Why Did This Happen???

[Chris_LaRock]

2Ki 2:23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
2Ki 2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

 

[MichaelTDoyle]

Why did a soldier die for touching the Ark?

Elisha apparently had God with Him. Mockery has never been a good thing and mockery of a Saint doing the work of God is blasphemy. I think this passage teaches that without reverence (love of what is Holy) we cannot have life.

[20] He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
[21] Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it, and said, “Thus says the LORD, I have made this water wholesome; henceforth neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.”
[22] So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word which Eli’sha spoke.
[23]
He went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
[24] And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.
[25] From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and thence he returned to Sama’ria.

also found this cruising the internet
thirdmill.org/files/english/texts/JFB/JFB12.htm

  23, 24. there came forth little children out of the city--that is, the idolatrous, or infidel young men of the place, who affecting to disbelieve the report of his master's translation, sarcastically urged him to follow in the glorious career. 
  bald head--an epithet of contempt in the East, applied to a person even with a bushy head of hair. The appalling judgment that befell them was God's interference to uphold his newly invested prophet.

 

[Chris_LaRock]

Little children are usually too immature to understand the seriousness of what they are doing. I still have trouble understanding the reaction.

 

[NoPlaceLikeRome]

I know I’ve read somewhere that “children” is a bad translation and they were probably really good-for-nothing teenagers. Maybe check out a Biblical commentary or two.

 

[lak611]

From John Wesley’s Commentary:

2Ki 2:23 - To Beth - el - To the other school of prophets, to inform them of Elijah’s translation, and his succession to the same office; and to direct, and comfort, and stablish them. Children - Or, young men: as this Hebrew word often signifies. It is more than probable they were old enough to discern between good and evil. The city - Beth - el was the mother - city of idolatry, where the prophets planted themselves, that they might bear witness against it, and dissuade the people from it; though, it seems, they had but small success there. Mocked him - With great petulancy and vehemency, as the word signifies; deriding both his person and ministry, and that from a prophane contempt of the true religion, and a passionate love to that idolatry which they knew he opposed. Go up - Go up into heaven, whither thou pretendest Elijah is gone. Why didst not thou accompany thy friend and master to heaven? Bald - head - So they mock his natural infirmity, which is a great sin. The repetition shews their heartiness and earnestness, that it was no sudden slip of their tongue, but a scoff proceeding from a rooted impiety and hatred of God and his prophets. And very probably it was their usual practice, to jeer the prophets as they went along the streets, that they might expose them to contempt, and if possible drive them out of their town. Had the abuse done to Elisha been the first offence of the kind, they might not have been so severely punished. But mocking the messengers of the Lord, was one of the crying sins of Israel.

 

[porthos11]

2Ki 2:23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
2Ki 2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

The Hebrew word covers young teens, the kind of material that constitutes teenage street gangs today.

Note that Elisha merely cursed them, and rightly so, since he was a prophet of God and as such deserved respect. Elisha didn’t call on any bears.

It was God who did so on his own volition.

Serves them right.

 

[Mike12]

The Hebrew word covers young teens, the kind of material that constitutes teenage street gangs today.

Note that Elisha merely cursed them, and rightly so, since he was a prophet of God and as such deserved respect. Elisha didn’t call on any bears.

It was God who did so on his own volition.

Serves them right.

Hmmm…the fact that they may be teenagers as opposed to young children–that does not make it any better, we are talking about being eaten by bears.

Furthermore, even though Elisha cursed as opposed to calling on the bears, I’m not sure cursing is a good thing.

Oh, and by putting the responsability for the bears on God just shifts the responsability. Really, how could a good God do such a thing.

“serves them right”–surely you jest

 

[Wolseley]

Let this be a lesson to one and all.

You don’t mess around with us bald guys.

 

[Della]

Hmmm…the fact that they may be teenagers as opposed to young children–that does not make it any better, we are talking about being eaten by bears.

The passage doesn’t mention being eaten. And it had to be a pretty big group of teens if 42 of them were attacked–all against one unharmed, harmless man. Sounds like a gang attack to me. And where I come from teens as young as 13 can be tried as adults because they know right from wrong. Also, she bears are very defensive of their cubs. It may have been that their loud cat calls and throwing of things caused the bears to lash out at them.

Furthermore, even though Elisha cursed as opposed to calling on the bears, I’m not sure cursing is a good thing.

This isn’t calling others names or wishing anyone ill. It is warning them that God will not be mocked, so that they kept it up shows that they knew better but chose to go on chasing after the prophet with bad intent.

Oh, and by putting the responsability for the bears on God just shifts the responsability. Really, how could a good God do such a thing.

How could a good God punish sinners for committing a grave sin? This was not the age of grace that Christ brought us through his life, death and resurrection. This was the time when nothing stood between the sinner and God’s rightful judgment except adherence to the Mosaic Law. And these teens, by their actions, were in violation of that Law, by mocking God’s prophet, therefore mocking God himself.

“serves them right”–surely you jest

I’m with you here. Only God can decide what “serves them right.” Something we should all keep in mind as we approach God with holy fear instead of presumption. Yes?

 

[NotWorthy]

Hmmm…the fact that they may be teenagers as opposed to young children–that does not make it any better, we are talking about being eaten by bears.

Furthermore, even though Elisha cursed as opposed to calling on the bears, I’m not sure cursing is a good thing.

Oh, and by putting the responsability for the bears on God just shifts the responsability. Really, how could a good God do such a thing.

“serves them right”–surely you jest

Where does it say the bears ate them. It doesn’t even say the bears killed them.

 

[porthos11]

Hmmm…the fact that they may be teenagers as opposed to young children–that does not make it any better, we are talking about being eaten by bears.

Furthermore, even though Elisha cursed as opposed to calling on the bears, I’m not sure cursing is a good thing.

Oh, and by putting the responsability for the bears on God just shifts the responsability. Really, how could a good God do such a thing.

“serves them right”–surely you jest

No, I’m putting the responsibility on God. He was the one who sent the bears, not the prophet.

And yes, he cursed them IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, which is his right. It was a legitimate way of calling on God for justice in the Old Testament.

As for the good God doing such a thing, is irrelevant. God owns creation, including the bears and the lives of those teenagers. He has the right to punish them in any way he sees fit, and we have no right to impose moral standards on him. He is the one who imposes moral standards on us. God is goodness himself, so by definition, everything he does is good, even though it appears otherwise to us. For all I care God can strike me or you dead right now simply because it pleases him, and it would still be good, because everything he does is good.

And yes, serves them right. They made fun of God’s prophet, including his physical infirmity. That is a big affront to the authority and person of God’s anointed prophet.

The punishment may seem harsh, but God did it, and so it is just.

So serves them right? Of course it serves them right! Elisha called on the name of the Lord, and he responded. Who are we to question God?

 

[RichP]

Little children are usually too immature to understand the seriousness of what they are doing. I still have trouble understanding the reaction.

Chris,

Thank you for questioning these verses. It really made me think about this…

If we look at the literal text almost as if it were a news report… I first started wondering about bears in Israel. I don’t usually think of bears being in Israel. Apparently, there were bears there until hunting made them extinct in the area. Next, I looked at the actions of the boys. These boys knew what they were doing. They left the city and the protection of the walls of the city (against bears?). They deliberately mocked and teased a man of God. The next part is interesting… On one side there are a number of young boys or teens. Two bears start attacking them. Some bears are fast but are two bears fast enough to tear apart 42 boys? Also, the bears did not get all of them, only 42 of them. We don’t know how many escaped. At least one did. Bear attacks against humans are relatively rare. If two bears or two anything tore apart 42 boys, it would be some sort of record, I think. Does this reinforce the thought that this is God’s justice instead of a natural occurance.

This might be quite a stretch… Taking these verses a step further, could this be a foreshadowing of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem? Could the young boys represent the leaders of the Jews who mocked Jesus and eventually crucified him? “Young” indicating immature faith… The boys being torn up indicating the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD?

Just a thought…

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

2Ki 2:23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
2Ki 2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

In the Law of God, the sentence for disrespecting one’s parents is death. That same sentence was likely extended to disrespecting elders at that time too. Thus in this text, God is being consistent with his law.

 

[Chris_LaRock]

That makes sense to me.

If an artist wants to add to or take away from thier artwork, it’s perfectly acceptable.

 

[MichaelTDoyle]

As for the good God doing such a thing, is irrelevant. God owns creation, including the bears and the lives of those teenagers. He has the right to punish them in any way he sees fit, and we have no right to impose moral standards on him. He is the one who imposes moral standards on us. God is goodness himself, so by definition, everything he does is good, even though it appears otherwise to us. For all I care God can strike me or you dead right now simply because it pleases him, and it would still be good, because everything he does is good.

If God commands us to love Him with our whole heart, mind, body, and soul, then it follows we must be obedient children of the Father, yes. God also gave us reason and inspires us to love what is good. The lover wishes to know the beloved; the child looks up to the Father. The father may do something the child does not understand, but it is right and natural for the child to want to know why the Father does these things. I heard that Islam believes God is unknowable by reason, but Catholicism sees reason as a means of getting a better understanfing of God. In doing so, for love of Him, we want to know why He does what He does. It seems inconsistent with reason and the purpose of the Bible that God would present actions that we simply cannot understand their moral basis or even try to understand their basis.

I agree very much that we should never judge God. I believe this is the lesson of Job. I think though we should try very much to understand Him to better love His goodness.

 

[Mintaka]

Besides, it’s a great story! Not only were the mean ole youths given the ole back of the bearpaw for disrespect, it was given them by girl bears!

Rawwwwr! Grrrrl power!

Also, this is the scriptural justification for chasing little kids around yelling, “Rawwwwr! I’m going to EAT you! Rawwwwwr!”

 

[Chris_LaRock]

That prophet couldn’t “bear” being made fun of, so some bears came along and the fur sure flew!

 

[lak611]

That prophet couldn’t “bear” being made fun of, so some bears came along and the fur sure flew!

I like that!

 

[Chris_LaRock]

Just wait until your ‘paw’ gets home!

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

2Ki 2:23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
2Ki 2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

There is a question whether they were children - naar can be used of children & grown ups, much like French garçon. The Dios kouroi (Castor & Pollux, as they are known in Latin) are the “lads of Zeus” - & the naarim here in 2 Kings may have been followers of the cult of Jehovah as practiced at Bethel (which is criticised several times by the Prophets), & thus been “lads of Jehovah” belonging to that particular holy place of Jehovah. There was an Israelite prohibition against certain kinds of hair-cutting, for cultic reasons.​

So - if this theory has anything in it - the “naarim” would then be representatives of what Elijah & Elisha had been fighting against. Which would make the text an encounter between two different sorts of religion - rather like Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18, just a few chapters earlier. The calling down of fire by Elijah on two contingents of soldiers sent to arrest him could support this interpretation of the naarim; for in poetic texts outside the OT, Baal has “lads” & the god El has an army - which would make the “soldiers” & “children” the earthly equivalents of those followers of those gods.

The incident is a pendant to the episode of the passing of Elijah, & should be read as continuous with it: the Elijah cycle of stories is full of incidents which parody & satirise the cult of Baal, & the anger of Elisha is understandable, if the reference to his baldness implied that he was a follower of Baal, or even of the cult of Jehovah as practiced in Israel. Bethel after the division of the ten tribes of Israel (in the North) from Judah & Benjamin (in the South) became an Israelite royal shrine, where Jehovah was represented by bulls as his sacred animals. In the time of Elijah & Elisha, the worship of Jehovah was endangered by the fact that the queen-mother was a Tyrian princess & a zealous worshipper of Baal.

That is a guess at what the passage means - but an educated one, one hopes; so take it, or not