2 Kings 2:23

Contextual Overview

¹⁹The men of the city said to Elisha, “My lord can see that even though the city’s location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful.” ¹⁹ The men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, we pray you, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees: but the water is bad, and the land miscarries. ¹⁹ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. ¹⁹ Now the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful." ¹⁹ The people of the city said to Elisha, "Look, master, this city is a nice place to live as you can see. But the water is so bad the land cannot grow crops." ¹⁹ The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, the city has a good location, as our master can see. But the water is bad and the land doesn't produce crops." ¹⁹Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, this city is in a pleasant place, as my lord [Elisha] sees; but the water is bad and the land is barren." ¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold now, the site of the city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful." ¹⁹ And the men of the citie saide vnto Elisha, Beholde, we pray thee: the situation of this citie is pleasant, as thou, my lorde, seest, but the water is naught, and the ground baren. ¹⁹Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Behold now, the habitat of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful."

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

Genesis 2:8
The LORD God planted a garden eastward, in `Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
Then the Lord God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man he had formed into it.

Genesis 2:8
The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden (oasis) in the east, in Eden (delight, land of happiness); and He put the man whom He had formed (created) there.

Genesis 2:8
The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden Eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had made.

Genesis 2:8
And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, toward the east; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

Genesis 2:8
The Lord made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there.

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. “by the usual road,” probably that which winds up the Wady Suweinit, under hills even now retaining some trees, and in Elisha’s 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. — עלה קרח עלה קרח 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, בשם יהוה 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, נערים קטנים nearim ketannim, may mean young men, for קטן katon signifies to be young, in opposition to old, and is so translated in various places in our Bible; and נער 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 נער 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, בנערי 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.