23 25<\/strong>. Elisha curseth the mocking children and some of them are destroyed (Not in Chronicles)<\/p>\n 23<\/strong>. from thence<\/em> unto Beth-el<\/em> ] Going back by the same way which he had come some days before with Elijah.<\/p>\n there came forth little children<\/em> ] The margin of R.V. gives ‘young lads’. The word in the original is that which Solomon uses in his prayer at Gibeon (1Ki 3:7<\/span>), ‘I am but a little child<\/em> ’. This was at the time when he had just been elevated to the throne. So that although the word may mean ‘a little child’ it is not necessary nor possible in the present passage to understand by it anything but such young persons as were well aware of the outrage and wickedness of their conduct.<\/p>\n Go up, thou bald head<\/em> ] As the prophet drew near to the city these youths recognised him by his garb for one of the Lord’s prophets. It may be that he was wearing Elijah’s mantle. Such a man would be thought fit sport for the children of the Baal-worshippers of Bethel, and they were most probably set on and encouraged in their mockery by their parents. Their home education and all the associations of the place would have given them a contempt for the true servants of God. The fault of what they did lay as much in their surroundings as in themselves. It would seem that Elisha was prematurely bald, for he lived a long time after Elijah’s assumption, and this physical defect the insolent youths seized upon at once as a ground for ridicule. Elijah, the hairy man, had probably long shaggy locks, and so the contrast between the two would be marked at once.<\/p>\n As Beth-el was the older seat of the calf-worship 1Ki 12:32-33<\/span>; 13:1-32<\/span>, a prophet of Yahweh was not unlikely to meet with insult there.<\/P> By the way – <\/B>i. e. by the usual road, probably that which winds up the Wady Suweinit, under hills even now retaining some trees, and in Elishas time covered with a dense forest, the haunt of savage animals. Compare 1Ki 13:24<\/span>; and for the general prevalence of beasts of prey in the country, both earlier and later than this, see Jdg 14:5<\/span>; 1Sa 17:31<\/U><\/span>; 2Ki 17:25<\/span>; Amo 5:19<\/span>, etc.<\/P> <\/p>\n 2Ki 2:23-24<\/span><\/p>\n And he went up from thence unto Beth-el.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Elisha and the naughty children<\/strong><\/p>\n ;–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Wickedness arising from unexpected quarters. The children of Beth-el.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>That there is a great responsibility connected with a family. Considering the tendencies of our nature to evil, and the bad examples around, us, nothing but strong common, sense, strong parental love and the fear of God, will enable parents to wash their hands from the blood of their offspring.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>That neither age nor position exempts sin from being punished. The bears destroyed forty-two children of Beth-el. Rich and poor, high and low, old and young must be punished for their transgressions. God is no respecter of persons.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It is dangerous to persecute Gods people. No weapon that is formed against them shall prosper, whether it be the stocks or the burning faggots, the Pope or the drunken vagabond. Seeing godly men in trouble, we might think that God is angry with them, but that is a great mistake.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>That religion does not deprive man of the right of self-defence. Some people seem to think that a Christian must endure every species of injustice without uttering a word of protest.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>That the kindest nature when aroused is the fiercest. In reading the history of the prophet we are struck with the generosity of his nature. (W. Alonzo Griffiths.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The tearing of forty and two children by two she-bears<\/strong><\/p>\n Elisha had started for <\/strong>Beth-el on prophetic business. As he was passing out of Jericho, he was followed by a crowd, not of innocent little children, but probably of servant boys. The phrase here translated little children was applied to himself by Solomon when he was twenty years of age (1Ki 3:7<\/span>); and by Jeremiah to himself when he was old enough to enter upon<\/em> the prophetic office (Jer 1:6-7<\/span>); and it was applied to Joseph when he was at least seventy years of age (Gen 37:2<\/span>). These deriders were boys old enough to know what they were about, and old enough to have respect for the prophetic office. Probably they had had a pecuniary income from the business of fetching water into Jericho, so long as the water in the city was bad. As soon as Elisha healed the spring of the waters of the city, the occupation of these lads was gone. They were enraged at that. They were more interested in their pecuniary income than in the health of hundreds of citizens, old and young. Their cry after Elisha was not disrespect for old age. They did not call him Bald-head. He was not old. There is no evidence that he was baldheaded; but, if so, those boys probably would not have known it, as there is no proof that they ever had seen his uncovered head. He could have had no artificial baldness. That was forbidden (Lev 21:5<\/span>, Num 6:5<\/span>). Because of the miracle of the healing of the water, and the consequent loss to them of their gain, they cried after him, Go up, thou shaver! Go up, thou shaver! It is to be remarked <\/strong>that he had performed the miracle as the ambassador of Jehovah, and that when those boys cried out after him they were insulting Jehovah. The prophet did not take it as a personal offence He did not curse them in his own name. He cursed them in the name of Jehovah; and ii they had not committed any great sin against Jehovah he would never have visited them with so frightful a retribution. They, themselves, were murderously selfish and impious. They watched the prophets going out, and went out in a body for the purpose of insulting him as a prophet. It was justice that visited their sins upon them, and it was so connected with the miracle, that it seemed to be simply poetic justice, that whatever the punishment of their sins should be, it should be manifest as being of a kind with their sins. That is the principle which reigns throughout all intelligent moral government. They desired the death of others that they might make money. There is no lesson in this passage of respect for old age. There is no exhibition of bad temper on the part of the prophet. There is nothing of cruelty in the conduct of Jehovah. That God abhors selfishness, and that when human selfishness sets itself in opposition to the movements of Gods unselfish mercy and loving-kindness, then lie will administer to it a severe rebuke; this is the lesson. Selfishness and irreverence are the sins against which this narrative is levelled. If it be said that it is not likely that so many lads so large as these would have been torn, as represented in the text, it may be replied that she-bears, robbed of their whelps, are described as especially ferocious; and that when these lads heard the malediction pronounced by a prophet who had wrought the great miracle of cleansing the waters in their town, and then saw immediately two ferocious bears rushing toward them, their guilt and peril united to demoralise them, and while they were in this condition so many of them were hurt. It is to be noted that not one of the wicked boys is said to have lost his life. None perished, while many were punished. The story, instead of setting forth Jehovah as a cruel deity, actually presents him as a God who administers justice mercifully. (Sunday Magazine.<\/em>)<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 23<\/span>. There came forth little children out of the city<\/B><\/I>] These were probably the school of some celebrated teacher; but under his instruction they had learned neither piety nor good manners.<\/P> <\/P> Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.<\/B><\/I>] aleh kereach, aleh kereach<\/I>. Does not this imply the grossest insult? Ascend, thou empty skull, to heaven<\/I>, as it is pretended thy master did! This was blasphemy against God; and their punishment (for they were Beth-elite idolaters) was only proportioned to their guilt. Elisha cursed them<\/I>, i.e., pronounced a curse upon them, in the name of the Lord<\/I>, beshem Yehovah, by the name<\/I> or authority of Jehovah<\/I>. The spirit of their offense lies in their ridiculing a miracle<\/I> of the Lord: the offense was against Him<\/I>, and He<\/I> punished it. It was no petulant humour of the prophet that caused him to pronounce this curse; it was God alone: had it proceeded from a wrong disposition of the prophet, no miracle would have been wrought in order to gratify it.<\/P> <\/P> “But was it not a cruel thing to destroy forty-two little<\/I> children<\/I>, who, in mere childishness, had simply called the prophet bare skull<\/I>, or bald head<\/I>?” I answer, Elisha<\/I> did not destroy them; he had no power by which he could bring two she-bears out of the wood to destroy them. It was evidently either accidental, or a Divine judgment; and if a judgment, God must be the sole author of it. Elisha’s curse<\/I> must be only declaratory<\/I> of what God was about to do. See on 2Kg 1:10<\/span>. “But then, as they were little children<\/I>, they could scarcely be accountable for their conduct; and consequently, it was cruelty to destroy them.” If it was a judgment of God, it could neither be cruel<\/I> nor unjust<\/I>; and I contend, that the prophet had no power by which he could bring these she-bears to fall upon them. But were they little children<\/I>? for here<\/I> the strength of the objection lies. Now I suppose the objection means children<\/I> from four<\/I> to seven<\/I> or eight<\/I> years old; for so we use the word: but the original, nearim<\/I> ketannim<\/I>, may mean young men<\/I>, for katon<\/I> signifies to be young<\/I>, in opposition to old<\/I>, and is so translated in various places in our Bible; and naar<\/I> signifies, not only a child<\/I>, but a young man<\/I>, a servant<\/I>, or even a soldier<\/I>, or one fit to go out to battle; and is so translated in a multitude of places in our common English version. I shall mention but a few, because they are sufficiently decisive: Isaac was called naar<\/I> when twenty-eight<\/I> years old, Ge 21:5-12<\/span>; and Joseph was so called when he was thirty-nine<\/I>, Ge 41:12<\/span>. Add to these 1Kg 20:14<\/span>: “And Ahab said, By whom [shall the Assyrians be delivered into my hand?] And he said, Thus saith the Lord, by the YOUNG MEN, benaarey, of the princes of the provinces<\/I>.” That these were soldiers<\/I>, probably militia<\/I>, or a selection from the militia, which served as a bodyguard<\/I> to Ahab, the event sufficiently declares; and the persons that mocked Elisha were perfectly accountable for their conduct.<\/P> <\/P> But is it not possible that these forty-two<\/I> were a set of unlucky young men, who had been employed in the wood<\/I>, destroying the whelps<\/I> of these same she-bears<\/I>, who now pursued them, and tore them to pieces, for the injury they had done? We have already heard of the ferocity of a bear robbed of her whelps<\/I>; see at the end of 2Sa 17:28<\/span>. The mention of SHE-bears<\/I> gives some colour to the above conjecture; and, probably, at the time when these young fellows insulted the prophet, the bears might be tracing the footsteps of the murderers of their young, and thus came upon them in the midst of their insults, God’s providence ordering these occurrences so as to make this natural effect appear as a Divine cause. If the conjecture be correct, the bears were prepared by their loss to execute the curse of the prophet, and God’s justice guided them to the spot to punish the iniquity that had been just committed.<\/P><\/p>\n He went up from thence unto Beth-el, <\/B>to the other school or college of prophets, to inform them of Elijahs translation and his succession into the same office; and to direct, and comfort, and stablish them, as he saw occasion. <\/P> Little children; <\/B>or, children<\/I>, or young men<\/I>; as this Hebrew word oft signifies, as Gen 22:5<\/span>,12<\/span>; Ge 41:12<\/span>; 2Ch 13:7<\/span>; Isa 11:6<\/span>. It is more than probable they were old enough to discern between good and evil as their expression showeth. <\/P> Out of the city; <\/B>Beth-el, which was the mother city of idolatry, 1Ki 12:28<\/span>,29<\/span>; Ho 4:15<\/span>; 5:8<\/span>, 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. <\/P> Mocked him, <\/B>with great petulancy and vehemency, as the conjugation of the Hebrew verb signifies; deriding both his person and ministry, and that from a profane contempt of the true religion, and a passionate love to that idolatry which they knew he opposed. <\/P> Go up; go up<\/B> into heaven, whither thou pretendest that Elijah is gone. Why didst not thou accompany thy friend and master to heaven? Oh that the same Spirit would take thee up also, that thou mightest not trouble us nor our Israel, as Elijah did! <\/P> Thou bald-head; <\/B>so they mock his natural infirmity, which is a great sin. <\/P> Go up, thou baldhead:<\/B> the repetition shows their heartiness and earnestness, that it was no sudden nor rash slip of their tongue, but a scoff proceeding from a rooted impiety and hatred of God and his prophets. <\/P> <\/p>\n 23, 24. there came forth littlechildren out of the city<\/B>that is, the idolatrous, or infidelyoung men of the place, who affecting to disbelieve the report of hismaster’s translation, sarcastically urged him to follow in theglorious career. <\/P> bald head<\/B>an epithet ofcontempt in the East, applied to a person even with a bushy head ofhair. The appalling judgment that befell them was God’s interferenceto uphold his newly invested prophet.<\/P><\/p>\n And he went up from thence unto Bethel<\/strong>,…. From Jericho, which lay in a plain, to Bethel, situated on an hill, and therefore is said to go up to it; hither he went, to acquaint the sons of the prophets with the assumption of Elijah, to condole their loss of him, and to comfort and encourage them, and confirm his own authority among them as a prophet in his stead:<\/p>\n and as he was going up by the way<\/strong>; the ascent to the city:<\/p>\n there came forth little children out of the city<\/strong>; the word for “children” is used of persons of thirty or forty years of age; and though these are said to be “little”, they were so well grown as to be able to go forth out of the city of themselves, without any to guide them, or to take care of them; and were of an age capable not only of taking notice of Elijah’s baldness, but knew him to be a prophet, and were able to distinguish between good and evil; and, from a malignant spirit in them, mocked at him as such, and at the assumption of Elijah; which they had knowledge of, and to whom, taught by their idolatrous parents, they had an aversion: some Jewish writers x say, they were called “Naarim”, which we render “children”, because shaken from the commandments, or had shaken off the yoke of the commands; and “little”, because they were of little faith:<\/p>\n and mocked him, and said unto him, go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head<\/strong>; meaning not up the hill to Bethel, where his coming was not desirable to the greater part in it, being idolaters; and perhaps these children were sent out to intimidate him with their flouts and jeers from entering there; but having heard of Elijah going up to heaven, as was said, they jeeringly bid him go up to heaven after him, and then they should have a good riddance of them both; thus at the same time mocking at him for his baldness, and making a jest of the wondrous work of God, the assumption of Elijah; which, with behaving so irreverently to an hoary head, a prophet of the Lord, was very heinous and wicked, and therefore what befell them need not be wondered at.<\/p>\n x T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 46. 2.<\/p>\n The judgment of God upon the loose fellows at Bethel<\/em>. Elisha proceeded from Jericho to Bethel, the chief seat of the idolatrous calf-worship, where there was also a school of the prophets (2Ki 2:3<\/span>). On the way thither there came small boys out of the city to meet him, who ridiculed him by calling out, “Come up, bald-head, come,” etc. , bald-head (with a bald place at the back of the head), was used as a term of scorn (cf. Isa 3:17<\/span>, Isa 3:24<\/span>); but hardly from a suspicion of leprosy (Winer, Thenius). It was rather as a natural defect, for Elisha, who lived for fifty years after this (2Ki 13:14<\/span>), could not have been bald from age at that time.<\/p>\n 2Ki 2:24<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> The prophet then turned round and cursed the scoffers in the name of the Lord, and there came two bears out of the wood, and tore forty-two boys of them in pieces. The supposed “immorality of cursing,” which Thenius still adduces as a disproof of the historical truth of this miracle, even if it were established, would not affect Elisha only, but would fall back upon the Lord God, who executed the curse of His servant in such a manner upon these worthless boys. And there is no need, in order to justify the judicial miracle, to assume that there was a preconcerted plan which had been devised by the chief rulers of the city out of enmity to the prophet of the Lord, so that the children had merely been put forward (O. v. Gerlach). All that is necessary is to admit that the worthless spirit which prevailed in Bethel was openly manifested in the ridicule of the children, and that these boys knew Elisha, and in his person insulted the prophet of the Lord. If this was the case, then Elisha cursed the boys for the purpose of avenging the honour of the Lord, which had been injured in his person; and the Lord caused this curse to be fulfilled, to punish in the children the sins of the parents, and to inspire the whole city with a salutary dread of His holy majesty.<\/p>\n (Note: Augustine, or the author of the Sermo<\/em> 204 de Tempore<\/em> (or Sermo<\/em> 41 de Elisaeo<\/em> in t. v. of the Opp. August<\/em>., ed. J. P. Migne, p. 1826), which is attributed to him, gives a similar explanation. “ The insolent boys, ” he says, “ are to be supposed to have done this at the instigation of their parents; for they would not have called out if it had displeased their parents. ” And with regard to the object of the judicial punishment, he says it was inflicted “ that the elders might receive a lesson through the smiting of the little ones, and the death of the sons might be a lesson to the parents; and that they might learn to fear the prophet, whom they would not love, notwithstanding the wonders which he performed. ” )<\/p>\n 2Ki 2:25<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong> Elisha went from Bethel to Carmel (see at 1Ki 18:19<\/span>), probably to strengthen himself in solitude for the continuation of his master’s work. He returned thence to Samaria, where, according to 2Ki 6:32<\/span>, he possessed a house.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Case of Juvenile Delinquency – Verses 23-25<\/p>\n Upon leaving Jericho, in the tribe of Benjamin, of the kingdom of Judah, Elisha started homeward, to the kingdom of Israel. His route lay back through Bethel, where people still worshipped the golden calves of Jeroboam, and where that idol temple was located. The people must have been intolerant and critical of those who still held on to the “old” religion, such as Elijah and Elisha, and the school of young prophets located there. And as in every such case, the children had learned from their parents to mock the Lord’s people also.<\/p>\n The casual reader of the King James Version, finding that these mockers of Elisha were “little children,” might think the prophet used his power abusively. But such is not the case. The Hebrew word is not taph, which means “a little one,” but na-ar, which means “a young man, or child.” The mockers knew what they were doing. They were reflecting the delinquency of their parents. By ridiculing God’s prophet they were reproaching Him (Psa 69:9<\/span>; Rom 15:3<\/span>). In disrespecting the baldheaded prophet they were showing disrespect for God, and He will always punish those guilty.<\/p>\n Forty-two of them were mauled and maimed by the two female bears which Elisha called against them. How many young people today are maimed, crippled, and killed by the negligence of promiscuous parents who allow them to indulge in alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, and other forms of evil? There is surely a parallel in this incident.<\/p>\n Elisha continued on his way, going first to Carmel, where Elijah had got the great victory over the Baal prophets (1Ki, chapter 18). Perhaps he sought spiritual strength by going there to commune with God. Eventually he went on to Samaria, the capital.<\/p>\n Lessons from these incidents: 1) younger people should be diligent in learning all possible from their godly parents; 2) persistence in the Lord will reap good dividends: 3) the student should desire to excel his teacher; 4) the spirituality of God’s servants should be apparent to others; 5)doubt concerning the Lord’s power will lead to embarrassment of the doubter; 6) whatever the Lord heals remains healed; 7) “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES<\/strong>.<\/p>\n 2Ki. 2:23<\/span>. Little children<\/strong>see note on in 1Ki. 3:7<\/span>; same word as in 1Ki. 12:8<\/span>; 1Ki. 12:10<\/span>; 1Ki. 12:14<\/span>, young men<\/em>. describes ages from children to young men inclusive. Possibly these youthful revilers in sceptical Bethel, scoffing at Elishas report of Elijahs translation to heaven, derisively taunted him, bidding him likewise go up. Baldheadan Eastern epithet of contempt used regardless of the person being bald or old. Baldness was a mark of shame (Isa. 3:17<\/span>; Isa. 3:24<\/span>); priests were forbidden to shave (Lev. 21:5<\/span>). Their destruction was appalling, but rendered necessary by the profanity of the town. Had no judgment followed this insolent contemning of Jehovah in the person of His newly-designated prophet, it would have confirmed the people in their defiance and impiety.W. H. J.<\/p>\n HOMILETICS OF <\/em>2Ki. 2:23-25<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n THE DOOM OF THE SCOFFER<\/p>\n I. The scoffer reveals a spirit of hatred and opposition to that which is good<\/strong>. Bethel was the headquarters of the great apostasythe home of idolatry. Here schools were established, in imitation of the schools of the prophets, to instruct the people in idolatrous practices, and to inflame their hearts with hatred towards Jehovah and His worship. Where people are taught to despise and detest that which is good, no wonder they are ever ready to indulge in profane, contemptuous, and splenetic scorn. <\/p>\n 1. Scoffing is too common a sin of depraved youth<\/em>. There came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him. We are not to understand infantile or irresponsible children, but those who had attained to youthful manhood, as distinguished from the middle-aged and the old. Perhaps these young people were the pupils of a teacher of the calf worship at Bethel, and, meeting with Elisha as they came from school, they assailed him with the contempt and ridicule in which they had been too well instructed. Wicked and badly trained youth take delight in holding the truth up to derision and mockery; they make sport of the holiest things, and glory in their own wickednessFools make a mock at sin. The scoffer is the lowest type of depravity; the seat of the scornful is the nearest seat to hell. <\/p>\n 2. To scoff at the servants of God is an insult to God himself<\/em>Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. It is not likely that Elisha was really bald-headed, as he was then comparatively young. The word was applied to him out of pure contempt, and in a way that would be most insulting. It was a term of great indignity with the Israelitesbaldness being usually seen among them as the effect of the loathsome disease of leprosy. It was equivalent to calling him a mean and unworthy fellowa social outcast. In this sense it is still used as a term of abuse in the farther East, and is often applied as such to men who have ample heads of hair. These profane mockers had heard that Elijah had been taken up to heaven, and they sneeringly expressed their wish that Elisha might share the same fate, and they would be well rid of him. But the sequel shows that Jehovah regarded the insult to His servant as directed against Himself. He is jealous for the character, reputation, and influence of His servants; he that toucheth them, toucheth the apple of His eye (Zec. 2:8<\/span>).<\/p>\n II. The scoffer may rouse the indignant threatening of the gentlest nature<\/strong>. And he turned back and looked on them and cursed them in the name of the Lord. How unlike the gentle, kindly, tender-hearted Elisha, as we have so far been led to regard him! It is more like the fierce outbreak of the fiery Eljah, the prophet of denunciation and wrath. But even the placid spirit of Elisha is aroused when the honour of His God is concerned. He cursed (the mocking youths, not from personal resentment, but under a Divine impulse, without which no prophet ever dared to pronounce a curse. He cursed, and that was all. He did not punish. The servant of God may patiently endure the scoffs and frowns and persecution of the world when they refer to himself only; but when the character of his God is maligned and His grandest work derided, the meekest become bold in vindicating the Divine glory. When Terantius, captain to the emperor Adrian, presented a petition that the Christians might have a temple to themselves in which to worship God apart from the Arians, the emperor tore the petition in pieces and threw it away, bidding the soldier to ask something for himself and it should be granted. Terantius modestly gathered up the fragments of the discarded petition, and said, with true nobility of mind, If I cannot be heard in Gods cause, I will never ask anything for myself.<\/p>\n III. The scoffer is sometimes signally punished<\/strong>. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood and tare forty and two children of them. The offence, writes Kitto, involving as it did a blasphemous insult cast upon one of the Lords most signal acts, made a near approach to what in the New Testament is called the sin against the Holy Ghost. It became the Lord to vindicate His own honour among a people governed by sensible dispensations of judgment and of mercy; and it became Him to vindicate the character and authority of His anointed prophet at the outset of His high career. The pride, irreverence, and heartless disregard of the scoffer, will sooner or later meet with due recompense.<\/p>\n Hear the just doom, the judgment of the skies: Delusions, strong as hell, shall bind him fast.<\/p>\n LESSONS:<\/p>\n 1. Not the least evil of idolatry is that it produces a race of scoffers of the true God<\/em>. <\/p>\n 2. A scoffer is hardened against ordinary rebukes<\/em>. <\/p>\n 3. But erelong the scoffer meets with the just punishment of his sin<\/em>.<\/p>\n GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES<\/em><\/p>\n 2Ki. 2:23-24<\/span>. The demoralizing effects of idolatry upon the young<\/strong>. I. It trains them in false ideas of God. II. It destroys their appreciation of the truly good. III. It inflates them with basest impertinence. IV. It exposes them to confusion and suffering.<\/p>\n 2Ki. 2:23<\/span>. Young people are always ready to make wanton sport of any peculiar appearance which they do not understand. The unripe behaviour of the young generation which is growing up, always forms a shadowy reflection of the shallow opposition in moral and religious ideas which exists in public opinion. The separate bearers and supporters of the truth which is deep, and hence misunderstood by the masses, are, for the most part, objects of blind scorn to wild youth. That which found expression against Elisha has also fallen upon many in later times. He who, in the exercise of his calling, goes up to perverted Bethel, must expect it.Cassel<\/em>.<\/p>\n 2Ki. 2:24<\/span>. As Elisha was not silent, so also now a faithful servant of the Lord may not keep silent if young people are brought up badly and godlessly. He ought not to let pass unnoticed their wickedness and impudence, and their contempt for that which is holy. It is his duty to warn them and their parents of the Divine punishment. Woe to the watchmen who are dumb watch-dogs, who cannot punishwho are lazy, and who are glad to lie and sleep.Lange<\/em>.<\/p>\n O fearful example of Divine justice! This was not the revenge of an angry prophet, it was the punishment of a righteous judge. God and His seer looked through these children at the parents, at all Israel: he would punish the parents misnurturing their children, to the contemptuous usage of a prophet, with the death of those children which they had mistaught. He would teach Israel what it was to misuse a prophet: and if he would not endure these contumelies unrevenged in the mouths of children, what vengeance was enough for aged persecutors?Bp. Hall<\/em>.<\/p>\n So Dr. Whittington, returning from martyring a good woman at Chipping-Sadbury, was gored by a bull. Dr. Story, who narrated that he had burned so many heretics, was hanged at Tyburn for treason. Hemingius tells of a lewd fellow in Denmark, who, showing great contempt against a preacher, as he passed out of the church, was brained with a tile falling on him. Luther tells of another who, going to the fields to look to his sheep, after he had railed most bitterly against a godly minister, was found deadhis body being burned as black as coal. Be not ye mockers, lest your bands be increased.Trapp<\/em>.<\/p>\n 2Ki. 2:25<\/span>. The uses of retirement<\/strong>. I. Is sometimes sought by the most active spirits. II. Affords an opportunity for study and preparation. III. Gives new strength to grapple with sin in its greatest strongholds.<\/p>\n Whither dare not a prophet go when God calls him? Having visited the schools of the prophets, Elisha retires to Mount Carmel, and, after some holy solitariness, returns to the city of Samaria. He can never be a profitable seer that is either always or never alone. Carmel shall fit him for Samaria; contemplation for action. That mother city of Israel must needs afford him most work.Bp. Hall<\/em>.<\/p>\n D. THE CURSING OF THE BETHEL YOUTHS 2:2325<\/p>\n TRANSLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n (23) And he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up in the way, young men went out from the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, O bald one, Go up, O bald one. (24) And he looked behind him, and saw them, and cursed them, in the name of the LORD; and two she-bears went out from the woods, and tore among them forty-two lads. (25) And he went from there unto Mt. Carmel; and from there he returned to Samaria.<\/strong><\/p>\n COMMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n After a brief stay at Jericho, Elisha visited Bethel, probably to inform the sons of the prophets there about what had transpired in Transjordan. On the outskirts of the city the prophet was waylaid by a gang of ruffians[516] who viciously mocked him. They jeered Go up, and this may be an allusion to the recent rumor that Elijah had ascended to heaven. These unbelieving urchins were urging Elisha to imitate his master. They also ridiculed the premature baldness of the prophet when they addressed him as O baldhead.<\/p>\n [516] The unfortunate translation little children (KJV) has given a very wrong impression of this passage. The Hebrew literally means young men, <\/p>\n The juvenile delinquents continued to follow behind, hooting and jeering at this man of God who now was the official representative of God on earth! Having endured this mockery and potential personal danger as long as he could, the prophet turned and calmly cursed these hoodlums in the name of the Lord. This cursing consisted of pronouncing a negative prophecy against them. He may have said something like this: Thus says the Lord: May evil and calamity fall upon you! Under the Law of Moses, Gods ministers were required to curse the disobedient (Deu. 27:14-26<\/span>). Elisha had no way of knowing what would befall them as the result of his curse. That was left in the hand of God. In order to teach these young men a lesson, and at the same time vindicate His prophet in the eyes of the inhabitants of Bethel, God stirred up two she-bears to come out of a near-by woods and attack the offenders. These angry bears tore forty-two of these fellows. It is not said how far they were injured, whether fatally or not. But the punishment came from the Lord, not the prophet, and there can be no doubt that the Lord of all the earth did what was right (2Ki. 2:24<\/span>). This frightening example of Gods wrath was no doubt intended to serve as an unforgettable lesson to that new generation which was growing up in contempt of God and true religion.<\/p>\n From Bethel, Elisha went up to Mt. Carmel where presumably another group of the sons of the prophets was located. The purpose of his trip was doubtlessly the same as for his trip to Bethel, viz., to share with these men of God his firsthand knowledge of the exodus of Elijah. Having completed this mission, the prophet returned to the capital at Samaria (2Ki. 2:25<\/span>). Elisha did not choose to imitate the semi-ascetic life-style of his master, but stayed for the most part in the capital working with and through the various kings.<\/p>\n (23) Went up.<\/strong>From Jericho, in the plain, Elisha goes now to visit the prophetic community established at Beth-el, the chief seat of the illicit cultus<\/em>.<\/p>\n By the way.<\/strong>The way par excellence<\/em>; the highroad leading directly up to the gates of the town.<\/p>\n Little children.<\/strong>Young boys<\/em> (or, lads<\/em>). Naar<\/em> is not used rhetorically here, as in 1Ch. 29:1<\/span>; 2Ch. 13:7<\/span>. The boys who mocked Elisha might be of various ages, between six or seven years and twenty. Little children would not be likely to hit upon a biting sarcasm, nor to sally forth in a body to insult the prophet (2Ki. 2:24<\/span>).<\/p>\n Mocked.<\/strong>Hab. 1:10<\/span>. In Syriac and Chaldee the root implies to praise, and to praise ironically, i.e.<\/em>, to deride.<\/p>\n Go up.<\/strong>Not as Elijah was reported to have done; for the Bethelites knew no more of that than the prophets of Jericho. The word obviously refers to what Elisha was himself doing at the time (2Ki. 2:23<\/span>). He was probably going up the steep road slowly, and his prophets mantle attracted attention.<\/p>\n Thou bald head.<\/strong>Baldness was a reproach (Isa. 3:17<\/span>; Isa. 15:2<\/span>), and suspicious as one of the marks of leprosy (Lev. 13:43<\/span>). Elisha, though still younghe lived fifty years after this (2Ki. 13:14<\/span>)may have become bald prematurely.<\/p>\n THE MOCKING CHILDREN CURSED, 2Ki 2:23-25<\/span>.<\/p>\n We pass from a miracle of blessing to a miracle of cursing. The one was wrought in the element of inanimate nature; the other, in that of human life. The one was wrought on unconscious water for the temporal benefit of the surrounding country; the other, on conscious and responsible persons to vindicate the honour of Jehovah, and teach a salutary moral lesson. “The offence of the mocking children, involving, as it did, a blasphemous insult upon one of the Lord’s most signal acts, made a near approach to what in the New Testament is called the sin against the Holy Ghost. It became the Lord to vindicate his own honour among a people governed by sensible dispensations of judgments and of mercy; and it became him to vindicate the character and authority of his anointed prophet at the outset of his high career.” Kitto.<\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>The event as regards the transgressors. They were the children of a small town among the hills, in one of the extremities of the land of <\/strong>Canaan, called Beth-el; the inhabitants depended chiefly for their living upon their flocks of sheep and the produce of the earth.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The event as regards the prophet.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
He that hates truth shall be the dupe of lies;
And he who will<\/em> be cheated to the last,<\/p>\nFuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n