SEV Biblia, Chapter 2:23
Después subió de allí a Bet-el; y subiendo por el camino, salieron los muchachos de la ciudad, y se burlaban de él, diciendo: ¡Calvo, sube! ¡calvo, sube!
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 2:23
Verse 23. There came forth little children out of the city] These were probably the school of some celebrated teacher; but under his instruction they had learned neither piety nor good manners. Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.] jrq hl[ jrq hl[ aleh kereach, aleh kereach. Does not this imply the grossest insult? Ascend, thou empty skull, to heaven, 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.e., pronounced a curse upon them, in the name of the Lord, hwhy µŤb beshem Yehovah, by the name or authority of Jehovah. The spirit of their offense lies in their ridiculing a miracle of the Lord: the offense was against Him, and He 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.
"But was it not a cruel thing to destroy forty-two little children, who, in mere childishness, had simply called the prophet bare skull, or bald head?" I answer, Elisha 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 must be only declaratory of what God was about to do. See on chap. i. 10. "But then, as they were little children, 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 nor unjust; 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? for here the strength of the objection lies. Now I suppose the objection means children from four to seven or eight years old; for so we use the word: but the original, µynfq µyr[n nearim ketannim, may mean young men, for fq katon signifies to be young, in opposition to old, and is so translated in various places in our Bible; and r[n naar signifies, not only a child, but a young man, a servant, or even a soldier, 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 r[n naar when twenty-eight years old, Gen. xxi. 5-12; and Joseph was so called when he was thirty-nine, Gen. xli. 12. Add to these 1 Kings xx. 14: "And Ahab said, By whom [shall the Assyrians be delivered into my hand?] And he said, Thus saith the Lord, by the YOUNG MEN, yr[nb benaarey, of the princes of the provinces." That these were soldiers, probably militia, or a selection from the militia, which served as a bodyguard to Ahab, the event sufficiently declares; and the persons that mocked Elisha were perfectly accountable for their conduct.
But is it not possible that these forty-two were a set of unlucky young men, who had been employed in the wood, destroying the whelps of these same she-bears, 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; see at the end of 2 Sam. xvii. 28. The mention of SHE-bears 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.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 23. And he went up from thence unto Bethel , etc.] 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: and as he was going up by the way ; the ascent to the city: there came forth little children out of the city ; 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 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: and mocked him, and said unto him, go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head ; 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 19-25 - Observe the miracle of healing the waters. Prophets should make ever place to which they come better for them, endeavouring to sweete bitter spirits, and to make barren souls fruitful, by the word of God which is like the salt cast into the water by Elisha. It was an ap emblem of the effect produced by the grace of God on the sinful hear of man. Whole families, towns, and cities, sometimes have a ne appearance through the preaching of the gospel; wickedness and evi have been changed into fruitfulness in the works of righteousness which are, through Christ, to the praise and glory of God. Here is curse on the youths of Bethel, enough to destroy them; it was not curse causeless, for it was Elisha's character, as God's prophet, tha they abused. They bade him "go up," reflecting on the taking up of Elijah into heaven. The prophet acted by Divine impulse. If the Holy Spirit had not directed Elisha's solemn curse, the providence of God would not have followed it with judgment. The Lord must be glorified a a righteous God who hates sin, and will reckon for it. Let youn persons be afraid of speaking wicked words, for God notices what the say. Let them not mock at any for defects in mind or body; especiall it is at their peril, if they scoff at any for well doing. Let parent that would have comfort in their children, train them up well, and d their utmost betimes to drive out the foolishness that is bound up in their hearts. And what will be the anguish of those parents, at the da of judgment, who witness the everlasting condemnation of their offspring, occasioned by their own bad example, carelessness, or wicke teaching __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
ויעל 5927 משׁם 8033 בית אל 1008 והוא 1931 עלה 5927 בדרך 1870 ונערים 5288 קטנים 6996 יצאו 3318 מן 4480 העיר 5892 ויתקלסו 7046 בו ויאמרו 559 לו עלה 5927 קרח 7142 עלה 5927 קרח׃ 7142
