“So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.” (II Kings 2:24)

In the story recounted in I Kings 19:19-21, Elisha showed his commitment to God by walking away from his family, wealth, and the good life as a farm owner to serve as the eventual successor to God’s prophet, the well-respected Elijah. People know Elisha for his humble and tireless service over six decades and for performing more miracles than his mentor, Elijah. These miracles—healings, works of providence, and even a resurrection—touched the lives of many and were fondly remembered.

But some contend his record contains a dark blot. Because of what II Kings 2:23-24 records—an incident in which a pair of female bears mauled more than forty youths at Elisha’s instigation—some think that, early in his service to God, he acted cruelly and viciously, placing a black mark on his life and record as a servant of God.

We need to examine these two verses to see what they actually tell us. Some Bible students make unfounded assumptions about specific details in the narrative, leading to gross misunderstanding. We will find that the prophet is not guilty of cruelty and child abuse, as his critics contend.

Elisha’s Early Miracles

In II Kings 2:11, Elisha watches a whirlwind take his master Elijah away in a chariot of fire. Once the former prophet disappears from view, the younger man collects the very mantle Elijah had thrown over Elisha’s shoulders when he was supervising the plowing of his father’s fields. At the time, a cloak like this signified the wearer as God’s prophet.

Elisha’s first miracle occurs when he strikes the Jordan River with the mantle, and the waters part as they had for Elijah, allowing him to cross back to the western bank. These actions, observed by numerous eyewitnesses, verify and establish him as the true successor to the prophet Elijah (II Kings 2:7, 16).

Elisha immediately establishes the character of his ministry by helping the people of Jericho, where the water was undrinkable. He threw a bowl of salt into the water source, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness’” (II Kings 2:21). God then performs a miracle of purification. As Scripture says, “So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke” (II Kings 2:22).

The text continues:

Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. (II Kings 2:23-24)

Critics of Elisha—and by extension, God—point to this account as an example of what they deem to be his violent and uncaring nature. They ask, “How could he punish these young children in such an extreme way?”

At first reading, one could conclude that Elisha was a short-tempered man who, with little provocation, cursed a group of toddlers in God’s name, calling on bears to emerge from the woods and rip the children apart. Such a biased recap of the story gives ammunition to God-haters who say, “See, God is heartless.” Such criticism fuels anti-Christian sentiment.

Examining these two verses more closely will determine whether these claims have merit or if the critics have misunderstood and misinterpreted them.

Who Were These “Youths”?

Anytime we study difficult or misunderstood scriptures—and these verses are good examples—we must widen our viewpoint and even look beyond our English translations to investigate what is really happening in the text. For instance, we must consider how this minor event fits within the larger scheme of the biblical narrative. In addition, we need to ask if the Hebrew text has been mistranslated because of bias, tradition, or even the evolution of a word’s meaning over time (called “semantic drift”).

As this vignette begins, we find Elisha traveling up from Jericho to Bethel, a climb of a few thousand feet. Bethel was a city with a long history as a place to honor God, as Jacob stopped there on his way to Haran and had his vision of a ladder rising to heaven. It had a fine reputation until Jeroboam rebelled against King Rehoboam, taking ten tribes from the line of David.

I Kings 12:26-30 narrates how Jeroboam made two golden calves, placing one as an object of worship in Bethel in the southern part of the new Kingdom of Israel and the other in Dan in the north. Jeroboam also replaced the Levitical priesthood and changed the holy days, inaugurating a new religion. These golden calves stood as symbols of Israel’s idolatry and rebellion against God, and Bethel and Dan soon became focal points of Israelite apostasy.

By the time of Elisha, Bethel had become a center of idolatry and rebellion. It is no surprise to find the city’s young people adopting a disrespectful attitude toward a prophet of the true God, most of whose followers lived in the rival kingdom of Judah. Such biased young people “came from the city and mocked him” (II Kings 2:23).

Some translations render the Hebrew term underlying “youths” as “little children” or “little boys,” causing critics to ask, “Why would God kill innocent little children?” The simple answer is that God did nothing of the sort.

That Hebrew term is na’ar (Strong’s #5288), which is variously translated as “boy,” “lad,” “servant,” “youth,” or “retainer.” It has a broad range of application, denoting anyone from a baby (e.g., Moses in Exodus 2:6) to a fully-grown man (e.g., Absalom in II Samuel 14:21). In Genesis 22:5, when traveling to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son, Abraham uses the term to refer to Isaac. The Jewish tradition is that Isaac was a grown man at the time, and the church has speculated that “the lad” may have been as old as 33 years.

Na‘ar is also used to designate an armor-bearer (Judges 9:54) and a king’s servants (II Kings 19:6). In I Kings 3:7, Solomon refers to himself as na’ar at the time he became king of Israel in his early twenties.

We can conclude that these “youths” in II Kings 2:23 were not what we would consider little or prepubescent children. They were likely older teenagers or young adults and were accountable for their actions. The A Faithful Version translation paints a more precise picture of the situation in verse 23: “A gang of youths came out from the city and mocked him.” They were certainly not a gang of toddlers.

“Go up, you baldhead!”

Undoubtedly, the “youths” who came out of Bethel were not children but a group of immoral young men comparable to a modern street gang. It was a large gang, too. Scripture tells us that the bears mauled forty-two of them, making one wonder how many escaped, frightened but unharmed. It seems not out of the realm of possibility to think that Elisha may have been facing a mob of fifty, sixty, or more young, violent men.

Such numerous adversaries posed a genuine threat to the life of God’s prophet, and he recognized that he was in significant danger. Some commentators speculate that the young men may have been preparing to stone him, but nothing in Scripture indicates this specifically.

However, the end of verse 23 informs us they “mocked him and said to him, ‘Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!’” Their mocking is described by a Hebrew word meaning “to ridicule, scoff, or scorn.” We must not underestimate their actions, as holding God’s prophet in contempt was a serious offense. The young men were doing their best to demean Elisha, influenced by living in an area in rebellion against God.

They called Elisha “baldhead” or “baldy,” a contemptuous term. The prophet may have suffered premature balding, as he was not an old man. He was probably not much older than most of those mocking him, likely between 25 and 35 years old. The age difference was probably not more than a decade.

Another possibility why they used the term connects to the practice of lepers and slaves shaving their heads. Calling God’s prophet “baldhead” or “baldy” implies that these young men considered Elisha as equally abominable, a detestable outcast.

What did they intend by taunting him to “go up”? We can presume that the youths were attempting to prevent Elisha from entering Bethel since they obviously did not want a man of God there. So, telling him, “Go up,” does not mean they wanted him to continue walking toward the city.

The Hebrew verb means “to go up,” “to ascend,” or “to climb up.” Context helps us to identify which of these is best. Remember that the bulk of II Kings 2 deals with Elijah’s “going up” into heaven. When God whisked him away in a chariot of fire, He did not do it in secret (verses 11-12). Word of the spectacular miracle had reached Bethel, and the youths used the incident to taunt Elisha.

No doubt they recognized him from the distinctive mantle he wore. They knew it as Elijah’s mantle, as he had recently visited the city (verses 2-3). So, the young gang members decided to insult the newly appointed and young prophet of God, insinuating that he was, as we might say, a greenhorn or wet behind the ears. Their heckling words challenged Elisha’s claim to be a prophet. Their taunt amounted to, “Show us what a powerful man of God you are! Go up as Elijah did!”

They ultimately aimed to drive him away. Thus, what they shouted at him was tantamount to, “Quit bothering us! Leave as Elijah did! Get out of here!”

God Is Not Mocked

Most importantly, we must remember that Elisha was not the only one being mocked and ridiculed. The youths’ insults reached beyond the prophet to God Himself. They showed blasphemous disrespect for God and His authority. Notice II Kings 2:24 again:

So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

Elisha was sensitive to God’s honor, and as his story in Scripture reveals many times, he was not one to back down. He stood his ground against this mob, looked at them with what must have been righteous indignation, and rebuked them, cursing them for their irreverence.

Note that the text does not say that Elisha asked or prayed for any specific type of punishment. Scripture says he “pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD.” He warned them that harm would fall on them for their blatant disrespect and evil intentions, leaving the precise manner of God’s vengeance unsaid. God would determine their punishment.

The author of II Kings does not leave us to wonder about His decision. As Elisha continued to the city, God directed the she-bears to attack them as His judgment on this irreverent gang of young people. Protective mother bears are more prone to attack, given that they will do anything to protect their young. So, there may have been cubs nearby. However, as their Creator, God did not need the presence of cubs to command the bears to attack.

By mocking this man of God, these young men revealed their actual attitudes toward God Himself. Such contempt for Almighty God was punishable by death, showing that He takes the sin of disrespect seriously. The law in Leviticus 24:15-16 reads:

Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: “Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall be put to death.

In Leviticus 26:21-22, God warns the Israelites of the consequences of continual disobedience, one of which is attacks by wild animals:

Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also let loose among you the animals of the field . . ..

God describes in Hosea 13:8 how He will react to the Israelites’ unending iniquities against Him: “I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, and devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.”

Due respect and honor for parents, the elderly, and God’s servants are also important to Him, which the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12) covers either in the letter or in principle. God does not tolerate disrespect because, once it begins, it has a way of increasing and expanding. We must be careful not to disrespect those God has allowed to be placed in authority, whether they are national, business, community, or church leaders (Romans 13:1-2).

Similar Societal Disrespect

Consider also that these youths’ parents bore great responsibility, as they had played a significant role in instilling their children’s rebellious and disrespectful attitudes toward God and His prophet. Having raised these young men with no fear of God, the parents paid the penalty in grief and horror after the two she-bears mauled their sons.

Our society today is not much different; it, too, is anti-God and full of iniquities and rebellion. So many mass shootings and other acts of violence reported on the news are perpetrated by young adults. It is almost out of control.

The story of Elisha and these young men imparts a sobering lesson. God will not be mocked, as Paul says in Galatians 6:7, “for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” These young men sowed contempt and disrespect, and they reaped the consequences: The bears showed contempt and disrespect for them. What lies ahead for our disrespectful and irreverent society?

In I Peter 2:15-17, the apostle Peter reminds us of the honor and respect God expects and what we should teach our children:

For this is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for wickedness, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.