ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף מלכים א 19:19

This is not a narcissistic request. Eliyahu HaNavi presumably informs Elisha that Hashem has designated him as his successor after the events at Har Choreiv (Melachim I 19:16 and 19:19-21). Thus, before Eliyahu takes leave of Elisha, Elisha asks for his teacher for help to realize his prophesied destiny.¹⁵⁵Recall Tosafot’s (Yevamot 50a s.v. Teida) dictum that prophecy does not inform one of what will occur, but rather of the potential that could be realized if one acts responsibly.

Perhaps a key to resolving the remaining issues emerges from the dramatic first encounter between Eliyahu HaNavi and Elisha (described in Melachim I 19:19-21). In a previous chapter, we carefully “read between the lines” of this great interaction, and drew some conclusions regarding Eliyahu HaNavi and Elisha’s relationship.

Most major prophets practiced living in isolation for long periods of time, not even engaging in tending sheep. Examples are Elijah and Elisha. Of Elisha we read in Kings I 19,19 that “12 yokes of oxen were ahead of him.” This means that he had already given up his vocation of tending the oxen and had withdrawn from them. This is what Jeremiah meant when he wrote there in verse 20 that Elisha asked permission from Elijah “to let me kiss my father and mother good-by, and I will follow you.” At the end of verse 21 we are told: “Then he arose and followed Elijah and became his attendant.”