Elisha, Bears, and the Killing of Children
2 Kings 2.23-25
23 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. 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. –KJV
1.
This
passage has been used to call God’s character and word into question.
a.
Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
“I find in this Bible that there was an old gentlemen a little short of
the article of hair. And as he was
going through the town a number of little children cried out to him, ‘Go up,
though (sic) baldhead!’ And this
man of God turned and cursed them… And two bears came out of the woods and tore
in pieces forty-two children! How
did the bears get there? Elisha
could not control the bears.
Nobody could control the bears in that way. Now, just think of an infinite God making a shining star
having his attention attracted by hearing some children saying to an old
gentlemen, Go up, thou baldhead!
And then speaking to his secretary or somebody else, ‘Bring in a couple
of bears now!’ What a magnificent
God. What would the devil have
done under these circumstances?...
You hate a God like that. I
do; I despise him.”[1]
b.
Modern comic rendition[2]
2.
Some short stories… with pictures
a.
A woman sits down on a bus after work.
Or…
b.
People tear down a wall.
Or…
c.
These “short stories” have significant “back
stories” that fill out the meaning and importance of the actions involved. The “picture” gives us some indication
of the significance of the event. The same is true for 2 Kings 2.23-25.
3.
Some of the “back story” surrounding 2 Kings
2.23-25
a.
Northern Kingdom: Israel
i. Near
Jehoram’s reign (c. 851-840)
ii. Time
of apostasy from the Lord—false worship
iii. Elijah—Elisha’s
“mentor”—is gone and off the scene after being taken up into heaven (2 Kings
2.11-12)
b.
Specific geography
i. Going
from Jericho to Bethel: about a 20 mile journey
1.
Jericho: 1300 feet below level of Mediterranean
Sea
2.
Bethel: 2000 feet above level of Mediterranean
Sea
ii. Bethel:
major center of idolatry
1.
Jeroboam (c. 927-906) set up cities of Bethel
and Dan as alternative worship sites when kingdom was divided after
Solomon. He didn’t want people
traveling from N. Kingdom back into Jerusalem to worship. He set up golden calves in both Bethel
and Dan (1 Kings 12.27-33—see esp. vv. 28-29)
2.
Elisha is traveling into an apostate region that
rejects true worship of Yahweh and his representatives
4.
Specific details of the narrative
a.
The KJV’s rendering of “little children” is
incorrect. These were adolescent
males between 12-30 years old.
i. “’Little
children’ is an unfortunate translation.
The Hebrew expression neurim
qetannim is best rendered ‘young lads’ or ‘younger men.’ From numerous examples where ages are specified
in the Old Testament, we know that these were boys from twelve to thirty years
old. One of these words described
Isaac at his sacrifice in Genesis 22:12, when he was easily in his early
twenties. It described Joseph in
Genesis 37:2 when he was seventeen years old. In fact, the same word described army men in 1 Kings
20:14-15.
“If someone objects, yes, but the word qetannim (which is translated ‘little’ in some versions) makes the
difference in this context, I will answer that it is best translated ‘young,’
not ‘little.’ Furthermore, these
words have a good deal of elasticity to them. For example, Samuel asked Jesse, ‘Are these all your
children [neurim]?’ But Jess replied,
‘There is still the youngest [qatan].’ But David was old enough to keep sheep
and fight a giant soon after (1 Sam 16:11-12).”[3]
ii. Richard
Messner agrees with this assessment and adds that qatan is also used of Jacob (Genesis 27.42) when he was about 27
years old and also used of Othniel (Judges 1.13), Caleb’s younger brother, who
was old enough to storm and capture the city of Kirjath-sepher.[4]
iii. “These
persons were old enough to know what they were doing, and cannot be excused for
their vicious behavior on the grounds that they were under-aged.”[5]
b.
Elisha was not old—he was probably the same age
as they were!
i. Event
happened shortly after Elijah’s translation
ii. Elisha
lived nearly 60 years after this[6]
c.
Insults: “baldhead” and “go up”
i. “baldhead”:
a term of scorn in OT (Isaiah 3.17, 24)
“Natural baldness was very rare in the ancient Near East. So scarce was baldness that it carried
with it a suspicion of leprosy.”[7]
ii. “go
up”: a contemptuous reference to the translation of Elijah
“News of the translation of Elijah traveled fast by word of mouth along
the caravan routes. When the report
reached Bethel, there was only contemptuous disbelief. The fact that Elijah, the old
troublemaker, was taken up into heaven was just too good to be true. With him out of their way they could
continue with their false and iniquitous worship.
“Then, who should suddenly appear coming up the road to Bethel but
Elisha. Elijah’s mantle was in
plain view, indicating that the spirit of Elijah was now resting upon
Elisha. The young men of the city
immediately sensed that if Elisha would be just as troublesome as his
master. If only he would ‘go up’
where Elijah was—and stay there.
God’s man is always a thorn in the side of the devil’s crowd. Is it any wonder, then, that these
young ruffians went forth to meet Elisha with sneer and contempt? They wanted to get rid of him and all
such who disturbed their ways of sin.”[8]
iii. This
was a rejection of Elisha’s prophetic ministry and the God whom Elisha
served—they were attacking God’s prophet.
d.
A large crowd of young men coming out to
threaten Elisha
i. “Another
indication this was a premeditated assault is found in the number of persons
‘torn’ by the bears. If two angry
she-bears attacked a crowd of young people today so that forty-two of them were
injured and some perhaps killed, how many would there have been in the crowd at
the beginning? For it is only
logical to assume that the moment the bears appeared there would be a
scrambling in all directions. It
would be no exaggeration to say that two escaped for every one that was hurt,
which would make the crowd of renegades who followed Elisha number at least one
hundred at the beginning. Why were
there so many? Because this was a
planned reception for Elisha.”[9]
ii. “A
careful study of this incident in context shows that it was far more serious
than a ‘mild personal offense.’ It
was a situation of serious public danger, quite as grave as the large youth
gangs that roam the ghetto sections of our modern American cities.”[10]
iii. Imagine
a scenario today: A United States
ambassador in a hostile country surrounded by a mob of angry young men
shouting, “Death to America!”
e.
Elisha pronounces God’s judgment but he doesn’t
ask for this specific punishment
“It was not Elisha who brought the bears, but a holy, righteous God. God had warned, but the people paid no
heed—so judgment fell. One can
easily see now that this was not the revenge of an angry prophet, but rather
the punishment of a righteous judge.”[11]
f.
This judgment was in accordance with God’s law
which had been known in Israel.
If then, you act with hostility against me and are unwilling to obey
me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. I
will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which will bereave you of
your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your
roads lie deserted.
-- Leviticus 26.21-22
g.
This was to be a sign—a mirco-judgment—so as to
avoid the coming macro-judgment on the nation as a whole.
“The savagery of wild animals was brutal enough, but it was mild compared
to the legendary cruelty of the Assyrians who would appear to complete God’s
judgment in 722 B.C. The
disastrous fall of Samaria would have been avoided had the people repented
after the bear attack and the increasingly severe divine judgments that
followed it. But instead of
turning back to God, Israel, as would Judah in a later day, ‘mocked God’s
messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of
the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy’ (2 Chron
36:16).”[12]
h.
Were the young men killed? Perhaps but not necessarily.
i. English
translations
1.
KJV: “tare”
2.
NASB: “tore up”
3.
ESV: “tore”
4.
NIV/NRSV: “mauled”
ii. Hebrew
word used in verse 24: baqa
1.
“break open, rip, tear”; does not mean “killed”
or “devoured”
2.
Used for chopping wood (Genesis 22.3), ripping
garments (Joshua 9.13), and an egg hatching (Isaiah 34.15)
3.
2 Kings 3.26: men breaking through an army
iii. Could
have meant that the 42 young men were chased off by the bears with varying
degrees of injury.
iv. Extended
note: some possible conjectures
“Depictions
and videos of this event look more like a Terminator movie than what the Bible
reports, liberally spraying blood and body parts all over the place. But there
are three major points against this.
“The
first is that, as noted in the film, the bears were Syrian brown bears who would weigh a mere 400 pounds. That’s only
800 pounds of bear versus 5040 pounds (at least 42 x 120 lb) of human – who
unlike bears, can lift rocks, cudgels, etc.
“Second,
the only word used to describe what the bears did is the Hebrew baqa.This
word does not mean “killed” or “devoured” or anything of that sort. It means to
“break open” and is used for chopping wood (Gen. 22:3), ripping garments (Josh.
9:13), or even an egg hatching (Is. 34:15). In several places it refers to
water splitting open or cutting through earth.
“In
2 Kings 3:26 is refer to men “breaking through” an army, so it could mean that
42 of the group were chased off by the bears. But if it does refer to some
injury by the bears, we have to decide how severe that could have been with
some reasoned fact-finding.
“Once
again, the fact of there being at least 42 must be considered. Humans are not
fast; the typical speed of a running human is perhaps 15 MPH. In contrast,
Syrian brown bears can move faster than other bears. As one zoo website puts
it:
“In
spite of their size, Syrian Brown Bears have a great deal of strength,
deceptive speed (some have been clocked at speeds in excess of 35 miles per
hour!), and are legendary for their stamina. They are capable of running at
full speed for miles at a time without stopping.
“However,
even though this bear can run twice as fast as a human, this sort of speed is
not going to enable two of them to catch 42 humans and injure them! The irony of this in Skeptical portrayals
is that the more bloody the punishment they have the bears delivering, the less
time they have to catch more victims, and the more absurd the Skeptical
portrayal becomes! There’s also the fact that this is a desert climate with
plenty of room to run – the “wood” here would have been more like a thicket
(just look for pictures of this area today to see what I mean), with some
trees, but generally thin on the ground.
“For this reason, I have shown that there is
only one serious way that 42 could have been injured – and that’s if they
fought back. Why? There could be many reasons. One that wouldn’t occur to
us is that bears are, well – edible!
And a roving pack of vagrants could make a good meal out of them. They could
also make use of their furs for blankets or clothes, and use their teeth for
tools or jewelry, and their bones for soup – the same way other native peoples
use bears.
“A
second reason is more obscure to us: Those who stood up to the bears and were
injured would receive the honor due to one within their group who had stepped
to the plate on the defensive. Remember that Roman gladiators fought wild
beasts to achieve honor and fame. The same principles of honor held in ancient
Israel. (By the way, I am aware that "play dead" and not "run"
is the best advice for avoiding injury from a bear, but I doubt people in
Elisha's time knew this -- and it would have been considered dishonorable
behavior even if it were known.)
“With that in mind, what sort of injuries
were done? Given the chaos and the number of people involved, most probably
suffered scratches from the bears’ claws – which could be as little as a minor
scratch to a major gash. From what I can gather, bears do not normally view
humans as prey, so injuries from teeth would be less likely.”[13]
5.
Resources
a.
Tekton Education and Apologetic Ministry has a
good page and video on this: http://www.tektonics.org/film/elisha2bears.html
b.
Richard G. Messner, “Elisha and the Bears” Grace Journal 3 (1962), 14. Available online: http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/grace-journal/03-2_12.pdf.
c.
Christian Think Tank has a good summary of the
issues: http://christianthinktank.com/qmeanelisha.html
[1]
Quoted in Richard G. Messner, “Elisha and the Bears” Grace Journal 3 (1962), 14.
Available online: http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/grace-journal/03-2_12.pdf.
[13]
“Elisha and the Two Bears—Supplement,” Tekton Education and Apologetic Ministry
(n.d.; n.p.)—all bold-face added.
Available online: http://www.tektonics.org/film/elisha2bears.html.
