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From: 1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21

Elijah’s encounter with God

[The Lord said to Elijah:] [16b] “Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you
shall anoint to be prophet in your place.”

The call of Elisha

[19] So he departed from thee, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was
ploughing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Eli-
jah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. [20] 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?”
[21] And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew
them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the peo-
ple, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.

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Commentary:

15-18. It is important to note that the “anointing” given to the prophet Elisha is
on a par with that given to the kings – and that there is already a reference here
to the remnant of Israel (cf. Is 4:3).

19-21. Elisha’s response to Elijah’s call is quite exemplary: he leaves everything
behind and puts himself at the disposal of the prophet. That will be how the apos-
tles respond to Christ (cf. Mt 4:20, 22; etc.), and it should be how anyone re-
sponds when the Lord calls him or her to a mission which involves leaving every-
thing. But the call issued by Jesus is more pressing than Elijah’s, as can be
seen from the Gospel passage where Jesus, in response to someone who says,
“I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home,” replies,
“No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of
God” (Lk 9:61-62). Obedience to a call involves a radical self-surrender: “Detach
yourself from people and things until you are stripped of them. For, says Pope
St. Gregory, the devil has nothing of his own in this world, and naked he comes
to battle. If you go clothed to fight him, you will soon be pulled to the ground: for
he will have something to catch you by” (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 149).

The name “Elisha” means “My God saves” and it epitomizes this prophet, just
as the name “Elijah” catches the essence of that prophet’s message: “My God
is the Lord.”

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.