Two she-bears came out of the woods and TORE forty-two of the BOYS

[tonychanyt]

Soon after Elisha succeeded Elijah in 2 Kings 2:

23He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.

Strong's Hebrew: 3206. יָ֫לֶד (yeled) — 89 Occurrences

Brown-Driver-Briggs:
a. child = son, boy
b. (little) child, children
c. descendants
d. youth

Wasn't that a bit harsh?

Pulpit Commentary:

It is not said how far the lads were injured, whether fatally or not. But the punishment, whatever its severity, came from God, not from the prophet, and we may be sure was just.

Benson Commentary:

Upon the whole, it appears that the persons who mocked Elijah were not infants, but arrived to years of maturity; that they did not insult him by chance, but by design; that they went out in great crowds on purpose; that they mocked him because he was the prophet of the true God, from whom they had apostatized; and that he did not wish their untimely end from a principle of revenge, but only predicted it as a prophet. The punishment will appear just, if we consider the time, place, persons, and all the circumstances of the case. These young persons might be guilty of many other heinous crimes, known to God and his prophet, besides that here recorded: they were at least guilty of idolatry, which by God’s law deserved death: add to this, that the idolatrous parents were punished in their children; and that if any of these children were more innocent, God might have mercy on their souls, and then the death they suffered was not a misery, but a real blessing to them, taking them away from that education which was very likely to expose them, not only to temporal, but eternal destruction.

Wasn't God being a bit harsh to the boys?

I don't know. God does what he does. He answers to no one. I accept the infinite wisdom of his actions. I am not going to second-guess God

What's the lesson?

Don't mock God's prophets.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Soon after Elisha succeeded Elijah in 2 Kings 2:


Strong's Hebrew: 3206. יָ֫לֶד (yeled) — 89 Occurrences

Brown-Driver-Briggs:
a. child = son, boy
b. (little) child, children
c. descendants
d. youth

Wasn't that a bit harsh?

Pulpit Commentary:


Benson Commentary:


Wasn't God being a bit harsh to the boys?

I don't know. God does what he does. He answers to no one. I accept the infinite wisdom of his actions. I am not going to second-guess God

What's the lesson?

Don't mock God's prophets.

This wasn't the only time that the mocking of a prophet turned out badly for the mocker. But I'm guessing God is the one the prophet takes to be mocked. David wasn't in the office of "Prophet" when he stood up to Goliath, but he did so because Goliath was defying the armies of the Living God.

 

[KevinT]

Wasn't God being a bit harsh to the boys?

I don't know. God does what he does. He answers to no one. I accept the infinite wisdom of his actions. I am not going to second-guess God

What's the lesson? Don't mock God's prophets.

My take on this is that it was not a group of middle-schoolers, but rather a mob of punks like modern skin-heads, out looking for trouble. God had delegated authority to Elijah, and when Elijah called for action, God supported him. Another example of this was when Elisha was out with a group cutting wood and an axe head fell into the water, Elisha come up with the best action he could think of. He took a stick and threw it into the water, and suddenly the axe head floated to the surface. I suspect the actual miraculous floating of the axe head was effected by a guardian angel, and I doubt that God specifically told Elisha to use a stick. But God and His angels honored Elisha's request.

So Elijah, when he was a risk of being kicked to death by a gang of thugs, called out for rescue. And God and/or His angels acted to honor Elijah's request. I don't criticize Elijah for calling for help, and I don't criticize God for responding.

Another point is that if there is a mob of 42 people, and 2 bears charge in, the mob is going to scatter. So certainly the bears didn't contact all 42 of the people. I suspect that several got badly injured and the rest ran away severely shaken and scared.

I don't see this as harsh at all.

Do you all disagree?