Elisha and the Two Bears (2 Kings 2:23-25)

What does the Bible teach?

 Introduction

 I have heard the account of Elisha cursing the children of Bethel and the bears killing them preached several times. I’ve heard it preached as an admonition against mocking (or even questioning) the “man of God.” A severe warning to honor your pastor.

I’ve heard a friend preach it a a juvenile detention facility as a warning against going with the crowd. His take was that the event was probably caused by a couple hooligans mocking Elisha and then the rest chirping in.

Recently I have heard it used as a message that God’s gifts are “without repentance,” and that Elisha over-acted and used the power of God unwisely.

 A study of the account though discloses something more.

 2 Kings 2:23-25 King James Version “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. 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. 25 And he went from thence to mount Car- mel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.”

Elisha Heads for Bethel: (2:23) Following the ministry in Jericho, Elisha, as a man of God under the direction of God and with the Word of God moves on into the land to minister to the people. They were a people living in idolatry and badly in need of the Word. “Bethel” means “house of God” or “place of God.” This name spoke of worship and fellowship with God.

There was also a school of the prophets in Bethel, but in spite of this the city was now idolatrous and anything but a center of worship. Hosea, who ministered after Elisha, called this city Bethaven “house of wickedness” a name of shame (Hos. 4:15; 5:8; 10:5).

 It was so called by Hosea because of the idolatrous worship Jeroboam had established in order to effect a complete separation between Israel and Judah. Out of his greed for power and his fear that if Israel went back to Jerusalem to worship, he established two new places of worship in the north with golden calves as the symbol of worship: one at Bethel and the other at Dan. “Beth” means “house and “el” means God.

Aven is the Hebrew awen which means “trouble, sorrow, idolatry, wickedness and emptiness.” The word awen seems to have two primary facets to its meaning:

•  it portrays an iniquity which causes sorrow, calamity and failure (Prov. 22:8).
• But it also portrays an emptiness which moves on to idolatry as a human means of filling the emptiness. 

 When men are empty of God and His Word, they will fill their lives with vain things whether material or philosophic. This leads to idolatry, which leads to iniquity, which leads to calamity.

 “And as he was going . . .” calls our attention to the time of the attack. It occurred simply in the normal process of his travels to the city.

 Elisha is Mocked (2:23) The KJV has “little children” which doesn’t quite convey the meaning here. These were not children, but young men. Although literally translated “children,” it is the Hebrew naar and was used of servants, of soldiers and of Isaac when he was 28 years old. It is used of Joseph when he was 17, (Genesis 37:2).

In a Jewish household, young unmarried males would be considered “children,” even though they were young adults. The KJV translation is correct, but we need to understand that God did not send bears to eat fifth graders because they were rude.

The term “naar” is applied to an unmarried male who has not yet become the head of a household. The young man is still considered to be in the “house of his father,” a child. It is not so much a reference to age as to status.

 The other word used of the young men taunting Elisha is in verse 24. It is the word “yeladim.” The word is used twice in 1 Kings 12 in reference to Rehoboam’s young advisors. the word is used in other places to designate young adult males, usually with royal associations. The young men who confront Elisha are not little children. They are young men of the royal and perhaps priestly establishment at Bethel.

 The verse continues, “and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.” “Mocked” is the Hebrew galas and denotes a scornful belittling of something or someone, but it issues from an attitude which counts as valueless that which is really of great value.

These young men were attacking not just Elisha, the man, but they were also attacking his message. In the final analysis they were mocking or rejecting God and what He was attempting to do through Elisha as God’s spokesman.

 The attack of these young men is twofold:

•  “Go up”… “go up.” Some believe they were telling Elisha to ascend up as Elijah did. However, this same language is used in other places to refer to worship at the sanctuary site in Bethel, (Genesis 35:3, 1 Kings 12:29). It appears they were telling him to worship their false gods. 
• The second aspect of the attack is seen in the words: “you bald head.” Whether Elisha was actually bald, they were ridiculing the prophet and telling him to get lost like Elijah. It may have been contrasting Elisha to Elijah, who was a hairy man, (2 Kings 1:8), implying Elisha did not have Elijah’s authority. 

In either case, the reception Elisha received at Bethel is quite the opposite of how he was received in Jericho. 2 Kings 2:15 “And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.“

Elisha pronounces a fatal curse. (2:24) “And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord.”

Elisha cursed the young men in the name of the Lord. The number killed, 42, is the same as the number of young men of Judean royalty Jehru slaughters in 2 Kings 10:14, “And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.“

 The number 42 is used regularly in the Bible as a symbolic number of potential blessing or curse. This shows that the disaster was not of a natural coincidence or of the prophet’s choice, but rather one of divine intent.

This was not a random act of cruelty by Elisha or the Lord. It is an attack against the royal household of the northern kingdom in Israel and its apostate priesthood. This was the judgment of God against those who worshiped falsely and dishonor the Lord and the man bringing his message.

Dennis Regling
www.bibledefender.com