Have You Ever Wondered ?

[walla299]

God put that story in there for a reason. I have no idea what that might be other than to make us scratch our (balding) heads and ask, "Now why is that (story) there?"

 

[Michael37]

4 hours ago, BeyondET said:

Right a major head scratcher, what is meant by go up, and like you mentioned the children.

Go up, like Elijah,

2Ki 2:11  And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

These children were silly enough to blasphemously mess with a supenaturally endowed and divinely anointed man of God, . . .never a good idea for anyone.
 

[Justin Adams]

7 hours ago, BeyondET said:

Right a major head scratcher, what is meant by go up, and like you mentioned the children.

Dr. Heiser  has some very deep and valid thoughts about this. I think his explanation is quite relevant and takes the wind out of the sails of those that criticize unduly.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Justin Adams

[Hopefully]

“And he went up from thence unto Beth–el: 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. 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.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭2:23-24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Here is a curse on the youths of Bethel, enough to destroy them; it was not a curse causeless, for it was Elisha's character, as God's prophet, that they abused. They bade him go up, reflecting on the taking up of Elijah into heaven. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_kings/2-23.htm

First, the King James Version has done us a disservice by translated the term as “children.” The Hebrew word can refer to children, but rather more specifically means "young men." 

This was not a small group of children making fun of a bald man. Rather, it was a large demonstration of young men who assembled for the purpose of mocking a prophet of God. Third, the mocking of “go on up, you baldhead,” is more than making fun of baldness. The baldness of Elisha referred to here may be: 1) natural loss of hair; 2) a shaved head denoting his separation to the prophetic office; or more likely, 3) an epithet of scorn and contempt, Elisha not being literally bald. The phrase “go up” likely was a reference to Elijah, Elisha’s mentor, being taken up to Heaven earlier in 2 Kings chapter 2:11-12. These youths were sarcastically taunting and insulting the Lord’s prophet by telling him to repeat Elijah’s translation.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Elisha-baldhead.html

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by Hopefully

[Starise]

This is where a cursory look at the text appears to indicate they were very young boys when in fact this might not have been true. It is very unlikely the boys were younger than 12. In reality the victims could have been anywhere from 12 to 30 years old. 

Elisha was going onto one of the most rebellious and sinful areas of Israel. According to other texts, this appears to have been an ongoing thing when men of God came into that region. The taunting had gone on before so I think other prior events likely led up to this. This wasn't some boys with nothing to do who suddenly decided that Elisha looked like fair game to pick on for sport. From what I gather there was this mindset there of regularly taunting prophets as a way of demeaning Elisha's God. At this point the people in Bethel were as bad or worse than the surrounding pagans. They were prime territory for God's judgement and hence the reason Elisha was there to warn them.

The actions that took place afterwards could be compared to the battleship that fires a warning round into the island they are preparing to attack. It was intended to send a strong message to those who were in the habit of doing such things to the men of God. The message was basically, " This is a very small indication of what you all can expect if you continue to behave in this way."

In reality they had been spitting in the face of God for years and it was time to begin the reckoning. To run down a man of God equipped with unique and powerful gifts is a very dangerous thing to do. If a prophet curses you, there isn't much you can do but wait for your demise.

[teddyv]

I'm more curious how 2 bears were able to maul 42 kids.

[Guest kingdombrat]

4 hours ago, Hopefully said:

“And he went up from thence unto Beth–el: 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. 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.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭2:23-24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Here is a curse on the youths of Bethel, enough to destroy them; it was not a curse causeless, for it was Elisha's character, as God's prophet, that they abused. They bade him go up, reflecting on the taking up of Elijah into heaven. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_kings/2-23.htm

First, the King James Version has done us a disservice by translated the term as “children.” The Hebrew word can refer to children, but rather more specifically means "young men." 

This was not a small group of children making fun of a bald man. Rather, it was a large demonstration of young men who assembled for the purpose of mocking a prophet of God. Third, the mocking of “go on up, you baldhead,” is more than making fun of baldness. The baldness of Elisha referred to here may be: 1) natural loss of hair; 2) a shaved head denoting his separation to the prophetic office; or more likely, 3) an epithet of scorn and contempt, Elisha not being literally bald. The phrase “go up” likely was a reference to Elijah, Elisha’s mentor, being taken up to Heaven earlier in 2 Kings chapter 2:11-12. These youths were sarcastically taunting and insulting the Lord’s prophet by telling him to repeat Elijah’s translation.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Elisha-baldhead.html

 

 

 

Amen!

[Guest kingdombrat]

2 hours ago, Starise said:

This is where a cursory look at the text appears to indicate they were very young boys when in fact this might not have been true. It is very unlikely the boys were younger than 12. In reality the victims could have been anywhere from 12 to 30 years old. 

Elisha was going onto one of the most rebellious and sinful areas of Israel. According to other texts, this appears to have been an ongoing thing when men of God came into that region. The taunting had gone on before so I think other prior events likely led up to this. This wasn't some boys with nothing to do who suddenly decided that Elisha looked like fair game to pick on for sport. From what I gather there was this mindset there of regularly taunting prophets as a way of demeaning Elisha's God. At this point the people in Bethel were as bad or worse than the surrounding pagans. They were prime territory for God's judgement and hence the reason Elisha was there to warn them.

The actions that took place afterwards could be compared to the battleship that fires a warning round into the island they are preparing to attack. It was intended to send a strong message to those who were in the habit of doing such things to the men of God. The message was basically, " This is a very small indication of what you all can expect if you continue to behave in this way."

In reality they had been spitting in the face of God for years and it was time to begin the reckoning. To run down a man of God equipped with unique and powerful gifts is a very dangerous thing to do. If a prophet curses you, there isn't much you can do but wait for your demise.

Amen!

[Starise]

1 hour ago, teddyv said:

I'm more curious how 2 bears were able to maul 42 kids.

 

As I was thinking about this I originally thought it was a smaller group.

If 42 of them were mauled there could have been hundreds . If the bears ran into the center of a large crowd ripping and tearing the 42 were those that didn't get away. A big bear could probably swipe two at a time. Bears can move very fast for their size.

[teddyv]

2 minutes ago, Starise said:

 

As I was thinking about this I originally thought it was a smaller group.

If 42 of them were mauled there could have been hundreds . If the bears ran into the center of a large crowd ripping and tearing the 42 were those that didn't get away. A big bear could probably swipe two at a time. Bears can move very fast for their size.

Regardless, it is a bit unusual for bears that I have to pay attention to (blacks and grizzlies). The Syrian brown bears were native to that part of the world at the time, although it appears none exist in Israel anymore.