What is the context?
Elijah finds Elisha son of Shaphat plowing with twelve teams of oxen, working with the twelfth. He throws his cloak around him, and Elisha understands that he is being called to follow.
Elisha asks to bid his parents goodbye. He then slaughters his pair of oxen, uses their equipment as fuel, cooks the meat and shares it with the people.
He sets out to follow and serve Elijah. The departure is concrete: the work and equipment that occupied him are left behind as he begins the service God has named for him.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley and Gill understand the destruction of the working equipment and the shared meal as a decisive departure from Elisha’s earlier occupation. His response expresses willingness to undertake the new service.
Henry emphasizes that he is called while doing ordinary, honest work. He leaves it to accompany Elijah, beginning with service and learning as the older prophet’s companion.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The combination of a plow, a family farewell and a call to follow appears again in Luke 9:57–62. Jesus speaks of the urgency of God’s kingdom and warns against putting a hand to the plow while looking back.
The scenes offer a clear parallel in the cost and direction of following. Elisha’s departure shows a real change of commitment; Jesus calls His followers to a similarly undivided response to the kingdom He proclaims. The focus is the response to the call, rather than one outward action every disciple must reproduce.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.