2 Kings 2:24

2Ki 2:24 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.

Ver. 24. And cursed them.] By his spirit of prayer and prophecy: not out of private revenge.

And there came forth two she bears.] So Dr Whittington returning from martyring a good woman at Chipping Sadbury, was gored by a bull. {a} Dr Story, who vaunted that he had burnt so many earwigs - heretics he meant, - was hanged at Tyburn for treason. Hemingius telleth of a lewd fellow in Denmark, who showing great contempt against a preacher, as he passed out of the Church was brained with a tile. Luther {b} telleth of such another, who going into the fields to look to his sheep, after he had railed most bitterly against a godly minister, was found dead: his body being burnt as black as a coal. "Be not ye mockers, lest your bands be increased."

{a} Mr Clark’s Martyrol., fol. 58.

{b} Luth., in Coll.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 2:24. He looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord — “The word curse has in Scripture three different acceptations. It signifies, to inflict a curse; and in this sense God is said to have cursed the ground after the fall. It signifies, to wish a curse; and in this sense Shimei is said to have cursed David. Lastly, it signifies, to pronounce, or foretel, a curse or punishment; and in this sense Elisha is said to have cursed the children. The historian expressly asserts, that he cursed them in the name of the Lord. To speak in the name of the Lord, is to deliver what he commands; to prophesy in the name of the Lord, is to foretel what he reveals; and to curse in the name of the Lord, is to declare a curse which he is determined to inflict, and has authorized the prophet to denounce: so that in cursing these supposed children, Elisha acted as a minister of the Supreme Ruler of the world, and by his order foretold the punishment that was going to be inflicted upon these idolaters. His pronouncing this curse was not the cause of their catastrophe; but the certainty of their catastrophe, and the command of God, were the causes of his pronouncing this curse.” See Dr. Dodd, and Morris, vol. 1. ser. 7.

There came forth two she-bears out of the wood — Which probably had been robbed of their whelps, and thereby made more fierce and outrageous; and tare forty and two children of them — Here the word translated children is different from that used above, namely, ילדים, jeladim; but this also signifies, not only young children, but also those that are grown up to maturity, as Gen 32:22; Gen 34:4; Gen 37:30; Rth 1:5. In this extraordinary punishment, inflicted evidently by the hand of God on these young persons, we have demonstration, that the curse which the prophet denounced against them was not owing, as some have supposed, to the peevishness of his temper, or the ebullition of his anger: for though his rage had been ever so furious, it would not have supplied him with power to command these savage creatures to leave the woods at an instant, and to come to a place they did not frequent, as a public road must be supposed to be, in order to destroy these insolent youths. As his curse would have had no effect had it proceeded from a peevish temper, or from the violence of his passion, we have no just cause, from his cursing them, to suspect that he was actuated by any such principle. No: it was in the name of the Lord; not from any revengeful passion, but by the motion of God’s Spirit, and by God’s command and commission that he denounced the curse: and God caused the punishment to follow, partly to show his displeasure at such profaneness and malignity of mind against God, and his cause, and worship, as these youths were guilty of, for the terror and caution of all other ungodly persons, who abounded in that place; partly to vindicate the honour and maintain the authority of his prophets; and particularly of Elisha, now especially in the beginning of his sacred ministry; and partly to convince the people of the heinousness of idolatry, and to recover them to that purity of worship which the law was peculiarly intended to preserve.

Upon the whole, it appears that the persons who mocked Elijah were not infants, but arrived to years of maturity; that they did not insult him by chance, but by design; that they went out in great crowds on purpose; that they mocked him because he was the prophet of the true God, from whom they had apostatized; and that he did not wish their untimely end from a principle of revenge, but only predicted it as a prophet. The punishment will appear just, if we consider the time, place, persons, and all the circumstances of the case. These young persons might be guilty of many other heinous crimes, known to God and his prophet, besides that here recorded: they were at least guilty of idolatry, which by God’s law deserved death: add to this, that the idolatrous parents were punished in their children; and that if any of these children were more innocent, God might have mercy on their souls, and then the death they suffered was not a misery, but a real blessing to them, taking them away from that education which was very likely to expose them, not only to temporal, but eternal destruction.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Perceiving their malicious heart against the Lord and his word, he desireth God to take vengeance of that injury done unto him.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(24) He turned back.—The boys were following him with their jeers. Thenius says, “The wanton young people, who had not courage to attack except in the rear, had stolen round him.”

Cursed them.—“To avenge the honour of Jehovah, violated in his person” (Keil). (Comp. Exo_16:8; Act_5:4.)

And there came forth.—Whether at once, and in the presence of Elisha, or not, is uncertain. Thenius supposes that on some occasion or other a terrible calamity had fallen on some person or persons after such a mockery of Elisha, or of some other prophet (!); and that in the desire to magnify the divinely maintained inviolability of the prophetic office, the author of the above narrative has overlooked the immoral character of cursing, especially in the case of wanton children. He then contrasts the behaviour of the “historical” David (2Sa_16:10). But (1) the curse of a prophet was an inspired prediction of punitive disaster; (2) Beth-el was a chief seat of idolatry (1Ki_12:29, seq.; Amo_4:4; Amo_5:5; Amo_7:10), and the mobbing of the new prophetic leader may have been premeditated; (3) at all events, the narrative is too brief to enable us to judge of the merits of the case; and (4) what is related belongs to that dispensation in which judgment was made more prominent than mercy, and directly fulfils the menace of Lev_26:21, seq.

Two she bears.—Hos_13:8; Pro_17:12; Amo_5:19. (Comp. 2Ki_17:25.) Wild beasts were common in Palestine in those days.

Forty and two.—This may be a definite for an indefinite number. It shows that the mob of young persons who beset the prophet was considerable.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. And he turned back, and looked on them] R.V. And he looked behind him and saw them. The young lads had come forth from the city, and Elisha had, as it seems, passed by them, before they began their mockery. The word translated ‘turned’ in A.V. is used specially of turning the face toward any object. It is so rendered by A.V. in Gen_18:22, ‘And the men turned their faces’. Elisha turned about and saw in them the malice and evil spirit of their parents and kindred.

and cursed them in the name of the Lord] It was not to avenge himself. Their insult to him was but a symptom of their hatred of all that was connected with the pure worship of Jehovah. It was as Jehovah’s servant and in vindication of Jehovah’s honour that Elisha invoked a curse upon the revilers. ‘God and His seer looked through these children at the parents, at all Israel. He would punish the parents’ misnurturing their children, with the death of those children which they had mistaught’ (Bp Hall).

two she bears] Of the prevalence of wild beasts in the immediate neighbourhood of cities we have indications in the history of David who slew a lion and a bear as he was keeping his father’s flock (1Sa_17:36), and in the story of the disobedient prophet who was torn by a lion near this very city of Bethel (1Ki_13:24).

tare forty and two] The punishment would touch the parents in a way which nothing else could have done.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he went from thence to Mount Carmel,.... Where Elijah used to frequent, and where also there might be a school of the prophets; this, according to Bunting (a), was fifty six miles from Bethel:

and from thence he returned to Samaria; the capital of the kingdom of Israel; there to bear his testimony against idolatry, to reprove for it, and reclaim from it; this, as the same writer says (b), was thirty two miles from Carmel.

(a) Travels, &c. p. 206. (b) Ibid.

Next: 2 Kings Chapter 3

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

On this occasion only do we find Elisha a minister of vengeance. Perhaps it was necessary to show, at the outset of his career as a prophet, that he too, so mild and peaceful could, like Elijah, wield the terrors of God’s judgments (1Ki 19:19 note). The persons really punished were, not so much the children, as the wicked parents 2Ki 2:23, whose mouth-pieces the children were, and who justly lost the gift of offspring of which they had shown themselves unworthy.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Cursed them. This curse, which was followed by so visible a judgment of God, was not the effect of passion, or of a desire of revenging himself; but of zeal for religion, which was insulted by these boys, in the person of the prophet, and of a divine inspiration; God being determined to punish in this manner the inhabitants of Bethel, (the chief seat of the calf-worship) who had trained up their children in a prejudice against the true religion and its ministers. (Challoner) --- The boys themselves were not so little as not to be aware of the insult they were offering to a minister of the God of Juda; and probably they acted thus out of hatred to him, at the instigation of their idolatrous parents. (Sanctius) (Calmet) --- Lord. He called on him (Menochius) to revenge his own cause, (Haydock) "that the people might learn to take care of their souls, by the fear of death." (St. Augustine) (Du Hamel)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Cursed them; nor was this punishment too great for the offence, if it be considered that these children were grown up to some maturity; (See Poole "2Ki 2:23";) that their mocking proceeded from a great malignity of mind against God; that they mocked not only a man, and an ancient man, whose very age commanded reverence, and a prophet; but even God himself, and that most admirable and glorious work of God, the assumption of Elijah into heaven, which makes it in some degree resemble the sin against the Holy Ghost; that they might be guilty of many other heinous crimes, which God and the prophet knew; and were guilty of idolatry, which by God’s law deserved death; that the idolatrous parents were punished in their children; and that if any of these children were more innocent and ignorant of what they said, God might have mercy upon their souls, and then this death was not a misery, but a real blessing to them, that they were taken away from that wicked and idolatrous education, which was most likely to expose them not only to temporal, but to an eternal destruction.

In the name of the Lord; not from any carnal or revengeful passion, but by the motion of God’s Spirit, and by God’s command and commission, as appears by God’s concurrence with him; which God did, partly for the terror and caution of all other idolaters and profane persons, who abounded in that place; partly to vindicate the honour and maintain the authority of his prophets, and particularly of Elisha, now especially in the beginning of his sacred ministry. And this did beget such a confidence in Elisha, that he durst venture to go into Beth-el after this was done; and such a terror in the Beth-elites, that they durst not avenge themselves of him.

Two she-bears; possibly robbed of their whelps, and therefore more fierce, Pro 17:12; Hos 13:8; but certainly acted by an extraordinary fury, which God raised in them for this purpose.

Forty and two children: this Hebrew word signifies not only young children, but those also who are grown up to maturity, as Gen 32:22; 34:4; 37:30; Rth 1:5.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. Cursed them in the name of the Lord — It would not do to let such malice and blasphemy go unnoticed before the people of Beth-el, and so the insulted prophet called down on those young blasphemers the vengeance of the Lord who was mocked and scorned in the person of his holy prophet. It then remained to be seen whether the Lord would hear a prayer for vengeance.

Tare forty and two children of them — The word for children here is different from that so rendered in 2Ki_2:23, and though the two words are nearly synonymous, “the change, with the dropping of the word little, is probably intended to mark a distinction. Wherever there is a mob of idle young men, there is sure to be a number of mischievous urchins, who shout and bawl, as they do, without knowing much of the matter. Although, therefore, there were, no doubt, little children among this rabble of young Beth-elites, there is every reason to suppose that the forty-two of them who were destroyed were the oldest ones, the ringleaders of the set, and who very well knew what they were about.” — Kitto.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he turned back, and looked on them; rather, and he looked behind him, and saw them, as in the Revised Version. The boys, after the manner of boys, were following him, hanging upon him, not daring to draw too near, hooting him from behind, as ill-bred and ill-intentioned youths are apt to do. And cursed them in the name of the Lord. The action cannot be defended from a Christian point of view Christians have no right to curse any one. But we can well understand that, under the old covenant, a prophet newly installed in office, and commencing his ministry, might deem it right to vindicate the honor of his office by visiting such conduct as that of these misguided youths with a malediction. Under the Law God"s ministers were required to curse the disobedient. (Deu_27:14-26) Elisha could not tell what would be the effect of his curse. It could have no effect at all excepting through the will and by the action of God. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood; or, the forest; i.e. the forest, which, as all knew, lay within a short distance of Bethel, and was the haunt of wild beasts. (see 1Ki_3:24) And tare forty and two children of them. It is not said how far the lads were injured, whether fatally or not. But the punishment, whatever its severity, came from God, not from the prophet, and we may be sure was just. For "shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" A severe example may have been needed under the circumstances of the time, when a new generation was growing up in contempt of God and of religion; and the sin of the lads was not a small one, but indicated that determined bent of the will against good, and preference of evil, which is often developed early, and generally goes on from bad to worse.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cursed them - Nor was this punishment too great for the offense, if it be considered, that their mocking proceeded from a great malignity of mind against God; that they mocked not only a man, and an ancient man, whose very age commanded reverence; and a prophet; but even God himself, and that glorious work of God, the assumption of Elijah into heaven; that they might be guilty of many other heinous crimes, which God and the prophet knew; and were guilty of idolatry, which by God's law deserved death; that the idolatrous parents were punished in their children; and that, if any of these children were more innocent, God might have mercy upon their souls, and then this death was not a misery, but a real blessing to them, that they were taken away from that education which was most likely to expose them not only to temporal, but eternal destruction. In the name - Not from any revengeful passion, but by the motion of God's Spirit, and by God's command and commission. God did this, partly, for the terror and caution of all other idolaters and prophane persons who abounded in that place; partly, to vindicate the honour, and maintain the authority of his prophets; and particularly, of Elisha, now especially, in the beginning of his sacred ministry. Children - This Hebrew word signifies not only young children, but also those who are grown up to maturity, as Gen. xxxii, 22, xxxiv, 4, xxxvii, 30, Ruth i, 5.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And saw them. He saw that neither in them nor in their descendants would there be any sap of good deed.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.