2 Kings 2:2

Tarry here Not only was Elijah himself conscious of some great event at hand but Elisha and the bands of prophets in Bethel and Jericho had an intimation that the departure of Elijah was very near. But the subject is too solemn for words. The two chief persons do not speak of it, and it is only when the separation is just about to take place that direct allusion is made to it (verse 9). We can see however in Elijah's request, here and afterwards, that Elisha should stay behind how awful the immediate future appeared to him, and in Elisha's persistence the great love which the disciple felt for his master. Elijah, feeling that soon he was to stand before God, and was drawing near to the gate of heaven, would save his disciple from the sight of a glory on which man, as the Jew felt, cannot gaze and live, while Elisha is resolved that nothing but the last necessity shall take him from his master's side.

the Lord hath sent me to[R.V. more precisely, as far as] Beth-el The whole journey has been marked out for him, and devised that those who were to carry on the work after Elijah's departure might at this last interview see, and remember hereafter, the last looks, fixed on heaven, and the last words, though they seem to have been but few, spoken, of him who had been their guide and father for a long while and amid constant perils.

As the Lord liveth, andas thy soul liveth The combination of the two phrases imparts much solemnity to the resolve. They are not un-frequently found apart. Thus -As the Lord liveth" occurs alone in Judges 8:19; Ruth 3:13; 1 Samuel 14:39 &c., and -As thy soul liveth" in 1 Samuel 1:26; 1Sa 17:55; 2 Samuel 14:19 &c. Beside the places in this chapter the double form is found in 1 Samuel 20:3; 1 Samuel 25:26 and is expressive of the most intense earnestness. Elisha's master may be withdrawn from him: he will not be withdrawn from his master.