2 Kings 2:23
in 2 Kings 2From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou baldhead; go up, thou baldhead.
KJV
And he went up from thence unto Beth–el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
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This verse in 2 Kings 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseNow according to the letter, dearly beloved, we are to believe, as we mentioned above, that blessed Elisha was aroused with God's zeal to correct the people, rather than moved by unwholesome anger, when he permitted the Jewish children to be torn to pieces. His …
This site's exposition
Go up, thou bald head
on 2 Kings 2:23-24
Going up from Jericho toward Bethel, the city that had carried Jeroboam's calf since the kingdom split, Elisha meets a crowd that mocks him, go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head, deliberately parodying the ascension the whole country had just heard about. The Hebrew word rendered little children is the same word used elsewhere of grown men, and Wesley reads the mockers as young men old enough to know what they were doing rather than small boys, citing its use for adults in Genesis and Ruth. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read them the same way, an idolatrous crowd sarcastically daring the prophet to ascend as his master had rather than a band of true children. Elisha curses them in the name of the Lord rather than his own, and two she bears come out of the wood and maul forty and two of them, a judgment Barnes reads as falling on the parents whose contempt for the Lord's prophet their children only repeated.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"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 at him, saying, "Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!" After Elisha had settled the matters concerning his disciples in …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Children - Or, young men: as this Hebrew word often signifies. It is more than probable they were old enough to discern between good and evil. The city - Beth-el was the mother-city of idolatry, where the prophets planted themselves, that they might bear witness against it, and dissuade the people from it; though, it seems, they had but small success there.
And he went up from thence unto Bethel,....
This revolution in prophecy makes a greater figure than the revolution of a kingdom. 1 And it came to pass, when the L ORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
As Beth-el was the older seat of the calf-worship 1Ki 12:32-33; 13:1-32, a prophet of Yahweh was not unlikely to meet with insult there. By the way - i. e. “by the usual road,” probably that which winds up the Wady Suweinit, under hills even now retaining some trees, and in Elisha’s time covered with a dense forest, the haunt of savage animals. Compare 1Ki 13:24; and for the general prevalence of beasts of prey in the country, both earlier and later than this, see Jdg 14:5; 1Sa 17:31; 2Ki 17:25; Amo 5:19, etc.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
There came forth little children out of the city - These were probably the school of some celebrated teacher; but under his instruction they had learned neither piety nor good manners. Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head - עלה קרח עלה קרח aleh kereach, aleh kereach. Does not this imply the grossest insult? Ascend, thou empty skull, to heaven, as it is pretended thy master did! This was blasphemy against God; and their punishment (for they were Beth-elite idolaters) was only proportioned to their guilt. Elisha cursed them, i.e., pronounced a curse upon them, in the name of the Lord, בשם יהוה beshem Yehovah, by the name or authority of Jehovah. The spirit of their offense lies in their ridiculing a miracle of the Lord: the offense was against Him, and He punished it. It was no petulant humor of the prophet that caused him to pronounce this curse; it was God alone: had it proceeded from a wrong disposition of the prophet, no miracle would have been wrought in order to gratify it. “But was it not a cruel thing to destroy forty-two little children, who, in mere childishness, had simply called the prophet bare skull, or bald head?” I answer, Elisha did not destroy them; he had no power by which he could bring two she-bears out of the wood to destroy them. It was evidently either accidental, or a Divine judgment; and if a judgment, God must be the sole author of it. Elisha’s curse must be only declaratory of what God was about to do. See on 2Ki 1:10 (note). “But then, as they were little children, they could scarcely be accountable for their conduct; and consequently, it was cruelty to destroy them.” If it was a judgment of God, it could neither be cruel nor unjust; and I contend, that the prophet had no power by which he could bring these she-bears to fall upon them. But were they little children? for here the strength of the objection lies. […]
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַל | vaiyaal | and he went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מִשָּׁ֖ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | Beth- | H1008 → | 142 times |
| אֵ֑ל | ʾel | -el | H1008 → | 142 times |
| וְה֣וּא׀ | vehu' | and he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| עֹלֶ֣ה | ʾoleh | [was] going up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בַדֶּ֗רֶךְ | vaderekh | on the way | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וּנְעָרִ֤ים | unearim | and lads | H5288 → | 239 times |
| קְטַנִּים֙ | ketanim | young | H6996 → | 101 times |
| יָצְא֣וּ | yatzeu | they came out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָעִ֔יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וַיִּתְקַלְּסוּ־ | vaiyitkalesu- | and they derided | H7046 → | |
| בוֹ֙ | vo | <in> him | ||
| וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| עֲלֵ֥ה | ʾaleh | go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| קֵרֵ֖חַ | kereach | O bald [man] | H7142 → | |
| עֲלֵ֥ה | ʾaleh | go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| קֵרֵֽחַ׃ | kereach | O bald [man] | H7142 → |
וַיַּ֥עַלand he went up
vaiyaalH5927 →890 times
מִשָּׁ֖םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
בֵּֽית־Beth-
beit-H1008 →142 times
אֵ֑ל-el
ʾelH1008 →142 times
וְה֣וּא׀and he
vehu'H1931 →1879 times
עֹלֶ֣ה[was] going up
ʾolehH5927 →890 times
בַדֶּ֗רֶךְon the way
vaderekhH1870 →707 times
וּנְעָרִ֤יםand lads
unearimH5288 →239 times
קְטַנִּים֙young
ketanimH6996 →101 times
יָצְא֣וּthey came out
yatzeuH3318 →1067 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָעִ֔ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וַיִּתְקַלְּסוּ־and they derided
vaiyitkalesu-H7046 →
בוֹ֙<in> him
vo
וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
ל֔וֹto him
lo
עֲלֵ֥הgo up
ʾalehH5927 →890 times
קֵרֵ֖חַO bald [man]
kereachH7142 →
עֲלֵ֥הgo up
ʾalehH5927 →890 times
קֵרֵֽחַ׃O bald [man]
kereachH7142 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 22:6Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:7
And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- 2 Timothy 3:15
From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Genesis 18:19
For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that…
- Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
- Deuteronomy 6:7
Through
2 Chronicles 36:16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:12–13
They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
- Jeremiah 5:12–13
Through
Psalms 31:18May lying lips be silenced— lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
it leads to
- Psalms 94:4
They pour out arrogant words; all workers of iniquity boast.
- Jude 1:15
to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”
- Psalms 94:4
Where this verse is studied
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About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomElishaElijah's successor with the firstborn's double portion; the prophet of the healed spring, the widow's oil, the Shunammite's son, N…
- PlaceCentral hill countryBethelThe house of God, where Jacob saw the ladder and heard the promise, where he returned to raise an altar, and where Jeroboam’s gold…
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 127.2; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 2:20; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.