And then he decided to go to Bethel.
While he was walking along, a group of 42 young boys started to make fun of Elisha's bald head.
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. 2 Kings 2:23
So Elisha decided to try his new-found prophet powers by cursing the little buggers in the name of the Lord. Then he stood back and watched what happened.
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. 2 Kings 2:24a
What happened must have been hard for him to watch. Two she bears came out of the woods and tore all 42 of the boys apart.
And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. 2 Kings 2:24b
The Bible doesn't say how Elisha reacted to the slaughter. It just says that he kept going on his journey to Bethel.
And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. 2 Kings 2:25
But I bet God got a kick out of the whole thing. He's the type.
See Brucker's guest post on this killing: The Bad-News Bears
More information about God's killings, with a chapter on each of the 135 killing events, can be found int the book:
13 comments:
Glad you finally covered this Killing in your official list, Steve; wonder how the hell God managed to provoke the she-bears into only attacking the children, in the first place...
Okay so two bears came out of the woods & attacked two of the forty-two boys and the other forty just stood there until it was their turn?
This is a minor point but maybe some of the children got away. It says some (more than 42?) children mocked him and 42 (not all 42) of them were killed. Still, you would think more would have gotten away.
I love the congruity of the last few posts: God kills 102 for suggesting to a prophet to "go down", and kills 42 for suggesting to prophet to "go up." You just can't win with these prophets.
teavee:
a holw kindergarten were there?
Even if it were, how come the bears killed 42 humans? Bears are not to good predators, but if they'd been magical bears, why stop at 42? (Well, maybe for the reason Steve pointed out: 42 is not god's favourite number). How come some adult help never arrived? Were the some "Children's of the Corn"?
Or maybe there some fence around the group of children arised what's not mentioned?
twlight:
Maybe I did not word it well but I just meant to point out that the text seems to suggest there were more than 42 suggesting that some children escaped. I actually have no idea what circumstances to assume for this story. It's too bizarre.
I have no idea how a group 42+ children from the city would end up near a forest containing bears (school field trip?). If they were young how did 42+ of them get together without adults being around and why would their mocking be taken so seriously? If they were older how did two bears get to 42 of them without an enclosure magically appearing (as you suggested) or the children being made unable to run? I would like to think all of the children at least had the freedom and could make the choice to run.
Maybe God hardened their hearts.
My word verification is siesuar.
Is God revealing something grand to me?
I just read in the Scofield Bible that the she-bear only tore the youth not killed the youth. I mean they could have gone to a hospital and received medical care couldn't they???
hahahhahaha. Bears.
This website is awesome. And important. Keep it up.
There is a better explanation for this. Do a google search for "Roger Kovaciny" +"bald head" (not sure if a link will post here)
I find something interesting, and this is probably just my brain looking for a pattern, but why 42 youths? (Emphasis on 42) Interesting how it took 42 attempts to assassinate Hitler. And the answer to the universe is, of course, 42.
Some day God will meet Chuck Norris and it will be payback time
someone please explain...to me this is evil...I personally would never wish ill will on anyone even if they made fun of me...this is just wrong...how can God do this? Just because you have the power doesn't mean you should use it. Also, there is a distinction between the developed mind of a child and an adult.
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