Why exactly did god send the bears to kill/maul the boys that mocked Elisha?

Question

I don't get this. They mock Elisha for being bald, which, as I understand it, was a huge offense for the time. Elisha curses them in the name of the lord, and two bears come down and maul the kids. Why? What is the context of this that I may be missing, and why is it justifiable to try and kill (it doesn't say if they were killed or not, I'll assume not) 42 people for insulting someone?

You can see the verses here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%202:23-24&version=31;

Tube Dude: So that makes it okay for god to murder them? Are we talking about god or the devil here?

Jacks Wasted Life: No, not really. So we assume that there is at least one kid in the crowd (Under 18 is a kid to me). Furthermore, how do we draw the conclusion that they were threatening him from a mistranslation? I'm no lingust, but that should be something that was appparent, or should have been something that was parsed out quickly. I agree that we may be missing something here, but I don't think your answer is correct.

Yeager: So god kills people that tease him? Isn't it enough that they'd be in hell for eternity?

Back at Jack's: Alright, I can understand the cultural distinction, and yes, we try 16 year olds for murder, but these kids/adults were mocking the man, not killing him. Secondly, I can understand how a group of 40-odd men mocking you can be intimidating, but recent events have shown pretty clearly that preemptive strikes aren't a good idea. I can't get behind it on that count. Surely god could have saved his messenger in some other way. And lastly, assuming it is just a poor translation, why has it become fixed? This isn’t a case of the whole thing hanging on a single word. Unless there is a word that translates to aggressive adults with violent tendencies, justification is largely missing. There is no translation that says "And the 42 men advanced menacingly on Elisha, causing Elisha to fear for his safety and life." I would expect that a lot of work has been done to figure exactly what was meant, but I haven't seen any bible deviate from that account in any significant way.

Answer 1

ooh, I've been waiting for someone to ask this. I read about it once.

Apparently, the word is "youths" in the most reliable translations (I'm not talking about the WHOLE Bible, just this book/particular Jewish writing. Everyone knows the Bible was written in tons of different languages by more than 40 authors, and the New Testament was later compiled by a group of Christians who set up a conference to analyze the writings and see which meshed well with each other and were considered reliable). KJV says boys, but that's innacurate. The original-language word used for the ages of the gang has been applied in the rest of the Old Testament writings. to guys anywhere from 16-35. They were talking about how Elijah disappeared to heaven (death) and telling him to go up. This is a case of a gang of dangerous men threatening one of God's prophets. That's the trouble with some translations. One word can throw the whole story out of whack. It wasn't just mocking, it was threatening. And it wasn't a bunch of little teasing kids, it was like a gang of Biblical hoodlums. Changes things eh? It's fun to look at the linguistics and historical/cultural things in the Bible on a case-by-case basis, because a lot of the time, we've missed something.

Another example is why the woman who touched Jesus' cloke thought touching it would heal her (there was old scripture about healing sewed onto the tassles of Jewish clothes, unmentioned in the story). And the whole God showing Moses his back story. Moses says to God, “Show me your glory”. Which is our way of saying, “I need more. I need something I can see. Something tangible. God’s response? He tells Moses to go stand on a rock because he is going to pass by. He explains to Moses that no one can see him and live, so he’ll cover Moses with his hand as he passes by, and then he says, “I will remove my hand and you can see my back.” (exodus 33:23) The ancient rabbis had all sorts of things to say about this passage but one of the most fascinating things they picked up on this is the part about God’s back. They argued that in the original Hebrew language, the word “back” should be understood as a euphemism for “where I just was”. It is as if God is saying, “The best you’re going to do, the most you are capable of seeing is where I just was.”

This sort of thing is what study Bibles, historians, anthropologists, language experts, and Christian non-fiction is for.


----------------- Maybe I didn't say that well....
No, not really. So we assume that there is at least one kid in the crowd (Under 18 is a kid to me)
- I see what you mean about that, but old Jews distinguish between the age of childhood and the age of accountability, not the age of what we consider adulthood and maturity. 16 is usually accountable and able to make decisions for themselves on a moral level. We try some 16 year old murderers as adults, don't we?

Furthermore, how do we draw the conclusion that they were threatening him from a mistranslation?
-If you re-read the story, and you should, while changing the ages in your mind, you may see how such a large number of mocking men might be threatening. I mean, how could it not be?

That should be something that was appparent, or should have been something that was parsed out quickly.
- yes, but the people who translated this text for the KJV that has been widely read throughout history didn't have the cultural knowledge and were just translating the best way they knew how. You know that some languages don't have words that others do. The old Catholics put boys as their best translation guess, and nobody challenged it because they were all "don't question God". Can't you picture them missing that? People have misinterpreted the Bible before, when it should have been obvious. Plus, the story is very short, and does not have many details. By and large, the Bible doesn't have too many details. The stories are mostly overviews of what happened. That story goes fast, and doesn't say exactly how Elisha felt, what the gang was carrying, what the insult "baldhead" implied (and it does imply something really bad, but I forget, ask a Jew.) Later, more scrolls were found, we have technology, and we travel more, etc. Now, Biblical scholars have been able to make the correction.

-Even if it was as my fellow Christians say, you have to keep in perspective that God takes all lives in the end. He gave them their lives in the first place and he says how long they get. He just collected at a time that served them right. Fortunitely, that was the old Jewish covenant. Now we live under the law of grace/love rather than the law of the rules.


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God can make a pre-emptive strik because he's God and he knows what's going to happen. In cases with us, it's not wise, but it's God we are talking about. Amazing point with the "God could have done it another way". Elisha could have flown. But again, I think it was the "justice"/old covenant/do the crime and pay the price sort of thing. Plus, if God had let them get off scot-free, people would have talked and gloated. If he let them off, that would have been mercy, and with the Old Covenant (the law), mercy was an option, like, half the time. But again, good point. I kind of wish he HAD let them off. But if there is a God, I guess he had reasons for using the bear-mauling method. At least until Jesus showed up.

It hasn't been fixed, other than to switch the word to "young men" or "youths", because you really can't add words or details to the Bible. It's the Bible. They try to change it as little as possible. That's why now we have study Bibles with sidebars on this sort of issue, like textbooks. You can see how actually changing the text to indicate our best guesses can be dangerous. Where would we stop? We disagree on things, as you can see. And where would the mystery and fun be if everything was spelled out black-and-white for us and we didn't get to ask questions? There are many spots where clarification has been found, but nobody is going to add it to the actual text. People write their own research for that. Honestly SO much has been discovered throught this sort of work, the Bible would be a lot longer if it was "cleaned up", so people just write new books that do commentary.

Anyway, you asked how Christians justify this, and I was just putting in one explaination besides "don't mock God", which I figured you would grow tired of. I really think it's the most reliable one we have, because I have read it from several historians in many different places, and I think logically, looking at what we do know, it's reasonable enough if you are a Christian or Jew. You made it sound like you were genuinely asking what we thought of this, not just posting this here to make a point. I'm not sure what your intention was now. Honest curiosity, debate, or statement-making.

Answer 2

yes it was gracious don't bash the bible. Plus this was taken out of context too. Put the entire 2 Kings and you would understand it better. Don't mock others. Their parents would have probably going to turn away from the children if they went back to thier village anyway. The bible was written so that Christians can understand how to live their lives. These verses are just saying don't curse with the LofdGod works in mysterious ways. Stop trying to prove the bible wrong

Answer 3

How is it possible to justify the murder of 42 people of
ANY age for insulting a man's physical appearance?

(stunned by some of the justifications here)

And how does a translation meaning a group of boys (teenagers or otherwise) turn into an angry mob? A bit of revision, eh? A man claims to be a prophet of god. A kid mocks his haircut. Am I to take this as good reason to tear human limbs with carnivorous animals? My, oh my. The things religions justify.

Edit: I henceforth insult Elijah in every way possible. Jerk, bald guy, not real, murderer, fake prophet, charlatan, meanie with a comb over, you name it. Notice how the bears and lightning bolts have not shown up. Notice how the bible is still a work of fiction.

Answer 4

Makes one wonder, doesn't it?

Keep in mind that anyone who tells you that the Bible is all literally true, then is saying that the second coming of Christ took place a thousand years ago as is predicted in the book of Revelation.

If you make exceptions or interpretations to make Revelation say what you want it to, then you have to give up literal truth.

Sp maybe somebody got carried away with the bears.

Also keep in mind that anybody who talks about "The Original Bible" has not done their research. The Bible was put together by the Roman Catholic Church out of a selection of religious writings in Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic so that the sources of some dogma would be available in one edition.

Answer 5

God had an important mission for Elisha, and it was imperative that his prophet was taken seriously.

today, many christians are mocked and the bears don't come out of the woodworks to maul people, but Elisha was literally speaking God's words(not just his interpretation, like modern-day preachers). a true prophet is just a step below the incarnation of God himself. this wasn't just some altruistic guy, he was the prophet of God. the youths mocked him at their peril and they paid the consequence.

Answer 6

I think they were killed. But children were to respect elders, rebellious children were to be taken outside of the city to be killed. I think this is probably related. I am glad we are in a time of grace where this type of thing can be forgiven. A person of the Jewish faith should be able to answer this better.

Answer 7

Children should not make fun of bald people.

Answer 8

LOL Yeah. That's one of my favorite stories!

Answer 9

They were mocking God's messenger..

Answer 10

People should not mock God's messengers.