1 Kings 19:19

19 So he departed 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 1his mantle on him.

1 Kings 19:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 19:19

So he departed thence
From Mount Horeb, and came to Abelmeholah, which Bunting computes F26 at one hundred and fifty six miles:

and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing with twelve yoke
of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth;
which may be understood either of twelve couple of oxen drawing one plough; which was a large number, but will not seem strange when it is observed, that Abelmeholah, where Elisha was ploughing, lay in the vale of Jordan, which was a clayey stiff ground, and required such a number of oxen to plough it up, especially at the first tilling of it, as this might be {a}; compare ( 1 Kings 4:12 ) ( 7:46 ) A late traveller F2 observes, that at Damegraed, in upper Egypt on the Nile, six oxen yoked to plough had a great deal of difficulty to turn up the ground; or else, as the Jewish writers generally understand it, there were twelve ploughs, and a yoke of oxen to each, and a ploughman to attend everyone, and Elisha attended the twelfth; or was with one of the twelve, as the Targum, and might have the oversight of them all; Kimchi thinks, and so Abarbiuel after him, that this signified that he should be leader of the twelve tribes of Israel: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him;
the skirts of it.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Travels p. 204.
F1 See Fuller's Pisgah-Sight B. 2. ch. 8. p. 175.
F2 Norden's Travels in Egypt and Arabia, vol. 2. p. 85.

1 Kings 19:19 In-Context

17 "It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.
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."
19 So he departed 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.
20 He left 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?"
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.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 1 Samuel 28:14; 2 Kin 2:8, 13, 14
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