Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 2:17

"And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not." — 2 Kings 2:17 (ASV)

Urged him. —Genesis 33:11.

Till he was ashamed. —Literally, until being ashamed. The pronoun is not expressed in the Hebrew. “They pressed upon him, ‘ad bôsh,” means “until he was embarrassed, disconcerted, or abashed.” (Compare to 2 Kings 8:11; Judges 3:25.) Thenius prefers “they carried their persistence to a shameless length;” Keil and Bähr, “until he was disappointed in the hope of dissuading them.” (Compare to Psalms 22:5.)