It has been over 20 years since I looked at this piece, and realize it needs MAJOR updating.
Here is the passage by itself again (2 Kings 2:23-25, ESV):
“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 up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” And he turned around, 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 from there he returned to Samaria.”
This is sometimes portrayed as a group of innocent small boys, whose only ‘crime’ is making verbal fun of an old man’s baldness, resulting in the cruel old man –with the support of God—calling up 2 bears to kill 42 of the little kids, as he calmly and callously continues his journey to Bethel.
When I first researched this, it became clear that the group of boys were not as young as a modern reader might assume from the wording, and that the taunt was not as innocent as a simple ridicule of personal appearance.
That prior analysis seemed to address well enough the needs of Christian conscience before the Lord, but when somebody raised this as an ‘atrocity’ by God [without ever having read the passage, much less examining it honestly], as one among many reasons to not trust Jesus, I re-read it and realized my past understanding of it was missing MAJOR PARTS of the background.
I have learned a ton more about Israelite society and daily life in that period, and this new information RADICALLY changes the very core of the story (and the explanation of why this is not even remotely an atrocity of cruelness).
So, let me bring us all up to speed on this brief
passage…
Here’s the background, situation, and overview of the sequence of events.
· Elijah and Elisha have just travelled from Gilgal (uncertain location, but near Jericho), up to Bethel [2 Kings 2.1-2], a journey of about 10-12 miles.
· At this time in Israel’s history, Bethel is the center of the alternative, counterfeit religious cult around the golden calf. It would be staffed by clergymen on the royal payroll (but with additional income from offerings), their attendants and minor officials, treasury management people, and military forces for protection of the royal assets and sacred space.
o “Located at the intersection of the main north-south road through the hill country and the main road from Jericho to the coastal plain, Bethel saw much domestic and international travel. Bethel became a prominent border town between tribes and the two kingdoms later. Religiously, Bethel served as a sanctuary during the times of the patriarchs, judges, and the divided kingdom, hence was second only to Jerusalem as a religious center.” [Daniel C. Fredericks, “Bethel,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 190–191.]
o “Captured by Joshua (Josh. 8:7), the town was allotted to the tribe of Benjamin. After the civil war against Benjamin, the town became a part of Ephraim. It was on the border between the two tribes. The importance of Bethel is revealed in a passage that speaks of a “Bethel to Shechem” highway and locates Shiloh as a site N of Bethel (Jdg. 21:19). The Ark of the Covenant, which was the center of Israel’s life, was located at Bethel for a period of time right after the conquest. The divine oracle was consulted at Bethel (Jdg. 20:18), and Deborah, the prophetess, lived near the town (Jdg. 4:5). Samuel made Bethel one of the locations of his court as he moved around the circuit judging Israel (1 Sam. 7:16). While Bethel is not mentioned by name in the OT under either David or Solomon, archaeological evidence shows that the city was prosperous in that period. Building arts improved, pottery art took on new techniques and forms, and the Israelite control of iron created new opportunities in agriculture. Moisés Silva and Merrill Chapin Tenney, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, A-C (Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 2009), 567–568.
o “Following the division of Israel into the northern and southern kingdoms, King Jeroboam of Israel established two sanctuaries for the northern kingdom of Israel—one at Dan and one at Bethel (1 Kgs 12:26–33). These sanctuaries became the religious centers for the northern kingdom of Israel and were intended to counteract Jerusalem’s influence as the national religious center of the former united monarchy (1 Kgs 13; Burke, “Archaeology of Ritual and Religion,” 898–901). Jeroboam also set up golden calves at these shrines, stating, “Behold you gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kgs 12:28 ESV). Jeroboam likely chose these sites due to their strategic locations on the northern and southern borders of the kingdom and because they already hosted Israelite sanctuaries.” [Maura Sala, “Bethel North of Jerusalem,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).]
o “Whereas Bethel had been a place of orthodox worship from Abraham to the judges, Jeroboam I made it a religious center of his innovative, apostate religion of the Northern Kingdom. He erected a golden calf both here and in Dan with non-Levitic priests and an illegitimate feast to compete with the celebrations and religion of Jerusalem, 10.5 miles to the south in Judah (1 Kings 12:29–33). Bethel was the prominent site over Dan. There an anonymous prophet from Judah found and rebuked Jeroboam I and brought destruction to the king’s altar (1 Kings 13:1–10). Another anonymous prophet from Bethel entrapped the first prophet into disobedience. Because of his disobedience, the Lord caused a lion to kill the first prophet (1 Kings 13:11–25). … Other true prophets seem to have been attached to Bethel even during the time of northern apostasy, since Elijah encountered a group of them there as he traveled (2 Kings 2:2–3). Amos was sent to Bethel to rebuke the kingdom of Jeroboam II in the eighth century (Amos 7:10–13) since it was the center of northern idolatry and a royal residence. He met the resistance of Amaziah, the priest, who vainly ordered him to leave the city. In addition to Amos’s prophetic charges against those who sacrificed there (Amos 4:4), he predicted the destruction of Bethel and its false altars (Amos 3:14, 5:5–6), as did Hosea (Hos. 10:14–15). Hosea seems to have played with the name of Bethel (“city of God”), by referring to it as “Beth-aven” (“city of a false [god],” Hos. 5:8–9; 10:5).” [Daniel C. Fredericks, “Bethel,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 191.]
o “Under the judges, the ark of the covenant was located at Bethel, where the normal functions of Israelite worship were carried out; the ark was superintended by the high priest Phinehas, son of Eleazar (Jgs 20:18–28; 21:2, 4). … Archaeological discoveries indicate that Bethel flourished in the early reign of Saul but declined when he made Gibeah his capital city. … When Israel and Judah became separate entities in the time of Jeroboam I (930–909 BC), Bethel returned to prominence as the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, thus becoming the counterpart of Judah’s capital, Jerusalem. Bethel was one of two northern cities where golden calves were worshiped (1 Kgs 12:28–33) … The prophet Amos went to Bethel to deliver scathing denunciations about contemporary social and religious life in Israel, for which the priest Amaziah had him expelled (Am 7:10–13). … Under Judah’s king Josiah the pagan shrine was demolished (2 Kgs 23:15–20), but no damage was done to the city itself. Under either Nabonidus (555–539 BC) or Darius I (521–486 BC), however, the city was burned, so that by Ezra’s time Bethel had reverted to a small village settlement (Ezr 2:28).” [R. K. Harrison, “Bethel, Bethelite (City),” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 286–287.]
· It is also the home of a loyal prophetic group, the “sons of the prophets” (2 Kings 2.3). These would presumably be ministering to the town, attempting to call them back to the covenant with YHWH, and would be under constant pressure from the rival ROYAL group of priests and officials.
o SONS OF THE PROPHETS Members of a band or guild of prophets. “Sons of” refers to membership in a group or class and does not imply a family relationship. “Sons of the prophets” suggests a community or guild of prophets. The most extensive use of the expression occurs in the Elisha stories where the prophet is portrayed as the leader of the prophetic guild. In that capacity Elisha cared for the needs of a prophet’s widow (2 Kings 4:1–7), agreed to the building of a common dwelling (2 Kings 6:1–7), and presided at a common meal (2 Kings 4:38–44). The sons of the prophets functioned either as witnesses (2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, 15) or as agents of Elisha’s ministry (2 Kings 9:1–3).” [Fred L. Horton Jr., “Sons of the Prophets,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1520.]
· Overview of the sequence:
o “The prophetic guild(s) play a significant role in the story surrounding Elijah’s ascent into heaven and his passing of the prophetic mantle to Elisha (2 Kgs 2:1–18). In the opening verses of 2 Kings, two groups of the sons of the prophets—one from Bethel, the other from Jericho—warn Elisha of Elijah’s imminent departure (2 Kgs 2:3–5) … Later, Elijah offers Elisha a parting gift at the Jordan River, with 50 members of the sons of the prophets of Jericho waiting nearby (2 Kgs 2:7–9, 15). Elisha requests a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, the spiritual equivalent of a firstborn’s birthright (2 Kgs 2:9). The father-son metaphor expands when, upon Elijah’s ascension, Elisha exclaims, “My father, my father” (2 Kgs 2:12). He then takes up Elijah’s mantle and returns to take charge of the sons of the prophets at Jericho (2 Kgs 2:12–18).” [Jeremiah K. Garrett, “Sons of the Prophets,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).]
§
Elijah and Elisha then travel down to Jericho,
with Elijah seemingly testing Elisha with offering a gift. Elijah hits the
Jordan with his cloak and the Jordan parts for them to cross. Elijah is carried
off in a whirlwind, and Elisha’s uses Elijah’s fallen cloak to part the Jordan
himself, for crossing back over. [2 Kings 2.6-14]
§ The ‘sons of the prophets’ witness this, and seem to recognize Elisha’s new leadership, but seem at the same time to express some hesitancy (which E will eliminate soon):
“The company of prophets formally state the point of the chapter (v.
15). They recognize that Elisha has properly succeeded Elijah; yet they linger
over Elijah, hesitant to move on. They offer to initiate a search, recognizing
that the spirit may have picked him up and taken him anywhere (see 1 Kings 18:10–12;
Elijah is often searched for and not found). Elisha knows otherwise, yet lets
them find out for themselves, and chides
them in the end for not trusting his word (v. 18). Elisha is now the one in
charge.” [Terence E. Fretheim, First and Second Kings (ed. Patrick D. Miller
and David L. Bartlett; Westminster Bible Companion; Louisville, KY: Westminster
John Knox Press, 1999), 138–139.]
§ There is now a 3-day gap in which 50 men of the ‘sons of the prophets’ at Jericho begin a search of ‘valleys’ and ‘mountains’ for Elijah. IF we assume they don’t look for him in Ammon/Transjordan, they travel in groups of 2, and IF they complete individual 3-day roundtrips, THEN they would essentially also function as ‘messengers’ of the news of Elijah’s disappearance. How large of an area would they have covered in that period?
“Pedestrians. During biblical times, people commonly
traveled on foot (Deut 29:5; Josh 9:5, 13; 2 Sam 15:30). Individuals might walk approximately 16–20 miles in a
day, depending on the terrain, but they were capable of traveling greater
distances in extreme situations. For example, Josephus claims that the trip
from Sogane in Lower Galilee to Jerusalem—a distance of about 120 miles—could
be done in three days (Josephus, Life
52, 269; compare Riesner, Paul’s Early
Period, 311).” [Kevin P. Sullivan and Paul W. Ferris, “Travel in Biblical
Times,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The
Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).]
§ It is probably safe to assume that they
would be under a sense of urgency—especially since their guild leader Elijah
was now being replaced by Elisha (his apprentice / successor)—so we will use
midpoint between the Josephus’ 40 miles per day and the 20 miles per day for
normal walk (i.e. 30 miles per day). That makes for a reach of 30 miles
multiplied by 1.5 days (for a 3-day return point) or 45 miles from Jericho.
Here is the circle around Jericho reachable (roughly) at that speed for that
duration:
That essentially
means that most of Israel and Judah
could have heard of the death of Elijah and the succession of Elisha—especially
Bethel and many other major/royal cities / cultic sites of the Northern Kingdom
(except Dan, obviously). [No doubt those in Samaria would have welcomed the
news—after the warnings suffered at the hands of Elijah.]
§ Of relevance to us, Bethel would have
heard of this on DAY ONE (although the YHWHistic prophets there were
expecting it), and had TWO DAYS to prepare for Elisha’s return through the city
(assuming they anticipated that path, as opposed to some other route),
presumably for him to address and minister to the school of prophets at that
site.
§ After this three-day delay (and “news broadcast”) about verifying Elijah’s ascension [2 Kings 2:15-18], Elisha then does an Elijah-class miracle of healing the diseased water supply—restoring the land’s famous agricultural fertility, and removing the cause of childbirth/fertility problems [2 Kings 2:18-22]. This miracle is cast in such a way as to suggest that it is to demonstrate one BLESSING of covenant compliance:
“In the case of
Jericho, the people of the town stop the passing Elisha to complain that,
despite the advantageous location of the city, its water is bad (וְהַמַּיִם
רָעִים) with the result that, ‘the land is bereaved’
(וְהָאָרֶץ
מְשַׁכָּלֶת). Some discussion
has occurred over how to understand the latter phrase. … Focusing on the predominant connection between
the verb שׁכל and human
reproduction, Provan and others interpret the phrase to mean that the tainted
water was the cause of miscarriages
in the women of Jericho. This latter view is the one that fits best with the
meaning of the term שׁכל as well as the
overall shape of the narrative. Given that the term הָאָרֶץ (‘the land’) can sometimes indicate ‘nation’ or
‘people’, the view that sees this verse as referring to problems with childbirth is to be preferred. ‘
“In response to the
plea, Elisha asks that the people of Jericho bring a new bowl and fill it with salt. Many commentators note here that
the use of a new bowl implies some sacral function and that salt is sometimes
associated with purification. While this may be the case, the more immediate
point to be appreciated is that adding salt to already tainted water will
not render it pure. For the people of Jericho, this would have been even more obvious given their proximity
to the יָם
הַמֶּלַח (‘Salt Sea’; i.e., ‘Dead Sea’), the waters of
which were devoid of life and undrinkable. Despite the counterintuitive nature of Elisha’s instructions, the
people of Jericho obey the word of the prophet without comment or
complaint. Elisha throws the salt into the water, it becomes pure, and human fertility and life returns to
Jericho. In the context of the chapter as a whole, the episode of the
tainted waters of Jericho and their healing by Elisha stands as a confirmation
of the fact that Elisha has indeed inherited the prophetic mantle of Elijah. In
addition, the manner in which the
people of Jericho, (1) seek out the aid of the prophet; and (2) follow
through in obedience despite the
unlikely solution he proposes, demonstrates
that blessings accrue when Israel is
obedient to the words of Yahweh’s prophet.” [Brian P. Irwin, “The
Curious Incident of the Boys and the Bears: 2 Kings 2 and the Prophetic
Authority of Elisha,” Tyndale
Bulletin 67, no. 1 (2016)]
§ We do not know how long of a time gap there might be between the (1) return of the search parties and (2) the non-mortal dinner; nor between (2) the non-mortal dinner party and (3) the departure of Elisha from the Jericho area. So, Bethel would have probably had even longer than the 2-day notice given by the messengers to plan/plot something.
And then we come to our passage… Initial Notes/observations:
There are two main roads between Bethel and Jericho that we can find evidence for.
Both roads from Jericho to Bethel were about 12 miles and would have been uphill mostly. With Jericho at 845 feet BELOW sea level and Bethel at 2,800 feet ABOVE sea level, you have an uphill elevation of 3,645 feet, for a grade of over 6%.
“Elisha’s journey. The trip from Jericho to Bethel is about
twelve miles …” [Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old
Testament (electronic ed.; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 2
Ki 2:23–25.
These roads would not be paved, and only a few yards wide:
“From the
Bronze Age up to the Roman period, roads
outside of cities were not paved thoroughfares.
Main roads in the countryside tended to
be 3–4 yards wide (Dorsey, Roads,
19). Depending on the road’s location, it might not be much more than a
foot-packed dirt path or donkey trail on which weeds and thorny scrub would
grow (Prov 15:19; 22:5; Hos 2:6).” [ Kevin P. Sullivan and Paul W. Ferris,
“Travel in Biblical Times,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).]
We will look at the specific roads in a later section, but each of them would start in the Jordan plan, and initially follow the path of a major wadi, but the area would quickly become forested, within the first couple of miles, and continue as such as Bethel was approached.
Traveling along the wadi would be different in the wet season than in the dry (when the path might be a different width). He is a montage of some typical wadi scenes TODAY (some used in touring and hiking), to illustrate this.
Eventually, a traveler would have to start climbing up the cliff sides. There would be sparse vegetation, but fairly narrow walkways:
The last stage would be the full forests, pressing in generally on the transit path. Although the forests of ancient Israel were plentiful, deforestation has taken its toll. Here are some images of current areas of forest, albeit with a little less density than back then.
Apart from notable places like the Forest of Lebanon, the trees were smaller and sparser, but this gave opportunity for the underbrush to proliferate and make the forest bed difficult to traverse.
“In general, Palestinian forests consisted
primarily of comparatively small trees which grew sparsely enough to provide considerable
room for undergrowth. Much of the woodland soil was overgrown with brush and shrubs, for the most part evergreen bushes
that grew to a height of 1.5–2 m. (5–6.5
ft.). Even more of these regions were overgrown with shrubs growing in
thickets along with herbaceous plants.” [Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 391.
The text then says that while he was walking to Bethel, a group of individuals exited “the city” (Bethel, presumably), and began scorning (qls) him and jeering at him, using a word for ‘baldness’.
How did they know it was Elisha, if they did – the question of dress/markings.
Many of the period passages indicate that kings and citizens RECOGNIZED the prophets, suggesting some distinctive dress or markings. Some of these are noted in the texts, although the descriptions are not uniform.
“Garments
were of different qualities and signified rank or office (Is 3:6). The scribes and prophets wore special
mantles symbolic of their professions. Elijah wore a prophet’s mantle (1
Kgs 19:13, 19; 2 Kgs 2:8, 13, 14).” [Hazel W. Perkin, “Fashion and Dress,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 776.
“Saul
apparently was confused by the woman’s answer, so he asked her to provide
additional descriptive details of what she saw: “What does he look like?” (v.
14). Her imprecise answer—“an old man wearing a robe”—was nevertheless
convincing to Saul. The word used to describe Samuel’s garment here (Hb., mĕʿîl, = “sleeveless robe”) is
the same one used previously to describe the garment the prophet was wearing
when Saul grabbed and tore its hem (15:27). Out of respect for the prophet who had provided guidance during
previous times of confusion and crisis in Saul’s life (cf. 9:19–20; 15:1–3),
“Saul bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.” [Robert
D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel (vol. 7; The
New American Commentary; Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996),
268.
“wherefore came this mad fellow to thee?] The visit had been made abruptly and in much haste, and
amid the camp there would be but
little respect for the garb of the prophet. We can see too from the words of
the next verse that there was much of bluntness and rudeness in the speech of
these soldiers to one another.” [J. Rawson Lumby, The Second Book of the Kings with Introduction and Notes (The
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges; Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1891), 88.
Of course, IF everybody already had visual memory of Elijah, then Elisha’s identity might have been obvious by virtue of him wearing Elijah’s MANTLE. And, since Elisha travelled with Elijah during this last period of Elijah’s life, it might have been reasonable to expect recognition by some.
How would someone know if he was BALD, if he was – the question of headwear.
Elisha’s head might have been covered as might be expected from customs of the day.
“Since it
was customary for men to cover their heads, the young men probably could not tell if Elisha was bald or not.”
[Thomas L. Constable, “2 Kings,” in The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (ed. J. F.
Walvoord and R. B. Zuck; vol. 1; Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1541–542.
“The type
of head covering most frequently used by
both men and women was a piece of fabric, sometimes referred to as a veil, which would be placed on the head
and fall below the shoulders, covering the upper part of the body (Gn 24:65;
38:14). The woman’s veil was often held in place by a circlet, frequently made
from the coins that formed part of her dowry. The man’s headwear would probably
have been very similar to the prayer
shawl worn by many Jews today. It was probably held in place by a piece of
twisted fabric or cord.” [Hazel W. Perkin, “Fashion and Dress,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 777.
“The
ancients wore many forms of headdress. The Hebrews originally wore no covering
for the head, except for special occasions, as a leather helmet in
battle. Egyptian monuments show Syrian men wearing a fillet of rope or cord. Another type of headdress protected the
head, neck, and shoulders from the sun, like the modern kaffiyeh”. [Moisés Silva and Merrill Chapin Tenney, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, H-L
(Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 2009), 64.
“Most men seem to have worn a skull cap with a piece of material folded
into a band around the turned–up edge, so that it gave the appearance of a
turban.” [Ralph Gower
and Fred Wight, The New Manners and
Customs of Bible Times (Chicago: Moody Press, 1987).
Before we get to trying to understand the players here, let mention some of the uncertainties in the passage.
The motion of the group/mob is somewhat odd, given the terrain and timing.
1. The timing of this is puzzling:
a. How did they know Elisha had started the journey up the road? Had E sent a messenger ahead of him to the sons of the prophets there, announcing his itinerary, and these people hear about it and schedule a mob excursion?
b.
If they did NOT know it was Elisha travelling,
this makes them just look like a marauding band of people, focused on highway
robbery (common enough) or harassment of travelers; or maybe a group of
‘pilgrims’ (?) or maybe merchants (?) on a journey to Jericho.
c. Because there are woods involved, this is going to have to take place in the last stage of the journey. But there has to be enough time for this crowd of people to GET BEHIND E, since he only sees then WHEN HE TURNS AROUND.
2. Did they even know it WAS Elisha? They knew by now of the succession, but did they somehow recognize E from Elijah’s cloak (see above)? Elijah was a hairy man, and unless their taunt of baldness reflected E’s personal appearance, then we have no way of knowing what E looked like (and neither might they). Had Elisha spoken to them during the trip down with Elijah?
3. But since prophets seemed to be identifiable by something in their appearance, it might well be that they only recognized him by his clothing/appearance as being a prophet of YHWH (without maybe knowing which prophet it was) after they had passed him (if they passed him on the road), and hence their scoffing (not just taunting) was deliberately AGAINST a YHWHist authority and would have only appeared AFTER they were behind him. [This makes the most sense, but why was a pack of folks out on the road anyway like this??]
4. In all probability, E would not have been alone on the trip. He probably had some of the ‘sons of the prophets’ accompanying him, to both listen / learn from him, and to bear witness to the Bethel ‘branch’ of the events of the transition from Elijah to Elisha. This would have added a public / reputational element into the mix. [CF. Paul’s insistence on a public apology by the magistrates of Philippi, instead of just ‘bearing the disgrace and leaving’—it afforded some protections to the fledgling church there as well as helped believers to see that their faith itself was not anti-Roman at all.]
5. When Elisha issues the curse, he is looking BEHIND HIM at them. With a road of only a couple of yards wide, and surrounded by forest, this means one of three things:
a. This entire group (of at least 42 people) passed close by him on the road, in plain sight of E, either scoffing during the passing, or after the passing, or both.
b. The entire group passed stealthily through the woods and then emerged from the woods after E passed their hiding spot, and began their scoffing then.
c. The entire group approached E from the road, then separated into two groups which stood on either side of the road (as E passed by)—but this requires a road big enough to do this. They could have done the scoffing before and during and slightly after E had passed them by, but they would be behind him (or most of the mass of people) when he issued the punishment curse.
Oddly enough, it looks as if B above fits best. The passage says that once they started ‘jeering’, “he turned around, and WHEN HE SAW THEM, he cursed them…”. In other words, its looks as if he had NOT SEEN THEM before they started jeering BEHIND HIM. That means they were sneaking around, and were already aware that he was a prophet of YHWH (and probably that he was Elisha).
This looks very suspicious here at the outset…
And the uncertainty of the ‘start point’ creates similar uncertainty in visualizing the bear attacks:
1. There is no data given on the actions of the mob as the bears attack. Presumably they try to evade the bears, but we are not told how SOON the bears attack, after the curse is spoken, nor how long it takes the bears to inflict their damage before ceasing.
2. Since the bears are said only to ‘lacerate’ them (not ‘kill’ them, like the lion had killed the disobedient prophet back when Jeroboam established Bethel as a national cultic center), it would not take longer than a minute or two to do each victim, but since everyone else would be fleeing in a radial pattern, it would take progressively longer and longer time to reach each subsequent victim. Thus the bear actions could be spread over an hour or more.
3. If the mob took its place on both sides of the road (and/or tried fleeing from one side to the other), then the rationale for TWO she-bears makes sense.
4. Since the mob might not have taken a ‘roll call’ or done a ‘head count’ before heading out [but if they WERE an organized group ON a mission, then they might have], the only way we would know that 42 of them were mauled, would be by how many required medical attention back in Bethel. (In other words, they would not have known how many bodies might would have been left in the forest, if they didn’t have a head count going in.).
5. Given the non-lethal nature of the wounds, some of these would be able to make it back to the town on their own power, but some might require assistance from the non-mauled ones. The return walk, then, might have taken even longer than Elisha required for his travel.
6. But with a mob returning slowly, with 42 wounded and a report about a judgment curse and a bear attack, it should have registered very clearly (1) with the town that Elijah’s successor had the ability to call down judgment like Elijah had done to the military teams sent by Ahab to capture him; and (2) with the ‘sons of the prophets’ in the city that their new leader/mentor was worthy of allegiance and support.
………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………
Okay, we are
ready now to look at the players and the actions.
Players: We look at what a prophet was in that society and what the nature of the
group of folks that came out of
Bethel was.
Actions: We look at what the group
did and what Elisha/YHWH did in response.