greg@zehntel.UUCP (07/03/83)
#N:zehntel:19200010:000:1217 zehntel!greg Jul 2 19:27:00 1983 With respect to II Kings 2:23-24, I recently looked through a couple of commentaries to see if there was something obvious we were missing. Adam Clarke's Commentary, published by Baker Book House, had some interesting points. First of all, Bethel was the site of Jeroboam's sin when he led the people of Israel into idolatry (I Kings 12:28-33). Jeroboam was judged immediately, but the people were given time to turn from their ways. The scene with the two bears may well have been a warning. Secondly, the taunt "Go up, you baldhead" was probably not as innocent as it sounds. Elisha's mentor, Elijah, had been carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire (earlier in II Kings 2). "Go up" indicated the people's disbelief that this had really happened. They were ridiculing a miracle of God. Thirdly, although the Hebrew word na'ar was translated "children" in KJV and "youths" in others (eg, NASB), it was used of Ishmael when he was 28 (Gen. 21:12), Joseph when he was 39 (Gen. 41:12), and soldiers (I Kings 20:14)! Finally, there were more than 42 of them! The moral of the story is that we should do our home- work before we jump to any tasty conclusions. Greg Boyd ...decvax!sytek!zehntel!greg