וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִקְשִׁ֣יתָ לִשְׁא֑וֹל אִם־תִּרְאֶ֨ה אֹתִ֜י לֻקָּ֤ח מֵֽאִתָּךְ֙ יְהִֽי־לְךָ֣ כֵ֔ן וְאִם־אַ֖יִן לֹ֥א יִהְיֶֽה׃
At sinabi niya: “Mahirap na bagay ang hiniling mo. Kung makikita mo ako habang kinukuha mula sa iyo, mangyayari iyon sa iyo; ngunit kung hindi, hindi iyon mangyayari.”
Midrash Tanchuma
Furthermore, when a person welcomes another into his home he must treat the visitor with greater respect than he accords his own father and mother. You find that when Elijah said to Elisha: Ask what I shall do for thee before I am taken from thee (II Kings 2:9), Elisha replied: Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. Thereupon Elijah responded: Thou hast asked a difficult thing; nevertheless, if thou shouldst see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and hordes of fire, which parted them both asunder (ibid., vv. 10–11). Surely it was Elisha’s duty to visit his father and mother first in order to revive them, but instead he revived the son of his host, the Shunammite’s son. Similarly Elijah should have revived his father, instead of reviving the son of (the widow of) Zarephath, but he risked his life in appreciation for her hospitality.