to him while he [was] staying in Jericho. He said to them, "Did I not tell you not to go?"

19 The men of the city said to Elisha, "Please now, the location of the city [is] good, as my master can see, but the water [is] bad and the land unproductive."