Bible-believers: What are your thoughts on this passage?

[Mr. Ofo Oao]

Hi,

I wanted to ask Bible-believers, what are their thoughts on this passage from the Bible. The passage is 2 Kings 2:22-25; in the passage the prophet Elisha allegedly cursed and caused the death of 42 "little children." It seems to me that a prophet of a deity that should be worshiped would be able to tolerate little children mocking him without cursing them and causing them to be killed by a wild animal, but Bible-believers what are your thoughts on the passage?:

"(22)So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. (23)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. (24)And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. (25)And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria."

 

[TheGunShoj]

I'm not a bible believer but I find this passage disgusting. Killing 42 children for calling someone bald? This sounds like a childish tantrum of a psychopathic sadist. I don't know how people can read verses such as this one and turn around to claim that their God is a God of love. It's delusional.

So that's my take on it. I'm curious to see what kind of weasel spin believers put on this or what the "correct context is" to make this seem moral.

 

[savagewind]

I don't believe it is a story about bears tearing them. I think it is about the bears scaring them into groups. They were one group of shameless boys but the bears changed that. Haha
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance בָּקַע
make a breach, break forth into, out, in pieces

I don't think any child was harmed in the making of this scenerio.

Strong's Hebrew: 1234. ?????? (baqa) -- to cleave, break open or through

 

[savagewind]

Curse - a prim. root
Definition
to be slight, swift or trifling
NASB Translation
abated (2), accursed (1), brought a curse (1), contempt (1), contemptible (1), curse (15), cursed (16), curses (8), cursing (2), despise (1), despised (2), ease (1), easier (1), easy (2), insignificant (1), light a thing (1), lighten (5), lightly esteemed (2), make it lighter (2), moved to and fro (1), shakes (1), sharpen (1), slight thing (1), small a thing (1), superficially (2), swift (1), swifter (5), treat us with contempt (1), treated (1), treated and lightly (1), trivial (1), trivial thing (1).

 

[Nada]

Jehovah’s prophet Elisha was bald. After he had succeeded to the prophetic office of Elijah, he was proceeding uphill from Jericho toward Bethel when he was mocked by a mob of children who cried: “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” The primary reason for their jeers seems to have been not that Elisha was bald but that they saw a bald man wearing Elijah’s familiar official garment. They did not want any successor of Elijah around. He should either keep going his way up to Bethel or ascend in a windstorm to the heavens as the former wearer of that official garment had done. (2Ki 2:11) To answer this challenge of his being Elijah’s successor and to teach these young people and their parents proper respect for Jehovah’s prophet, Elisha called down evil upon the jeering mob in the name of the God of Elijah. It was a test of his prophetship. Jehovah manifested his approval of Elisha by causing two she-bears to come out of the nearby woods and to tear to pieces 42 of them.—2Ki 2:23, 24.

Baldness — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

 

[Alt Thinker]

This one is too long to quote but very interesting!

 

[Mr. Ofo Oao]

I don't believe it is a story about bears tearing them. I think it is about the bears scaring them into groups. They were one group of shameless boys but the bears changed that. Haha
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance בָּקַע
make a breach, break forth into, out, in pieces

I don't think any child was harmed in the making of this scenerio.

Strong's Hebrew: 1234. ?????? (baqa) -- to cleave, break open or through

I'll take the word of scholars over yours; the scholars who translated the NIV render the passage:

(23)From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” (24)He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. (25)And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

 

[sojourner]

Don't know if I qualify as a "bible-believer"; I am spiritual. But my answer is that there are layers of meaning here that require close interpretation based upon an exegetical treatment of the text. It's insufficient to simply dismiss the passage as "wrong" or "disgusting." We need to discover what the boys, the bears, the baldness, etc. all symbolize before passing summary judgment on the text.

My rather arbitrary take here is that progeny (especially boys) usually represent salvation or God's "favor." Lack of hair may represent lack of strength. So, little boys (representing, possibly, a sense of entitlement on the part of the city) taunting Elisha's lack of strength, represent a challenge to God's power. That accusation had to be refuted.

 

[savagewind]

I'll take the word of scholars over yours; the scholars who translated the NIV render the passage:

(23)From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” (24)He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. (25)And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

People do like blood. Don't they? If I went for my scholorship I'd have to think like them now. Wouldn't I?

 

[savagewind]

I'll take the word of scholars over yours;

Is it not suspect that all scholars think the same?

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 1 John 5:19
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1 Corinthians 1:20
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 1 Cor 1:27,28
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools Romans 1:21,22

"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Matthew 16:6

 

[Desert Snake]

So, in one thread I am told that the OT isn't 'my book', it isn't 'my Bible', as I don't follow Judaism, now all of a sudden I'm a "Bible believer"...


Can you all make up your minds?

 

[savagewind]

So, in one thread I am told that the OT isn't 'my book', it isn't 'my Bible', as I don't follow Judaism, now all of a sudden I'm a "Bible believer"...


Can you all make up your minds?

Who are you talking to? Not me.

 

[Desert Snake]

Who are you talking to? Not me.

'Bible believer' is vague, actually. Different religions use the Bible, and adhere to different books.

 

[TheGunShoj]

'Bible believer' is vague, actually. Different religions use the Bible, and adhere to different books.

Obviously the thread is intended for those who do believe in the bible and also believe in the particular book where the verse is found. If that's not you, that's fine. What's the problem?

 

[Desert Snake]

Obviously the thread is intended for those who do believe in the bible and also believe in the particular book where the verse is found. If that's not you, that's fine. What's the problem?

The title of the thread is vague. If you're cool with vagueries, yippity-do.


The title implies that 'bible believing' is associated with all around adherence, does it not? That seems pretty obvious, dude.

 

[Desert Snake]

Pizza lovers: why do you like 'thick crusts' and anchovies!?

 

[TheGunShoj]

The title of the thread is vague. If you're cool with vagueries, yippity-do.


The title implies that 'bible believing' is associated with all around adherence, does it not? That seems pretty obvious, dude.

So what do you expect him to do? Research and list every single nuanced religion, sect or denomination that might believe in this particular book or verse and list in the title just so you don't have to be inconvenienced by clicking on a link and reading a few sentences to realize that it doesn't exactly apply to you?

Boo hoo.

 

[sojourner]

I kind of had the same reaction, though. I mean, what does "bible-believer" mean? I answered the question anyway; I believe the bible exists and it has been a source of spiritual authority for me.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Hi,

I wanted to ask Bible-believers, what are their thoughts on this passage from the Bible. The passage is 2 Kings 2:22-25; in the passage the prophet Elisha allegedly cursed and caused the death of 42 "little children." It seems to me that a prophet of a deity that should be worshiped would be able to tolerate little children mocking him without cursing them and causing them to be killed by a wild animal, but Bible-believers what are your thoughts on the passage?

Golly gee - no one has ever asked that one before. Thank God for bible-bashers. :yes:

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

And note the editorial

42 "little children."

What a sad and vapid little polemic.