Elisha & the Bears

There are certain stories in Scripture that are often brought up by skeptics as if they prove that God and/or His prophets, especially in the Old Testament, were un-necessarily violent, unjust, and downright pathetic. One such story is found in 2 Kings 2:23-25. The skeptics version goes like this, "don't your remember that story when Elisha was walking down the road and some little kids poked fun of his baldness so, over-reacting, he asked God to curse them. God responded to Elisha's request by sending 2 bears that mauled 42 of those little kids. Why would I worship a God like that?"

There are probably many ways to respond to such an accusation. Below I will list 5 points that come to mind that should be pointed out in regards to this story. Once the skeptics version is somewhat deflated, there may be opportunity to begin a healthy discussion about God. First, though, here's the actual passage:

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" 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 youths.

1. Elisha was just taking over for the recently departed Elijah. God used a series of events (Elijah's cloak falling to Elisha, the waters of the Jordan dividing, the purification of the water in Jericho) to display to the other prophets that Elisha was, indeed, a true successor to the great prophet. It was a new beginning, which God tends to accompany with memorable events. Ultimately, He does this to save Israel from her sin.

2. Bethel was a town known for 2 things. For one, it was infamous for its idolatry. For two, it was famous for its prophetic school. It was a show-down town. Who was more powerful? The idols or the Lord? God answered that question with this event. Again, this was a necessary truth for Israel to recognize and so this 'negative' story had a 'positive' purpose.

3. The Hebrew word beneath the word 'youths,' here, is very flexible. The term can mean little kid, young lads, young men, servants, etc. Joseph was described by this term at 17 years old. His younger brother Benjamin was at least 22 when the term was used of him. Skeptics usually utilize the KJV rendering 'little children' (surprisingly, Peterson's The Message follows the KJV's lead and translates the term as 'little kids'). It seems more reasonable to imagine that these weren't little kids at all, but young men in their late teens or early twenties. (*)

4. The people involved weren't lightly poking fun at Elisha, they were mocking God. To jeer, or scoff, at God's prophet is an intense act of rebellion. And his baldness was, likely, only one target of their disdain for Elisha. The fact that they said 'Go on up' was probably a mockery of his claim that His mentor had done just that prior to this event. In other words, they quite likely were telling Elisha that he should just follow Elijah into the sky. The fact that they came out of town to say these things and the repitition of the statement itself shows that this was a hard-hearted attitude and not a spur of the moment joke.

5. Elisha didn't take vengence into his own hands. Granted, He wanted the Lord to do justice to the mockers, but letting God be God is very different from trying to play God ourselves. He let the Lord deal with the problem as He saw fit. One could fairly ask, 'Would Jesus have made the same request of His Father if He were in Elisha's exact situation?' Even if the answer is no, I think it would have less to do with the fact that Jesus is Jesus and more to do with the fact that Jesus was revealed progressively later in God's redemptive plan.

In summary, objections to this passage are based on failures to understand the historical, cultural & revelatory context as well as reliance on weak translations of the Hebrew text. By deflating the emotionalized opening arguments of the skeptics with truthful information, one can steer the conversation toward a worthwhile discussion of God and His word.

(*) Some commentators accept the translation that those mentioned were children, and see this event as a judgment against their wicked parents while, at the same time, an act of grace upon the children in that it prevented them from maturing in wickedness. But even if children were the mockers, one wonders how a skeptic can hold it against God for killing them, while yet refusing to praise God when Elisha raised a young boy from the dead 2 chapters later.