When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” Therefore they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but didn’t find him.
Parallel Translations
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When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” Therefore they sent fifty men; and they searched for three days, but didn’t find him.
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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.
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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.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to 2 Kings 2:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 8:11 He settled his gaze steadfastly on him, until he was ashamed. Then the man of God wept.
- 2 Samuel 18:22-23 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said yet again to Joab, “But come what may, please let me also run after the Cushite.” Joab said, “Why do you want to run, my son, since you will have no reward for the news?” “But come what may,” he said, “I will run.” He said to him, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Cushite.
- Luke 11:8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
- Romans 10:2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
- Hebrews 11:5 By faith, Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn’t see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Ki 2:17 And when they urged him till he…
2Ki 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.
Ver. 17. He said, Send.] Since you have such a mind to it; though you are sure to lose your labour,
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But found him not.] Tired with three days’ search, they turn back as wise as they went. Some men are best satisfied when they have wearied themselves in their own ways. Nothing will teach them wit but disappointments.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Till he was ashamed, i.e. to wit, to deny…
Till he was ashamed, i.e. to wit, to deny them any longer, lest they should think his denial proceeded from a neglect of his master, or a contempt of the sons of the prophets, or a secret content he took in his master’s loss, that he might have his honour and power. Or, till they were ashamed, because he did so oft and so obstinately deny their request.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And when they came again to him, for he…
And when they came again to him, for he tarried at Jericho,.... Waiting their return to hear the report they made: which when they had:
he said unto them, did I not say unto you, go not? assuring them it would be fruitless, and to no purpose; though this search of theirs served both to confirm the assumption of Elijah, and the truth of Elisha being a prophet of the Lord.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Was ashamed - That is, to deny them any…
Was ashamed - That is, to deny them any longer, lest they should think his denial proceeded from a neglect of his master, or a contempt of them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. Till he was ashamed] He saw they…
Verse 17. Till he was ashamed] He saw they would not be satisfied unless they made the proposed search; he felt therefore that he could not, with any good grace, resist their importunity any longer.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Till he was ashamed - i. e. to refuse…
Till he was ashamed - i. e. to refuse them any longer.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Send. He acquiesces, lest they might think that he…
CHAPTER II.
Send. He acquiesces, lest they might think that he was afraid of losing his superiority. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. till he was ashamed] i.e. to refuse longer…
17. till he was ashamed] i.e. to refuse longer so urgent, though as he knew resultless, a petition. There is no pronoun expressed in the original. Hence some have thought the expression meant ‘to a shameful extent’ and was to be applied to the undue persistence of the petitioners. But the same phrase occurs in Jdg_3:25 of Eglon’s servants who waited till they were ashamed to wait longer. Here it implies that Elisha was at a loss how to refuse them any longer. His narrative was unprecedented in its character, and if they refused to be persuaded by that, he had no more that he could do.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) Urged him.—Gen_33:11.
(17) Urged him.—Gen_33:11.
Till he was ashamed.—Literally, unto being ashamed. The pronoun is not expressed in the Hebrew. “They pressed upon him, ‘ad bôsh,” means “until he was embarrassed, disconcerted, put out of countenance.” (Comp. 2Ki_8:11; Jdg_3:25.) Thenius prefers “they carried their importunity to a shameless length;” Keil and Bähr, “until he was disappointed in the hope of dissuading them.” (Comp. Psa_22:5.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And when they urged him, till he was ashamed,…
And when they urged him, till he was ashamed, he said, Send; literally, when they urged him until shame; which some expound to mean, "until they were ashamed to press him any more" (Gesenius, Winer, Keil); but others, with more reason, "until he was ashamed to persist in his refusal" (eJwneto, LXX). It is always a hard thing for one man to refuse the repeated and earnest request of a multitude. When Elisha said, "Send," he had not in the least changed his mind; he only meant to say, "Send, then, if you insist upon it, to satisfy yourselves, not me. There is no harm in your sending." They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. The result bore out the advice and anticipations of the prophet. It was simply nil. No trace was found of the aged seer who had been translated from earth to heaven.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 But when they urged Elisha until he was ashamed
But when they urged Elisha until he was ashamed
The sons of the prophets kept asking Elisha until he felt bad about saying "no." AT: "They kept asking Elisha until he felt bad for denying their request, so" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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Did I not say to you, 'Do not go'?
Elisha uses this rhetorical question to emphasize that he had told them previously what would happen. This can be written as a statement. AT: "I told you that you should not go, because you would not find him!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
shame
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.