The Bald, the Bears & the Bad Boys

2 Kings 2:23-25

Having just read the text, it may give you pause and cause to scratch your head and wonder, “Why is this story recorded by God in the Bible and given for our learning?”
First, consider a little background. Elijah had been the great prophet to Israel. God still had 7,000 faithful Israelites who refused to bend the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). Finally, after years of dedicated service, it is time for Elijah to retire. Elisha was selected to succeed Elijah. Elisha was called when he was just a teenager, plowing his fields. About seven or eight years later, Elijah and Elisha went from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho. At each stop the sons of the prophets would ask Elisha if he knew that God was going to take away Elijah. Each time Elisha asked them to be silent. At each stop Elijah requests Elisha to stay behind. Each time Elisha responded that he would not leave him.

When they came to the Jordan River, it parted for them when Elijah struck it with his mantel. Elijah turned to Elisha and told him to ask a blessing from the old prophet. Elisha said, “please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me” (2:9b). The request was based on Deuteronomy 21:17. Then “…suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” (2:11). Like Enoch, God took him before death came. What a spectacular end for a dynamic prophet.

Elisha is manifested to be Elijah’s successor (2:13-18). He returned with Elijah’s mantle, parting the Jordan, and stopped for a short time at Jericho. Next, he heals the waters of Jericho (19-22) which had been the cause of sickness, death, and miscarriages. When the city fathers asked the prophet for help, he took a new bowl filled with salt, went to the spring, threw salt in it, and proclaimed that Yahweh had made the water wholesome.

Following this useful miracle, another is described that is troubling and apparently useless. This young successor to Elijah then went on up toward Bethel. Bethel was the seat of Baal worship and headquarters of idolatry since the time of King Jeroboam of Israel.

This passage has been abused in order to teach that God and Elisha were unjust and cruel. Robert Ingersoll, the renowned agnostic, said of this story … “I find in this Bible that there was an old gentleman a little short of the article of hair. And as he was going through the town a number of little children cried out to him, “Go up, thou baldhead!” And this man of God turned and cursed them… And two bears came out of the woods and tore in pieces forty-two children! … Now, just think of an infinite God [doing this] … You hate a God like that. I do; I despise him” [Ingersoll’s 44 Lectures (Chicago: J. Regan & Company, n.d.), p. 244].

Even Adam Clark remarked “But then, as they were little children they could scarcely be accountable for their conduct; and consequently, it was cruelty to destroy them.”
The fact is these were not little boys. It is true that our English translations say they were “little children”, but we need to go back to the Hebrew for a clearer understanding. The two words translated “little children” are ketanaim and na’arim (plural of na’ar). They were used in reference to Isaac in Gen. 22:12. (One commentary indicates that Isaac must have been around twenty.) The word is also used in connection with Joseph: “Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad (na’ar) was with the sons of Bilhah” (Gen. 37:2). The same word is used just a little earlier than the time of our text when Ahab and Benhadad, the king of Syria, were on the verge of war, a company of two hundred and thirty-two “young men” (na’arim) of the princes of the provinces” with an army of 7000 (I Kings 20:14-15) put to rout the Syrians. So these young men were of age to go into battle. The word ketanarim (plural of qatan) is used frequently in the scripture to denote a younger son. It is found in Genesis 27:42, where it is applied to Jacob at the time when he fled from his brother Esau. In 1 Samuel 16:11-12 David is referred to as the “youngest” of Jesse’s “children.” Yet, down in verse 18 of the same chapter we are told that David, even at this time, was “… a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person.”

Obviously these “little children” in our text were old enough to know what they were doing, Furthermore, the Hebrew is “youth” and is used also of older servants. The term “little” may refer to character rather than age or size.

I use to enjoy bald jokes, but now every time I comb my hair and make this alley on the side, I’ve noticed that the parking lot up front keeps getting bigger. This text may give us another good reason not to make fun of bald heads.

Why were the young men saying “baldhead”? Perhaps Elisha was prematurely bald — and used as a term of scorn. He may have cut his hair in mourning for Elijah, thus artificial baldness It was a sign of mourning (Isa 22:12; Jer 7:29 16:6 ).

They were also telling him to “Get out of town”. We read in verse twenty-three that the young men “came forth” to meet Elisha. It appears as if this was a deliberately planned attack against him. This was a sin of disrespect not only against Elisha but against the Lord Himself.

The bears were a fulfillment of God’s promise to punish the wicked and not just a result Elisha’s hot tempered vengeance. The Law of Moses promised, “If ye walk contrary unto me, and will not harken unto me, … I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children and destroy your cattle; and your highways shall be desolate.” (Lev. 26:21-22). You might remember the story in I Kings 13, of the young prophet who came up to Bethel, and was told by the Lord not to eat or rest there, but an old prophet persuaded him to come to his house and eat, this young prophet was killed by a lion on the way back home. So Elisha simply asks that God deal with them in a way that will show God’s judgment in the situation. It was the Lord’s doing when two bears came out of the woods and mauled the young men, not Elisha’s.

Surely this is not just a lesson against making fun of bald men. God put this lesson in the Old Testament for a reason, for our learning. “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).

First, remember all these young men had parents. If this generation is going to the dogs’ it is because of the training we gave them as puppies. What a terrible thing for a parent to lose a child as a direct retribution of God. However, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Prov. 22:6).

Second, young people should show respect for God and His servants. When the Jews rejected prophets they rejected the person and the message of God. When they rejected Jesus, they rejected the Father. When they stoned Stephen they rejected God. Young people must remember their Creator in the days of their youth (Eccl. 12:1).

Finally, God will punish those who reject Him. Let every young person be afraid of speaking wicked words, for God notices what they say. These things were written for our warning and for the Jews. The two bears may be symbolic of what Assyria would do to the entire nation. After all, the problems of our youth can determine national woes of our future. God has promised to punish the wicked of this generation. “You who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Th. 1:7-9).

It wasn’t that Elisha just couldn’t BEAR it when the young men made fun of his bare head, but God was to see that they would bare the penalty for their empty-headed remarks.

– Daniel R. Vess

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