the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
2 Kings 2:23
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And he went up from there to Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead.
Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. "Go away, baldy!" they chanted. "Go away, baldy!"
And he went up from thence unto Beth–el: 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.
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. On the way some boys came out of the city and made fun of him. They said to him, "Go up too, you baldhead! Go up too, you baldhead!"
He went up from there to Bethel. As he was traveling up the road, some young boys came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, "Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!"
And he went up from thence to Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, thou bald-head; go up, thou bald-head.
He went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you baldy; go up, you baldhead.
Then Elisha went up from Jericho to Bethel. On the way, young boys came out of the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!"
He 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!"
Forsothe Elisee stiede fro thennus in to Bethel; and whanne he stiede bi the weie, litle children yeden out of the citee, and scorneden hym, and seiden, Stie, thou ballard! stie, thou ballard!
From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of young men came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!"
Elisha left and headed toward Bethel. Along the way some boys started making fun of him by shouting, "Go away, baldy! Get out of here!"
And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou baldhead; go up, thou baldhead.
Then from there he went up to Beth-el; and on his way, some little boys came out from the town and made sport of him, crying, Go up, old no-hair! go up, old no-hair!
Elisha left to go up to Beit-El. As he was on his way up the road, some boys came out of the town and began making fun of him. "Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!"
And he went up from thence to Bethel, and as he went up by the way, there came forth little boys out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, bald head; go up, bald head!
Elisha went from that city to Bethel. He was walking up the hill to the city, and some boys were coming down out of the city. They began making fun of him. They said, "Go away, you bald-headed man! Go away, you bald-headed man!"
And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; 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 baldhead; go up, thou baldhead.'
And he went vp from thence vnto Bethel: and as hee was going vp by the way, there came foorth little children out of the citie, and mocked him, and said vnto him, Goe vp thou bald head, Goe vp thou bald head.
Then he left there and went to Bethel. On the way, some young boys came out from the city and made fun of him. They said to him, "Go up, you man with no hair! Go up, you man with no hair!"
He 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 away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!"
And he went vp from thence vnto Beth-el. And as he was going vp the way, litle children came out of the citie, and mocked him, and saide vnto him, Come vp, thou balde head, come vp, thou balde head.
And he went up from thence to Beth-el; and as he was going up along the way, there came forth little boys out of the city and mocked him, saying, Go up, you bald head, go up, you bald head.
Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted.
And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head.
He 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!"
And he went vp from thence vnto Bethel: And as he was going vp the way, there came litle children out of the citie, and mocked him, & saide vnto him: Go vp thou balde head, go vp thou balde head.
And he went up thence to Baethel: and as he was going up by the way there came up also little children from the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, bald-head, go up.
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!”
He went up from there to Beit-El; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you baldy; go up, you baldhead.
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.
Then he went up from there to Bethel; as he was going up along the way, young boys came out from the city and mocked at him and said to him, "Go up, baldhead; go up, baldhead!"
And he went up from there to Bethel. And he was going up in the highway. And little boys came out from the city and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, bald head! Go up, bald head!
And he goeth up thence to Beth-El, and he is going up in the way, and little youths have come out from the city, and scoff at him, and say to him, `Go up, bald-head! go up, bald-head!'
And he wete vp towarde Bethel. And as he was goynge vp by the waye, there came litle boyes out of the cite, and mocked him, & sayde: Come vp here thou balde heade, come vp here thou balde heade.
Another time, Elisha was on his way to Bethel and some little kids came out from the town and taunted him, "What's up, old baldhead! Out of our way, skinhead!"
Now he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the road, some young boys came out from the city and ridiculed him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!"
Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!"
Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!"
Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young boys came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!"
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Bethel: 1 Kings 12:28-32, Hosea 4:15, Hosea 10:5, Hosea 10:15, Amos 3:14, Amos 4:4, Amos 5:5, Amos 7:13
little children: The words nearim ketannim not only signify little children but young men; for katon signifies not only little, but young, in opposition to old; and naar signifies not only a child, but a young man grown to years of maturity. Thus Isaac is called naar when twenty-eight years old, Joseph when thirty-nine, and Rehoboam when forty. These idolatrous young men, having heard of the ascension of Elijah, without believing it, blasphemously bade Elisha to follow him. The venerable prophet, from a Divine impulse, pronounced a curse "in the name of the Lord," which was immediately followed by the most terrible judgment; thus evincing the Source from which it flowed. Job 19:18, Job 30:1, Job 30:8-31, Proverbs 20:11, Proverbs 22:6, Proverbs 22:15, Ecclesiastes 11:10, Isaiah 1:4, Isaiah 3:5, Jeremiah 7:18
mocked: Genesis 21:9, 2 Chronicles 36:16, Job 30:1, Job 30:8, Job 30:9, Psalms 35:15, Isaiah 57:3, Isaiah 57:4, Galatians 4:29, Hebrews 11:36
Go up: 2 Kings 2:11, Matthew 27:29-31, Matthew 27:40-43
Reciprocal: 1 Kings 19:17 - Elisha slay 2 Kings 1:10 - If I be a man Jeremiah 20:7 - I am 2 Corinthians 13:8 - General
Cross-References
And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, on the east, - and put there the man whom he had formed.
And Yahweh God, caused to spring up, out of the ground, every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, - and the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And Laban said to him, Surely, my bone and my flesh, art thou. So he abode with him a month of days.
Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the owners of Shechem - Which is better for you, that there should rule over you, seventy men, all sons of Jerubbaal, or that there should rule over you, one man? And remember that, your bone and your flesh, am I.
Then came all the tribes of Israel unto David, in Hebron, - and spake, saying - Behold us! thy bone and thy flesh, we are.
And, unto Amasa, shall ye say, Art not, thou, my bone and my flesh? So, let God do to me, and, so, let him add, if thou become not, prince of the army, before me continually, instead of Joab.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And he went up from thence unto Bethel,.... 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 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:
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.
x T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 46. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
As Beth-el was the older seat of the calf-worship 1 Kings 12:32-33; 1 Kings 13:1-32, a prophet of Yahweh was not unlikely to meet with insult there.
By the way - i. e. âby the usual road,â probably that which winds up the Wady Suweinit, under hills even now retaining some trees, and in Elishaâs time covered with a dense forest, the haunt of savage animals. Compare 1 Kings 13:24; and for the general prevalence of beasts of prey in the country, both earlier and later than this, see Judges 14:5; 1Sa 17:31; 2 Kings 17:25; Amos 5:19, etc.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 2 Kings 2:23. 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. — ×¢×× ×§×¨× ×¢×× ×§×¨× 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, ××©× ×××× 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 2 Kings 1:10. "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, × ×¢×¨×× ×§×× ×× nearim ketannim, may mean young men, for ק×× katon signifies to be young, in opposition to old, and is so translated in various places in our Bible; and × ×¢×¨ 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 × ×¢×¨ naar when twenty-eight years old, Genesis 21:5-12; and Joseph was so called when he was thirty-nine, Genesis 41:12. Add to these 1 Kings 20:14: "And Ahab said, By whom [shall the Assyrians be delivered into my hand?] And he said, Thus saith the Lord, by the YOUNG MEN, ×× ×¢×¨× 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 Samuel 17:28. 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.
