What do you think of this Bible Verse?

Question

2 Kings 2:23-24. Catholic Bible. Very Odd.

Answer 1

I think the lesson is "don't mock the prophet of God."
What do you think the end will be of all the God mockers on this forum?
People think that God is a joke.
They don't have a clue what they are dealing with.

Answer 2

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." Second, the fact that the bears mauled 42 of the youths indicates that there were more than 42 youths involved. 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 up you baldhead,” is more than “making fun of baldness.” The word “baldhead” was likely a reference to leprosy (Leviticus 13:40-44). The phrase “go up” likely was a reference to Elijah, Elisha’s mentor, being taken up to Heaven earlier in 2 Kings chapter 2 (verses 11-12).

Kings 2:23-24 is not an account of God mauling young children for making fun of a bald man. Rather, 2 Kings 2:23-24 is a record of an insulting demonstration against God’s prophet by a large group of young men.

Answer 3

Ah yes. This is one of the ten greatest smittings of the Old Testament.

In this passage the prophet of God, Elisha, had just performed a great work of mercy for the people. Then some boys came jeering at him.. It was like a mob of over 40 hooligans. Of course, these hooligans were smitten by God, but why? Was there more to the story than we can see on the surface?

As Elisha was traveling from Jericho to Bethel several dozen youths (young men, not children) confronted him. Perhaps they were young false prophets of Baal. Their jeering, recorded in the slang of their day, implied that if Elisha were a great prophet of the Lord, as Elijah was, he should go on up into heaven as Elijah reportedly had done. The epithet baldhead may allude to lepers who had to shave their heads and were considered detestable outcasts. Or it may simply have been a form of scorn, for baldness was undesirable (cf. Isa. 3:17, 24). Since it was customary for men to cover their heads, the young men probably could not tell if Elisha was bald or not. They regarded God's prophet with contempt....Elisha then called down a curse on the villains. This cursing stemmed not from Elisha pride but from their disrespect for the Lord as reflected in their treatment of His spokesman (cf. 1:9-14). Again God used wild animals to execute His judgment (cf., e.g., 1 Kings 13:24). That 42 men were mauled by the two bears suggests that a mass demonstration had been organized against God and Elisha.

Answer 4

Don't mess with the man of God! Obviously, since he was a prophet, they should not have bothered him. Those children were probably incensed by the evil one to bother Elisha. The King James bible should be the same as the Catholic bible.

Answer 5

The main reason for this mocking of Elisha appears to be that a bald man was wearing Elijah’s official garment. The children recognized Elisha as Gods representative and simply did not want him around. They told him to “go up,” that is, keep going up to Bethel or be taken up as Elijah had been. The children evidently reflected the antagonistic attitude of their parents. How vital that parents teach their children to respect God’s representatives!

Answer 6

The Prophet Elisha is being mocked by children. It was wrong for the children to mock him, as is to try to mock God.

To sisterzeal: Catholics are not the only ones that have their own Bible, the Jehovah Witness's has their own version.

Answer 7

Yeah.. Its quite the portion in the word eh.
But one person mentioned on here about a message to parents to teach their children that they need to show respect for those who represent God. Elisha was such a person.
To look at these verses and condemn God says to me that even we ought to be careful regarding judging God or speaking in a judgemental way anything that is in the word. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God
God was with Elisha and He was His prophet and Oracle for that time. To speak against Elisha was to speak against God.. To mock Elisha was to mock God. As a mother on the one hand my heart goes out for those 42 children torn apart by the two she bears yet in my heart it shows that even children need to learn from an early age the fear of God.
The Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom...

Interesting Q
sandy

Answer 8

I love the story. In my darker moments, it's hysterical. i would never harm a child, and don't advocate harming them, except to whip their butts when they carry on the way those little children in that story did.

In the King James version, they are saying "Go up, thou bald head! Go up, thou bald head!" Man, that is just funny. i don't care if your an athiest, agnostic, Christian, Jew, etc. If you can't get a small chuckle out of that, well, I feel sad for you.

Answer 9

If you read what they were saying, you see they were not simply making fun of his bald head. They were saying "go on up." As in mocking the thought that Elijah(the prophet before him) had ascended into heaven. Kinda like saying, "where is your fiery chariot Elisha?" This sacrilegious talk couldn't be tolerated, and their punishment was harsh.

Answer 10

is that the one about the she bears killing those kids? well they died because they knew elisha was a prophet of God, their disrespect was not towards him personally but God, they were jeering him (not simply jokingly) as a respresentative of God.

Jehovah makes no mistake, he could read the hearts of those children and see they knew right from wrong. he would not of listened to elisha had he dissagreed with his curse on them. "far be it for the true God to act wickedly" and elisha was obviously familiar with those kids otherwise he would of not cursed them like that. It was probably not the first time they did that.

if you know the history of his dealings with israel you would realize he put up and forgave them hundreds of times, he didn't just throw them off he gave them chance after chance. so he probably gave those kids chance after chance and your just getting the tail end of the story.

RRRRR