Figure Analysis
These guys show up in order to lend support to some of the major prophets, like Elisha and Elijah. They're men and women of God, but they're not quite as remarkable as Elisha or Elijah or Moses. They're prophets who are still on training-wheels, so to speak.
These prophets tend to lag a little behind. For instance, they don't know what's going on when Elijah gets taken up to heaven in the whirlwind and want to search for him, thinking he's just been blown away to another part of earth. And when one of them drops an iron-headed axe in a river, Elisha causes it to miraculously rise to the surface.