Weird things I need to know why God does them

[Chrism23]

So me and my friend are having some issues with this passage in the bible.
2 Kings 2:23-24, it talks about how a prophet gets teased by 42 boys about
being bald. The prophet curses them and 2 she bears come out and tear the
boys to pieces. I don’t get why God did this, was it because the boys were
being rude? Please help give us a better understanding. Thanks.

 

[jpjd]

2 Kings 2:23-24:
*23 **From there Elisha went up to Bethel. While he was on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him. “Go up, baldhead,” they shouted, “go up, baldhead!” **24 **The prophet turned and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the children to pieces. *

The footnote says:
"This story, like the one about Elijah and the captains (2 Kings 1), is preserved for us in Scripture to convey a popular understanding of the dignity of the prophet. Told in popular vein, it becomes a caricature, in which neither Elisha nor the bears behave in character. See note on 2 Kings 1:12 and the contrasting narrative in 2 Kings 4.

The footnote for 2 Kings 1:12 says:
“This story was told among the people to enhance the dignity of the prophet and to reflect the power of God whom he served.”

(emphasis is mine)

 

[William_Pitts]

23-25 The Bears—23. The hostility at Bethel suggests that the prophet inveighed against the calf-worship. ‘Baldhead’ was probably a current sneer against the distinctive tonsure worn by the prophets, and familiar from the college at Bethel. For the Jewish idea of the collective responsibility of parents and children, see § 109m and § 110e.

1. The children were torn to pieces; cf. on. 1:11 ff - Catholic Commentary on the Holy Scriptures