2 Kings 2:23-25 (ESV): 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!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25 From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
Iain W. Provan writes (1 and 2 Kings):
Some youths: The Hb. is neʿārîm qeṭannîm, “children.” The use of naʿar alone would allow the NIV’s translation (cf. the additional note to 1 Kgs. 20:14), but the appearance of qāṭān, “small, young,” precludes it. The NIV in fact translates naʿar qāṭān in 1 Kgs. 3:7 and 11:17 (correctly) as “little child” and “boy” respectively (cf. also na‘arâ qeṭannâ, “young girl,” in 2 Kgs. 5:2). The translator has apparently had more difficulty than the authors here in coming to terms with the idea that young persons as well as old should be subject to divine judgment for their sins. Whether there is something more specific to the taunt you baldhead is not clear. It is possible that some prophets, like later Christian monks, shaved their heads as a mark of their vocation. We certainly cannot cite verses like Lev. 21:5 (addressed to priests) and Deut. 14:1 (concerning actions “for the dead”), as some commentators have recently done, against this possibility
NET Bible: tn The word נַעַר (naʿar), here translated “boy,” can refer to a broad age range, including infants as well as young men. But the qualifying term “young” (or “small”) suggests these youths were relatively young. The phrase in question (“young boy”) occurs elsewhere in 1 Sam 20:35; 1 Kgs 3:7 (used by Solomon in an hyperbolic manner); 11:17; 2 Kgs 5:14; and Isa 11:6.
Donald J. Wiseman (1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary) pushes back against the usual criticism of the Elisha account. An extended quote from his work is merited:
It does, however, show the continuing opposition to a true prophet in Bethel, the chief centre of pagan calf-worship. The main objection lies in the curse … in the name of the LORD (v. 24). In the Deuteronomic doctrine of retributive justice (Deut. 7:10) this was a requirement against anyone mocking a prophet, an act which was the equivalent of belittling God himself (Deut. 18:19; Lev. 24:10–16). The word for jeered (NIV, REB, JB) occurs in Habakkuk 1:10; cf. ‘insult’ in Jeremiah 20:8. To deride God’s representative (cf. 2 Chr. 36:16) as God himself (Gal. 6:7) or his city (Ezra 22:5) inevitably incurs judgment. The youths (rather than ‘little children’, AV, or ‘small boy’, JB, for the Hebrew nĕ’ārîm is used of servants or persons in early life of marriageable age, cf. Absalom in 2 Sam. 14:21; 18:5) may have challenged Elisha to demonstrate that he was really the equivalent of Elijah by ascending (Go on up, ‘get along with you’, REB) and mocked him as a baldhead. Baldness, contrary to popular mythology, is not a sign of inferiority or infertility, for Elisha was still young, as opposed to the hairy Elijah (1:8), though long hair may have been thought a sign of strength (2 Sam. 14:26). ⁵⁰ He may have suffered from early loss of hair (alopecia). There is no external evidence that a tonsure was then a mark of a prophet. The youths may well represent Bethel as the headquarters of idolatry and the main seat of Baal worship in Israel at this time. Bears are attested in the hill ranges until mediaeval times. The forty-two may represent an organized mob attacking the prophet rather than signify a number for the ill fated (cf. 2 Kgs 10:14; Rev. 11:2; 13:5).
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