2 Kings 2:23

2 Kings 2:23 in other versions

• King James Version (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.
• New International Version (NIV)From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!”
• English Standard Version (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!"
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

Context of 2 Kings 2:23

21And he went forth to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from there any more death or barren land . 22So the waters were healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke. And he went up from there to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth youths out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 24And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two youths of them. 25And he went from there to mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

2 Kings 2:23 word by word

וַיַּ֥עַל מִשָּׁ֖ם בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל וְה֣וּא׀ עֹלֶ֣ה בַדֶּ֗רֶךְ וּנְעָרִ֤ים קְטַנִּים֙ יָצְא֣וּ מִן־הָעִ֔יר וַיִּתְקַלְּסוּ־בוֹ֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ ל֔וֹ עֲלֵ֥ה קֵרֵ֖חַ עֲלֵ֥ה קֵרֵֽחַ׃Read the interlinear

• upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
• Bethelבֵּֽיתְ־אֵלbêyth-'êl · BethelH1008
• wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: journeyH1870
• forthיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• youthsקָטָןqâţân qâţôn · smallH6996
• youthsנַ֫עַרna‛ar · youthH5288
• cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• mockedקָלַסqâlas · to mockH7046
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• headקֵרֵחַqêrêach · baldH7142

Cross-references for 2 Kings 2:23

• 1 Kings 12:28Upon which the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
• Hosea 4:15Though thou, Israel, playest the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye to Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
• Hosea 10:5The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for its people shall mourn over it, and its priests that rejoiced on it, for its glory, because it is departed from it.
• Amos 3:14That in the day that I shall judge the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also judge the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
• Amos 4:4Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
• Amos 5:5But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
• Amos 7:13But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the king’s court.
• Job 19:18Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spoke against me.
• Job 30:1But now they that areyounger than I hold me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
• Proverbs 20:11Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.
• Proverbs 22:6Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
• Ecclesiastes 11:10Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
• Isaiah 1:4Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.
• Isaiah 3:5And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honourable.
• Jeremiah 7:18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
• Genesis 21:9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had borne to Abraham, mocking.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 2:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23There 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 - קרח עלה קרח עלה 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23As Beth-el was the older seat of the calf-worship 1 Kings 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 1 Kings 13:24; and for the general prevalence of beasts of prey in the country, both earlier and…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-25Verses 19-25 Observe the miracle of healing the waters. Prophets should make every place to which they come better for them, endeavouring to sweeten bitter spirits, and to make barren souls fruitful, by the word of God, which is like the salt cast into the water by Elisha. It was an apt emblem of the effect produced by the grace of God on the sinful heart of man. Whole families, towns, and cities, sometimes have a new appearance through the preaching of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23The group of boys might have been young adults. The Hebrew word used here can mean a young adult who is still learning a job. For example, Solomon asked God for wisdom because he was young and inexperienced (1 Kings 3:7). Joshua's spies in Jericho were also called by this term (Joshua 6:22–23). Calling someone baldhead was disrespectful. The young men told Elisha to go away (literally go up), mocking his role as Elijah's successor, given by God.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 23-2423-24. there came forth little children out of the city--that is, the idolatrous, or infidel young men of the place, who affecting to disbelieve the report of his master's translation, sarcastically urged him to follow in the glorious career. bald head--an epithet of contempt in the East, applied to a person even with a bushy head of hair. The appalling judgment that befell them was God's interference to uphold his newly invested prophet.Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 2:23

• Baldness
• Beth-El
• Children
• Derision
• Elisha
• Infidelity
• Mocking
• Persecution
• Scoffing

In the dictionaries

• Baldness
• Double
• Elijah
• Forest
• Heal
• Lord
• Mock
• Rest
• Elisha
• Friend; Friendship

Commentaries on 2 Kings 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings