As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. The prophet elisha and bears attacking boys youtube. No, not two princes by the spin doctorsthat hypnotic, catchy earworm from 1993. Wasnt elisha being cruel when he sent those bears against those children who were teasing him about being bald in 2 kings 2. Despite this plot, the story doesnt make it into childrens bibles, as the children get mauled by the bears after mocking elisha. One of my favorites is the famous shebear incident of 2 kings 2.
Notice the text does not say the bears killed or ate the gang of lads, only that they were. The first and second book of kings chronicle the life of the prophet elisha. Two are recorded in these versesa miracle of mercy to jericho and a miracle of judgment to bethel, ps. Downloads male voice mp3 female voice mp3 entire book pdf. An old testament knowhyi relating to the reading assignment for gospel doctrine lesson 29.
Explaining elisha and the she bears to joe rogan and douglas. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the children. At that time, israel was ruled by corrupted kings whose evil ways caused the. Elijah is initially presented in 1 kings 17 as the seer who foretold a threeyear drought in the land of israel. Fortytwo boys, fortytwo is a number sometimes associated with death. According to this story, he was a prophet and a wonderworker of the northern kingdom of israel who was active during the reign of joram, jehu, jehoahaz, and jehoash joash. Because these young people of about 20 years of age or older the same term is used of solomon in 1 kings 3. Elisha is jeered from there elisha went up to bethel. The lords punishment was the mauling of 42 of them by two female bears. On the way, some young children accost him, he curses them in the name of god, and two she bears eat 42 of them melachim 2 2. After elisha had spoken the curse, from out of nowhere, two she bears ran out from out of the woods, attacking, and killing fortytwo of the juveniles.
As elisha was walking from jericho to bethel, some little children saw him and mocked him, saying. But it is about history, in the sense that its the narrators specific interpretation of the history and destiny of judah and israel. In 2 kings 2, we have story of the translation of elijah which also begins the ministry of elisha. Elisha again demonstrates that he bears the spirit of elijah, which is the spirit of yahweh, for he can call out bears from the forest as readily as elijah can call out fire from heaven to consume the soldiers of ahaziah.
As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. What elisha does is to curse them in the name of the lord. I was totally dumbstruck, a moment i will never forget. Elisha, two bears, and fortytwo kids study resources. Elisha turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the lord. The second book of kings describes elisha as the disciple and successor to elijah. This weeks barmy bible story features elisha and the she bears bit parts played by fortytwo little children. Joe rogan makes fun of biblical stories in episode 1084 of his podcast. Then two she bears came out of the woods and tore fortytwo of the boys to pieces. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled fortytwo of the boys.
Our text for this evenings study can be found in the book of kings. Miscellaneous elisha, two bears, and fortytwo kids 2 kings 2. Elisha and the prophets know that elijah is to be translatedelijah divides the waters of the. Actually, it was god who sent the bears, not elisha. The prophet turned and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the lord. Elisha, little children, and the bears answers in genesis. We recoil in horror at the idea of bears mauling a. And he said, as the lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, i will not leave thee. In another memorable story, elisha prophecies that a shunamite woman who has been hospitable to him will miraculously bear a child. After eliyahu goes up to heaven, elisha solves a water problem in jericho and then heads to bethel. The text nowhere says that elisha sent the bears to devour this gang. Elijahs activity spanned the reigns of ahab reigned c. Here we take a look at the weird passage in 2 kings 2 where the prophet elisha curses a group of boys and bears come out of the woods to attack them.
Many years ago, i had an atheist question me on the passage in 2 kings 2. The bible story of elijah and elisha is found in both books of kings from the old testament. The books of kings are preceded by the historical books of first samuel and. While he was on the way, some little boys came out of the city and jeered at him. Local tradition places the site of this story near the town of deir dibwan and is called, the lair of the two bears, about 1. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. Explaining elisha and the she bears to joe rogan and. But elisha replied, as the lord lives and as your soul lives, i will not leave you.
Elisha then assumed the mantle and presided over the. Verses 1925 elisha had, in this respect, a double portion of elijahs spirit, that he wrought more miracles than elijah. What should we make of the story of elisha and the bears. Elisha s experience may discount the idea that a nice beard detracts from a bald head jat least as far as these youth were concerned. Biblical prophets the mocking of elisha the attacking. The divided kingdoms of israel and judah the miracles of elisha previous kings 2 lessons list next. The goal of these books is not primarily historical but rather prophetic. Elisha had told the truth about elijah, but the people did not believe him. He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the lord.
Elisha resided for the most part in samaria, paying jericho and bethel, where the prophetic settlements were, an occasional visit ib. He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the lord. Why did the prophet elisha curse the youths for making. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the lord. I had never seen the passage before, and it left me speechless. Here is a blessing upon the waters of jericho, which was effectual. Its been awhile since the last installment of this series lots more to come, but this one should be fairly straightforward.
I dont understand what this is supposed to teach and is an impediment for my belief in scriptures. The account of the 42 young men torn apart by two she bears is an importantalbeit tragicpart of gods agenda to teach the israelites to heed elisha. Then two she bears, came out of the woods, and mauled fortytwo of the youths. The vital question of concern to most here is the age of these little children. Elisha enjoyed about 60 years of ministry by himself after elijahs departure. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him. New living translation elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them ii kings 2.
Its an attempt to search for deeper meanings in that story, to try to figure out why things happened the way they did, regardless of how many legendary tales or. Elisha having received a double portion of the prophetic spirit, is held to have worked twice as many miracles 16 as elijah. Why did god kill 42 lads merely for saying elisha was bald. At once two bears ran out of the woods and ripped to pieces 42 of the boys.
Elisha and the bears apologetics catholic answers forums. Ruling at this time in judah were jehoshaphat, jehoram, ahaziah, athaliah, jehoash, and, likely, amaziah. They are two of the most notable prophets from scripture helping to restore israel in a time of wicked rulers. Elisha, from the time he joined elijah, did prophetic work in israel during the reigns of kings ahab, ahaziah, jehoram, jehu, and on into the reign of jehoash. Beloved heavenly father, the miracles of your prophet elijah were surpassed by elisha, and the miracles of elisha were surpassed by your supreme prophet, jesus christ. Both of these prophets had to minister in times of terrible national decay, and we can see, in moving from the ministry of elijah to that of elisha, a transition that took place in. It was in the gift of elijah to grant his supernatural powers to his companion and protege, elisha. Elisha turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the lord. He went up from there to bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered. Elisha turned around, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the lord. The narrator does not tell the content of elisha s curse, and whether or not he intended to kill the boys.
Shortly after elijah had been taken away by god, elisha traveled to bethel to be confronted by little children who call him bald head. Introduction 23 then he went up from there to bethel. Then there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them verse 24. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him, chanting, go up, baldy. Then two she bears came out of the woods and tore fortytwo of the children to pieces 2 kgs. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and. I recall reading in one of the book of kings how elisha the successor to the prophet elijah was going up the mountain and children greeted him cries of go up bald head,go up bald headhe got angry and bears came and tore up the children. Elisha causes the axe head to float back up to the top of the water, saving both the axe and the mans finances. Just as god had used a wild lion to deliver judgment in 1 kings. There is a more reasonable explanation for the violent event than simply removing things from their context and imagining that elisha simple used a couple. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up. I was doing youth ministry, when a high school student asked me about the weird incident of elisha and the she bears, found in 2 kings 2. Elisha s story is related in the book of kings second scroll, chapters 214 in the hebrew bible in judaism, part of the neviim. John whiteford talks about the incident near bethel, when st.