Chapter 19 is one of the most exalted and piercing chapters in the book of Melachim. Eliyahu the prophet, after the episode at Mount Carmel, arrives at Chorev, the mountain of God, enters the cave, and there merits a divine revelation that is entirely metaphor and message. The Holy One, blessed be He, passes before him a wind, an earthquake and a fire, and finally a still, thin voice, and through this vision He teaches His prophet an entire lesson in the ways of guiding the people of Israel. At the end of the chapter the watch is changed: Eliyahu casts his mantle upon Elisha son of Shafat, and from here on a new generation of prophecy begins. We will proceed through the verses according to the explanation of the Malbim, together with the words of the Midrashim and the commentators.
וַיֹּאמֶר צֵא וְעָמַדְתָּ בָהָר לִפְנֵי ה' וְהִנֵּה ה' עֹבֵר וְרוּחַ גְּדוֹלָה וְחָזָק מְפָרֵק הָרִים וּמְשַׁבֵּר סְלָעִים לִפְנֵי ה' לֹא בָרוּחַ ה' וְאַחַר הָרוּחַ רַעַשׁ לֹא בָרַעַשׁ ה': וְאַחַר הָרַעַשׁ אֵשׁ לֹא בָאֵשׁ ה' וְאַחַר הָאֵשׁ קוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה: - And He said: Go out and stand on the mountain before Hashem, and behold, Hashem was passing by, and a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks, before Hashem; Hashem was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake; Hashem was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire; Hashem was not in the fire. And after the fire a still, thin voice.
The Holy One, blessed be He, tells Eliyahu to go out and stand on the mountain, exactly as He said to Moshe Rabbeinu, "and I will place you in the cleft of the rock," and afterward Moshe went out and "Hashem passed before his face" - like that revelation of the thirteen attributes. Here too Hashem passes before him and shows him a complete vision: first a great and mighty wind that splits mountains and shatters rocks, after it an earthquake, and after it a fire - and in all of these "Hashem was not in them."
The Malbim explains that the vision the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him is like the vision that Yechezkel saw: "a stormy wind, a great cloud and a flashing fire." These three things are an aspect of the shells that surround the nut and the fruit. They are screens that separate between Hashem and the holy, and therefore it is said of them "Hashem was not in the wind," "Hashem was not in the earthquake," "Hashem was not in the fire" - from these emerges evil into the world: a wind that shatters mountains and splits rocks, a fire that burns everything. But after all of these comes a "still, thin voice," and this is the thin glow that Yechezkel saw, of which it is said "an appearance like the color of the chashmal." And what is "chashmal"? Chash-memalel, speaking softly. "Memalel" from the language of speaking and uttering, and "chash" from the language of quiet (and some say also from the language of swiftness). Within that still, thin voice, in the thin glow that is like the chashmal, there, as it were, the divine revelation dwells.
And what does the Holy One, blessed be He, come to hint to Eliyahu through all of this? He says to him: When I send a prophet, I do not expect him to make a wind, I do not expect him to make an earthquake, and I do not expect him to make a fire. I expect him to reprove the people with a still, thin voice, to lead the people gently and with patience, and not in the way that you take - with an earthquake and with a wind that shatters mountains and splits rocks. This is not the way in which I desire to lead My children. You, out of the zeal for Hashem within you, lead them not in the way in which I wish to lead My people. Rather how? That he should draw them with cords of love and with gentle words - this is the way, with a still, thin voice.
וַיְהִי כִּשְׁמֹעַ אֵלִיָּהוּ וַיָּלֶט פָּנָיו בְּאַדַּרְתּוֹ וַיֵּצֵא וַיַּעֲמֹד פֶּתַח הַמְּעָרָה וְהִנֵּה אֵלָיו קוֹל וַיֹּאמֶר מַה־לְּךָ פֹה אֵלִיָּהוּ: - And it was, when Eliyahu heard, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave, and behold, a voice came to him and said: What are you doing here, Eliyahu?
When Eliyahu hears these words he covers his face with his mantle. "Vayalet" is from the language of hilut, covering. Why? Because there is here a mighty divine vision, and flesh and blood has no power to withstand such a supernal spiritual revelation. Regarding Moshe Rabbeinu too it is said, "and I will shield you with My palm until I pass" - there was a need for a separating screen. So too here: Eliyahu covers his face with a garment so that he will not, as it were, have to behold the glory of God.
And the Malbim explains that the meaning of this entire metaphor is that the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: It is not My will that you should punish the people and arouse wrath upon them in your zeal, as we saw that no rain fell for several years in the time of Eliyahu. And after Eliyahu wrapped his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave, again the voice turns to him: "What are you doing here, Eliyahu?" - that is, after I told you what I told you, and after you understood what is required of you and how you must draw the people with cords of love, why are you still not returning to your mission? Why do you remain here?
וַיֹּאמֶר קַנֹּא קִנֵּאתִי לַה' אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת כִּי־עָזְבוּ בְרִיתְךָ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־מִזְבְּחֹתֶיךָ הָרָסוּ וְאֶת־נְבִיאֶיךָ הָרְגוּ בֶחָרֶב וָאִוָּתֵר אֲנִי לְבַדִּי וַיְבַקְשׁוּ אֶת־נַפְשִׁי לְקַחְתָּהּ: - And he said: I have been very zealous for Hashem, the God of hosts, for the children of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, they have torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets by the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it.
Eliyahu repeats his first answer: Master of the world, it is not within my ability. How do You want me to remain indifferent when they have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, killed Your prophets by the sword, and I alone am left and now they seek my life to take it? I am unable to fulfill such a mission without being zealous with the zeal of Hashem. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: If so, I have another mission for you.
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֵלָיו לֵךְ שׁוּב לְדַרְכְּךָ מִדְבַּרָה דַמָּשֶׂק וּבָאתָ וּמָשַׁחְתָּ אֶת־חֲזָאֵל לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־אֲרָם: וְאֵת יֵהוּא בֶן־נִמְשִׁי תִּמְשַׁח לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת־אֱלִישָׁע בֶּן־שָׁפָט מֵאָבֵל מְחוֹלָה תִּמְשַׁח לְנָבִיא תַּחְתֶּיךָ: - And Hashem said to him: Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, anoint Chazael to be king over Aram. And Yehu son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shafat of Avel Mecholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: Since you are returning the keys and claiming that you cannot continue, I will now give you methods of action, how to proceed from here on. The Malbim explains: corresponding to the three camps he saw in the vision, wind, earthquake and fire, and corresponding to the three sins that Eliyahu enumerated, "they have forsaken Your covenant," "they have torn down Your altars," "they have killed Your prophets by the sword," stand three who are the solution. You said "they have forsaken Your covenant"? One who is not a member of the covenant will come and strike them: go anoint Chazael as king of Aram, and he will exact payment from them, as we will see further on. You said "they have torn down Your altars"? Corresponding to this, anoint Yehu king over Israel, and he will tear down the altar of the Baal. You said "they have killed Your prophets by the sword"? Elisha will come and kill. And in essence Hashem is telling him: you can no longer fill the role, you cannot be their prophet because you zealously guard Hashem's honor, and therefore I will give them a prophet who will lead them gently.
In practice we see that Eliyahu did not go to the wilderness of Damascus, but immediately met Elisha son of Shafat. And in the end the one who anointed Chazael and the one who anointed Yehu son of Nimshi was Elisha and not Eliyahu himself. Some explain that this itself is the meaning of the command: you shall anoint Elisha, and Elisha will anoint Chazael and Yehu. Although in the order of the verses this is not stated explicitly, it is implied by the reality: Eliyahu sets out for the wilderness of Damascus in order to anoint Chazael, and along the way Hashem first arranges for him to meet specifically Elisha. If Hashem sends him straight to the last one on the list, it is a sign that regarding the first two He is, as it were, releasing him and transferring them to Elisha.
The Malbim adds that this is what was included in Elisha's request, "Let a double portion of your spirit please be upon me." When we reach Eliyahu's departure we will see several explanations of this puzzling request, for how is it possible to ask someone for twice what he himself possesses? One of the explanations: "a double portion" refers to those two matters concerning which you were commanded by Hashem, to anoint Chazael and to anoint Yehu son of Nimshi. I am asking you to transfer to me these two mitzvot, so that I may merit to fulfill them.
And why was the order changed? The Malbim says: because we will see further on that Achav repented, and in the merit of his repentance the Holy One, blessed be He, told him that He would not bring the calamity in his days but rather in the days of his son. For this reason Yehu son of Nimshi was not anointed by Eliyahu but only by Elisha; everything was delayed in the merit of Achav's repentance. And from here we learn how great the power of repentance is: even a wicked king like Achav, the moment he repented, and his repentance, as we will see, was not a drastic change in all his deeds but only "he wore sackcloth and walked softly," a local change alone, that was already enough for the Holy One, blessed be He, to say: I will not bring the calamity in his days.
וְהָיָה הַנִּמְלָט מֵחֶרֶב חֲזָאֵל יָמִית יֵהוּא וְהַנִּמְלָט מֵחֶרֶב יֵהוּא יָמִית אֱלִישָׁע: - And it shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Chazael, Yehu shall put to death, and whoever escapes the sword of Yehu, Elisha shall put to death.
Whoever escapes the sword of Chazael, Yehu will kill him, and whoever escapes the sword of Yehu, Elisha will put him to death. And seemingly this is difficult: Chazael indeed killed, and Yehu indeed killed, but where do we find that Elisha put anyone to death? The commentators explain several approaches. First, the young lads who mocked him and said to him "Go up, baldy," and bears came out of the forest, forty two lads. Second, since Elisha would rebuke them and tell them that if they did not repent the enemies would come upon them, and in the end they did not repent and the enemies came upon them, it is considered as if they died through him: you did not heed the voice of the prophet, you harmed yourself, and, as it were, through the prophet they died. A third explanation: "Elisha shall put to death" means after Elisha's death, for it is written that after his death the raiding bands of Aram and Moav came into the land. As long as Elisha was in the world there was a kind of protective umbrella over them, and once he died, they came. A fourth explanation, that of the Ralbag: the famine that was in Shomron came about through Elisha, and those who died in the famine died, as it were, through him.
The Midrash says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Eliyahu, your prophecy is impossible, since you argue for the prosecution against My children. You argue their guilt, "they have forsaken Your covenant," they do not fulfill circumcision and the like, as we mentioned in the previous lesson. If so, there is nothing to be done, return the equipment, and I will take Elisha in your place. And so the Sages said: What shall I do with Eliyahu? To kill him is impossible, for I swore to grant him life forever. To leave him to lead My people is impossible, for he is unable to lead them in the manner that I desire, and in any case he himself says that he refuses to continue. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I have no choice but to raise him up in a storm to heaven. And therefore Eliyahu's matter involved being taken up in a storm, for only in this way was it possible, as it were, to take him without putting him to death, and the oath that the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to Pinchas, "My covenant of peace," that he would not depart from the world, remained in force.
I will read before you the question and the answer. You asked me whether I have a reason why the Holy One, blessed be He, burdened Eliyahu with a journey of forty days until he came to the mountain of God and showed him that entire vision, when in the Land of Israel, which is the principal place of prophecy and holiness, He could have made the prophecy known to him? For Mount Chorev, after the Divine Presence departed from it, retained no holiness. And this is truly a tremendous question, for the Holy One, blessed be He, does not cause prophecy to rest outside the Land, unless it concerns a prophet who began to prophesy in the Land, or a prophecy for the needs of the Land. And for this reason Yonah fled outside the Land, so that prophecy would not rest upon him.
The Radbaz answers: You already know that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire that one bring accusation or informing (from the language of slander) against His children, but rather defense and merit, and He wants the tzaddik to pray for the generation, as Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, did, and not as Noach did. Therefore it is written "the waters of Noach", and the flood is called by his name, because Noach did not pray on behalf of the people of his generation. And Eliyahu, may he be remembered for good, was always zealous. And so it appears in the Midrash: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, You are forever zealous. You were zealous at Shittim over immorality, you were zealous over the covenant, as it is written "for the House of Israel have forsaken Your covenant" - by your life, Israel shall not perform a circumcision until you see it with your own eyes. And this is the reason it was decreed upon Eliyahu to be the angel of the covenant. And all this follows the view that Pinchas is Eliyahu, and so too it is implied from what he said "take now my soul, for I am no better than my fathers" - which implies that he lived very long. And indeed, that special measure of zealousness that was in Pinchas is the very measure that was in Eliyahu.
And when the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that he is always zealous and does not advocate merit for Israel and does not pray for them, but on the contrary he even swore "there shall not be dew or rain these years except according to my word", and he saw the suffering of Israel who were dying of famine and did not pray, until the Holy One, blessed be He, had mercy in the third year and said to him "go, show yourself to Achav, and I will send rain upon the earth". And even after all the people said "Hashem, He is God" he did not pray for them, but on the contrary he asked for his soul to die. And the Holy One, blessed be He, longed that he would pray for His children, and He said: Did this one not learn from Moshe his master, who prayed before Me many times for Israel and gave his soul for them? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I will make for him hints and matters like those that were done for Moshe his master, and he will remember his deeds and learn to nullify the accusation and advocate merit for them.
Therefore He made him go to Mount Chorev, the place where Moshe stood. As though He said: I will now give him a lesson like Moshe our teacher, I will do to him things that happened with Moshe, from which he will understand that he is required to be like Moshe, who all his days gave his soul for the whole of Israel. And therefore he went in the strength of that eating forty days, just as Moshe stood forty days and forty nights, bread he did not eat and water he did not drink. And He brought him to the mountain of God, the place of the great standing where Hashem revealed Himself to Moshe, and Moshe was an intercessor between Israel and their Father in Heaven. And He had him lodge in the cave - it is the cleft of the rock in which Moshe stood. And He said to him "what are you doing here, Eliyahu", meaning: who brought you here, to the place of Moshe your master? Consider why I brought you here, understand what I am demanding of you and what is the message for whose sake I brought you here, perhaps you will remember and return to seek mercy. And on the contrary, he added more accusation: "the Children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, they have torn down Your altars, and they have killed Your prophets by the sword", and in "they have torn down Your altars" there is also a hint that they were building altars for idolatry.
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Are you still zealous? Meaning, I see that the lesson did not help. "Go out and stand on the mountain before Hashem" - as He said to Moshe "behold, there is a place with Me, and you shall stand upon the rock", "and I will place you in the cleft of the rock", and it is the cave. And there He taught Moshe the thirteen attributes of mercy, and said to him: If they perform before Me according to this order, immediately I have mercy on them. And all this for what? So that Eliyahu would remember in this place and the teaching that was learned in it. And what is learned here? The thirteen attributes of mercy. And what do the attributes of mercy teach? "They shall perform before Me according to this order" - be merciful, conduct yourselves with mercy. All this was meant to arouse Eliyahu: the path you are taking is not correct.
And He passed before him a great wind. And what is the lesson in the great wind? The Midrash says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, when the wind goes out to the world, the Holy One, blessed be He, weakens it on the mountains and breaks it on the rocks, and says to it: Be careful not to harm My creatures. Meaning, with one wind I can erase the world, with one wind everything can be dismantled. And whoever does not understand this, let him see what happens when there is a tsunami, let him see what occurs in various places in the world when a storm arises - it erases everything and leaves nothing. If so, how does the world still exist? When the wind goes out, I weaken it on the mountains and break it on the rocks, meaning I place the main force of it on the mountains, and what reaches us is only crumbs of wind. But the immense wind breaks mountains and shatters rocks. And in the same way also the earthquake and the fire.
And so too the Targum, which goes in a different direction but with the same message: "angels of wind and angels of trembling and angels of fire, and a voice of those who praise silently". He hinted to him: even though I have before Me messengers of wrath, what is dear to Me? The voice of those who praise silently. I have before Me wondrous angels - angels of wind, angels of trembling, angels of fire - and they are not the ones dear to Me. Who is dear to Me? The angels who praise silently, prayer and praise in a whisper, and this is "a still, small voice".
And they said in the Midrash that He waited for him three hours - He gave him time to think about the matter - and even so he stood by his first words and said "I have been very zealous". Since the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that he is still zealous, He said: It is not fitting for this one to remain in the world, and He said to him "and Elisha you shall anoint as prophet in your place". To take his soul is impossible, for I have already given him My covenant of peace; to leave him in the world is impossible, for he will always be zealous and will not advocate defense for My children. What remains? To be taken up to the heavens.
וְהִשְׁאַרְתִּי בְיִשְׂרָאֵל שִׁבְעַת אֲלָפִים כָּל־הַבִּרְכַּיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־כָרְעוּ לַבַּעַל וְכָל־הַפֶּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא־נָשַׁק לוֹ: - And I will leave in Israel seven thousand, all the knees that have not bowed to the Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed it.
And if you ask: why indeed did Eliyahu not pray for the generation? The Radbaz answers that there were among them the three grave sins - idolatry, immorality and bloodshed - and he thought that prayer would not help. But, the Radbaz adds, this is not enough: in any case he should have done what was incumbent upon him, for there were many tzaddikim there - "all the knees that have not bowed to the Baal and every mouth that has not kissed it" - and by their merit and by the merit of the prayer of the tzaddik the rest would have been saved, and it would not have been fulfilled "and it shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Chazael, Yehu shall kill, and whoever escapes the sword of Yehu, Elisha shall kill". Meaning: you could have prevented this curse, you could have prayed for them, and the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have said such grave things about the whole of Israel. This was the claim against Eliyahu, and because of this Hashem told him that he cannot continue in his role, and took him to the heavens.
וַיֵּלֶךְ מִשָּׁם וַיִּמְצָא אֶת־אֱלִישָׁע בֶּן־שָׁפָט וְהוּא חֹרֵשׁ שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂר צְמָדִים לְפָנָיו וְהוּא בִּשְׁנֵים הֶעָשָׂר וַיַּעֲבֹר אֵלִיָּהוּ אֵלָיו וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ אַדַּרְתּוֹ אֵלָיו: - And he went from there and found Elisha son of Shafat, and he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth, and Eliyahu passed over to him and cast his mantle upon him.
Eliyahu goes from there and finds Elisha son of Shafat plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he is behind them. They are called "yoke" because the oxen are joined one to another. The Radak explains: there were eleven servants, each with his yoke, and he was the twelfth, in charge of all of them. And why is it important for us to know how many yoke there were, a detail that seems trivial? The Radak says: and this was a sign that he would be appointed over the twelve tribes of Israel as prophet and admonisher. You are now plowing with twelve, and you are destined to be responsible over twelve and a leader over them.
And what is the significance of throwing the mantle? This mantle is already familiar to us: it is the one in which Eliyahu wrapped his face at the time of the revelation, and it is the one that merited to behold visions of God. From this we learn that it holds tremendous holiness. Therefore Eliyahu takes the mantle and casts it upon him, so that the very spirituality that radiated from it since the cave should influence Elisha. And as we will see later, with this mantle they split the Yarden: he placed the mantle in the Yarden and it split, a sign of the tremendous power it contained. And when he throws it upon Elisha he is telling him: you are the continuation of the path, my mantle passes to you. Therefore, as soon as Elisha saw such a thing, he left everything and ran after him: he understood that the mantle meant the transfer of the mantle of prophecy.
וַיַּעֲזֹב אֶת־הַבָּקָר וַיָּרָץ אַחֲרֵי אֵלִיָּהוּ וַיֹּאמֶר אֶשְּׁקָה־נָּא לְאָבִי וּלְאִמִּי וְאֵלְכָה אַחֲרֶיךָ וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ לֵךְ שׁוּב כִּי מֶה־עָשִׂיתִי לָךְ: - He left the oxen, ran after Eliyahu, and said: Let me please kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said to him: Go back, for what have I done to you?
Elisha leaves the oxen and runs after Eliyahu, but requests a pause: let me go kiss my father and my mother and take leave of them, and afterward I will follow you. And Eliyahu answers him, "Go back, for what have I done to you?" The Radak explains according to the plain meaning of the text that Eliyahu wanted to test him and see whether he would truly be drawn after him, or whether this was merely a momentary excitement. Therefore he said to him: what have I done to you? Because I threw my mantle upon you, you run after me? If Elisha would say, "If so, I will return home," that is a sign that he lacks sufficient preparation. But if he stands firm and says that in any case he wishes to cling to the prophet, Eliyahu would know that there is proper preparation here.
And in my humble opinion one can add in this direction: a person is required to perform an act on his own, required to take action. A maidservant saw at the sea and remained a maidservant, as we have explained several times, because she did nothing to change herself. She merited visions of God, in one moment she was made a prophetess, but what did she do for it? Nothing, and therefore she remained a maidservant. And so we explained regarding Har Sinai: it has no holiness, because no act of self-sacrifice was performed there on the part of the mountain; God decided to give the Torah upon it, the mountain merited, the merit passed and it was over. In contrast, at Har HaMoriah, which is the Temple Mount, there is eternal holiness that never departs, because there Avraham gave over his soul and Yitzchak gave over his soul and the father bound his son. This is a holiness that never departs. One who receives gifts loses them quickly, but one who invests, the thing remains with him. Here too Eliyahu wanted there to be an investment on Elisha's part: I give a hint, and you come on your own. But if I come and take you, the willingness and the investment are missing here.
So too we find with the Sages, that when someone would ask them a question, the Sage would answer: when you carry my utensils to the bathhouse. Does one really need to carry his utensils to the bathhouse? Rather, that he should serve him, service, self-nullification and investment. That he should not say, "He said it, he did not say it, it is no big deal, another time we will hear it," but rather, "This is important to me, this is precious in my eyes, I am ready to exert myself and serve in order to receive it." This is proof of investment, and then the Sage says to him: if so, I am ready to give it to you and explain it to you. And we saw this also with Gidon: when the angel came and appeared to him, he sat under the terebinth and waited for Gidon to approach him on his own, because an awakening was needed on his part. It is not enough for the angel to come and immediately tell him the divine revelation, but rather the person must do something, open an opening from his side. So too here: "Go back, for what have I done to you" is to test him, and when he passed the test Eliyahu knew that he was worthy.
The Ralbag takes a different path. Elisha asks to go kiss his father and his mother, and Eliyahu says to him: Go back, truly go and kiss your father and your mother and return to me. And why? "For what have I done to you": what I have already done to you is enough to arouse you to come after me, and I am not concerned that you will remain there. And the Metzudat David explains: "For what have I done to you": all the miracles I have performed until today are yours, meaning you too will perform their like, and as we will see later that all the miracles Eliyahu performed, Elisha performed the like of them. All that I have done until now is yours, and you too will merit miracles of this kind if you go after me.
וַיָּשָׁב מֵאַחֲרָיו וַיִּקַּח אֶת־צֶמֶד הַבָּקָר וַיִּזְבָּחֵהוּ וּבִכְלִי הַבָּקָר בִּשְּׁלָם הַבָּשָׂר וַיִּתֵּן לָעָם וַיֹּאכֵלוּ וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ אַחֲרֵי אֵלִיָּהוּ וַיְשָׁרְתֵהוּ: - He returned from following him, took the pair of oxen and slaughtered it, and with the equipment of the oxen he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Eliyahu and served him.
Elisha returned and indeed went to kiss his father and his mother, and afterward he took the pair of oxen and slaughtered it. The Radak explains that he wanted to make a farewell feast for those plowmen and for the rest of the townspeople, since he was taking leave of them and going to cling to Eliyahu. And because of the shortage of time he did not go to search for other animals, but slaughtered the oxen that were ready before him, even though they were designated for plowing and not for slaughter. Likewise he did not go to gather wood, but took the "equipment of the oxen," which are the threshing boards, the wooden implements attached to the oxen to which the plow is bound, and split them into wood for fuel in order to cook the meat. And after he cooked it, he gave it to the people and they ate, and this refers also to those who had gathered when they heard that Elisha was leaving them. And then he arose and went after Eliyahu to serve him.
Let us note a linguistic difficulty: "and with the equipment of the oxen he cooked the meat" is imprecise language. It should have said "he cooked the meat." And if you say "bishlam" (he cooked them), there is already a pronominal suffix here, and there is no need to add "the meat." Rashi cites Dunash and Menachem, two grammarians who preceded him, who explained "bishlam habasar" as a combination of two words: he cooked for them the meat. But Rashi says there is no need to split it into two words, but rather "bishlam" means he cooked for the two oxen mentioned by the verse, "habasar" means their own meat.
Chapter 19 is the turning point in Eliyahu's life. In the cave at Chorev, in the very place of Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem shows him wind, an earthquake and fire - aspects of the kelipah in which there is no Shechinah - and finally a still, small voice, to teach him that Hashem does not desire a prophet who leads through storm and rage, but rather with gentleness, with patience and with cords of love. Eliyahu, whose entire essence is zealotry, holds firm and answers twice "I have been very zealous," and because he does not speak in defense of his people it is decreed that he can no longer continue in his role: he cannot be put to death because of the oath "My covenant of peace," and therefore he will be taken up to heaven in a storm. Corresponding to his three claims, Hashem appoints three against him: Chazael, Yehu and Elisha, and in practice the first two were anointed by Elisha, also because the punishment was deferred in the merit of Achav's repentance - testimony to the great power of teshuvah. The chapter concludes with the passing of the mantle to Elisha, in a trial meant to ensure that the joining would come through Elisha's own investment, and with a farewell meal after which he rises and follows Eliyahu to serve him.