God Sent 2 Bears to Maul 42 Boys?

2 Kings 2 and the Controversy Over Elisha and the Bears

In 2 Kings 2, after Elijah is taken up by chariots of fire and his protégé Elisha succeeds his ministry, we read another popular story only three verses long, but it has stirred up a lot of controversy with some skeptics.

Verse 23 begins, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was going, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, Go up, you bald head, go up, you bald head. Elisha turned, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord.

And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. From there he went on to Mount Carmel and then to Samaria. Okay, so really, that's just two verses, but what's the deal? God had two she-bears come out of the woods and maul forty-two small boys just for calling Elisha bald?

That's pretty ruthless, right? Well, here's the thing, Elisha was going to Bethel, and that city was the focal point of Israel's apostasy. The people had become so hostile against God that even their youth would disrespect one of God's prophets.

Elisha wasn't just some preacher, remember, he spoke the very words of the Lord. The reference to bald head isn't really understood, but whatever the meaning, it's clear that Elisha felt threatened to the point that he cursed them and two bears mauled forty-two boys.

The Meaning of the Number and the Warning Against Rejecting Prophets

But understand, there weren't just forty-two of them, that's only how many the bears nabbed. In fact, there were likely more than fifty running in some kind of pack threatening Elisha. What the writers of Kings truly mean to convey is that contempt toward God's prophets has disastrous consequences.

Indeed, even Jesus said that those who won't accept the prophets also won't accept him. And that has the most disastrous consequence of all when we understand the text.