Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 2:6

"And Elijah said unto him, Tarry here, I pray thee; for Jehovah hath sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on." — 2 Kings 2:6 (ASV)

Said to him. —The Syriac version adds, “to Elisha;” the Arabic version reads as in 2 Kings 2:4; and so do three manuscripts.

And he said. —The LXX (Septuagint) reads, “and Elisha said”—an improvement.

“Not only Elisha, the intimate companion and future successor of Elijah, but all the disciples of the different ‘schools of the prophets,’ have a presentiment of the loss that threatens them. The Spirit has warned them all; they communicate their fears, but Elisha forbids them to give full expression to their sorrow.

“A respectful silence, a resignation tinged with foreboding, is fitting for this situation. Elisha clings to his master, as if he could hold him back; the disciples follow them with their eyes. The monotony of the successive scenes adds to the solemn effect of the overall description” (Reuss).