2 Kings 2:3

the sons of the prophets They were called -sons" in the same way as Elisha calls Elijah -father". See below verse 12. Whether the prophetic body in Gilgal had been warned before Elijah's departure from them that they would see him no more wé are not told; but it seems highly probable that it was so from what is said of Bethel and of Jericho. Thus Elisha started on his journey prepared for what its end would be.

Beth-el This was the city which in old time had been called Luz (Joshua 18:13) though from one passage (Joshua 16:2) there seems to have been a distinction between Bethel and Luz, as though the latter had been the old town, and the former a sacred spot near to it. It lay in the northern part of the tribe of Benjamin, and when the kingdoms were divided and Jeroboam set up the calf-worship in Israel, Bethel was constituted the southern sanctuary. Perhaps it was as a protest against this worship that the sons of the prophets made one of their centres in Bethel. It was at Bethel that the voice of God's prophet was first raised against Jeroboam's altar (1 Kings 13:1).

came forth to Elisha The solemn event of which they had been forewarned checks them from addressing Elijah. His thoughts must have been all absorbed in meditation on the revelation which he was so soon to experience, and heaven, not earth, nor the things of earth, was in his mind. Silence when God is so near is the only homage man can pay.

the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day We can see from this language that the communion between Elijah and Elisha had been much closer than that which the aged prophet had held with the other sons of the prophets. Hence he is rather spoken of as Elisha's master, than theirs. This is what we should expect from the special way in which Elisha was appointed (1 Kings 19:16). The prophetic bodies were therefore prepared to accept Elisha as their head, when Elijah had been taken away.

hold you your peace Elisha had marked the solemn and meditative frame of his master's mind, and would not have it disturbed by any prolonged conversation between himself and the sons of the prophets. He cannot bear the questioning. He thinks of his own weakness and of the terrible burden which will be laid upon him when he is left alone without the friend on whom he has hitherto leaned.