One of the questions addressed in this podcast episode is worth our attention. It addresses the narrative in 2 Kings 2:23-24 where Elisha encounters some boys who insult him and, after he curses them, they are mauled by bears. If you are interested in the scholarly footnotes, you can listen to the podcast or download the transcript here.
The first thing we run into is the perplexing statement that Elisha “goes down” from Gilgal to Bethel. This follows the scene where Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan, in which the elder prophet slaps the water with his cloak and the river stops flowing. They cross on the dry bed. Elijah then is taken up alive in a flaming chariot, dropping his cloak in the process. Elisha comes back across the Jordan and performs the same miracle using Elijah’s cloak to stop the flow again.
The location is very near the rebuilt Jericho. The campsite Israel used during their initial act of conquest just north of the city mound is called Gilgal. It is from here that Elisha starts a long hike up the wadi toward Bethel, the route used when Joshua leads the attacks on Ai. This is the notorious site of the paganized shrine Jeroboam built to prevent the population of the Northern Kingdom going back down to worship at Jerusalem.
The shrine featured a golden calf, hearkening back to the sin of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai. They referred to that idol as the visible mount ridden by the invisible Jehovah. Jeroboam did the same thing, referring to the shrine as a temple of Jehovah recast in the image of Baal. Nonetheless, when someone faithful to the Law of Moses, such as Elijah and Elisha, used the name “Jehovah” everyone knew the difference. Tone of voice and sarcasm worked in Hebrew same as English.
The shrine at Bethel also featured idols for other deities, so the whole place was regarded as filthy. Bethel stood atop a high hill just west of the central ridge highway running from Jerusalem northward into Samaria. It was literally and figuratively a “high place” in the sense of the pagan shrine. If Elisha was faithful to the true God of Israel, then the author of our biblical text could not resist referring to this long climb as “going down” because it led to a place of shameful defilement.
Once again, it’s standard Hebrew symbolism with a big dose of sarcasm. This was not a reference to literal geography, but spiritual geography. It wouldn’t matter where you started, anytime you headed toward Bethel you were “going down” to a filthy pagan shrine, a node of deep spiritual darkness staining the ground of the Promised Land. It is polemical, even propaganda, if you will, but coming from the Jehovah’s side of things.
This contrasts with the common reference of idolaters “going up” to Bethel’s shrine to worship. We have two competing systems of religion at work here. This shows up throughout the narrative running from Deuteronomy through 2 Kings. That whole section of the Bible seems to have been produced in its final form by the same bunch of editors who were thoroughly nationalist in favor of David’s dynasty and the Law of Moses. Elijah is a mirror image of Moses, while Elisha is like Joshua. Thus, the narratives of these books are filled with this sort of symbolic reference.
Now, the reference to boys means literally kiddos under 12. However, it is also used figuratively of any male who is not yet married and head of his own household. In particular, the term is used for royal or noble sons who are still residing in his father’s home. That word was used to label David at the battle with Goliath. He was not a kid, but a young adult with few opportunities to distinguish himself as the youngest of eight brothers. The term also referred to Rehoboam’s youthful noble advisors, his peers when he first took the throne.
These fellows who confronted Elisha on the wadi road were most likely associated with the royal household of the Northern Kingdom, perhaps including priestly sons, as well. Who would be surprised if such a gang was quite partisan in favor of the royal household? The ideological zeal of young men up through age 30 is still a trope today that shows up in books, TV and movie shows.
Notice that they number 42, the same body count we get from Jehu’s slaughter of the royal sons of the House of Omri a few chapters later in the same narrative. The symbolism of the number is related to any very dark time. Thus, it’s the number of months in a time of tribulation (3.5 years). This incident with Elisha is portrayed like a divine decree.
Calling Elisha “baldy” is the mocking contrast to the hairy Elijah, his teacher. One was fuzzy and the other baldy, but both were notorious for harassing the ruling clans of the Northern Kingdom. Both were worthy of ridicule. This was the whole point of these young men. It’s the polar opposite of Elisha’s reception with the Sons of the Prophets down in Jericho earlier.
Also, in typical Hebrew fashion, demanding twice that Elisha “go up” and join himself to the royal cult is an expression of emphasis. The concept of doubling something in Hebrew language often signals such. The divine response was that two bears carried out the punishment, an emphatic statement from God that these boys were way out of line.
Technically speaking, because the bears performed this slaughter at the word of Elisha, he could be held accountable for murder. And it wasn’t just any young men, but a substantial portion of the ruling clans of the Northern Kingdom. Elisha is just God’s first attack aiming to dismantle the Omride Dynasty. It’s not a random act of Elisha getting angry.
