2 Kings 2:17

17 But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send them." So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him.

2 Kings 2:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 2:17

And when they urged him until he was ashamed
To deny them any longer, being so very pressing and importunate:

he said, send;
lest they should think he had not the respect for his master he should have had; or was so fond of his office, that he did not choose he should be found alive if he could, and return and reassume it:

they sent therefore fifty men;
some one way, and some another:

and they sought three days, but found him not;
and then returned.

2 Kings 2:17 In-Context

15 When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
16 They said to him, "See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley." He responded, "No, do not send them."
17 But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send them." So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him.
18 When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, "Did I not say to you, Do not go?"
19 Now the people of the city said to Elisha, "The location of this city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.