2 Kings 2 (JND) - Bible Truth Library

little children.The words {nëârim ketannim} not only signify little children but young men; for {katon} signifies not only little, but young, in opposition to old; and {näâr} signifies not only a child, but a young man grown to years of maturity:

thus Isaac is called {näâr} when twenty-eight years old, Joseph when thirty-nine, and Rehoboam when forty.

These idolatrous young men, having heard of the ascension of Elijah, without believing it, blasphemously bade Elisha to follow him.

The venerable prophet, from a Divine impulse, pronounced a curse "in the name of the Lord," which was immediately followed by the most terrible judgment; thus evincing the Source from which it flowed.

Job 19:18• ¹⁸Even young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me. (Job 19:18)

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Job 30:1,8‑31• ¹But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
⁸Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.
⁹And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword.
¹⁰They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not to spit in my face.
¹¹For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.
¹²At my right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;
¹³They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;
¹⁴They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.
¹⁵Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like a cloud.
¹⁶And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
¹⁷The night pierceth through my bones and detacheth them from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:
¹⁸By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat.
¹⁹He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
²⁰I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at me.
²¹Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.
²²Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.
²³For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.
²⁴Indeed, no prayer availeth when he stretcheth out his hand: though they cry when he destroyeth.
²⁵Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?
²⁶For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.
²⁷My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.
²⁸I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.
²⁹I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches.
³⁰My skin is become black and falleth off me, and my bones are parched with heat.
³¹My harp also is turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers. (Job 30:1,8‑31)

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Prov. 20:11• ¹¹Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. (Prov. 20:11)

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Prov. 22:6,15• ⁶Train up the child according to the tenor of his way, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
¹⁵Folly is bound in the heart of a child; the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. (Prov. 22:6,15)

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Eccl. 11:10• ¹⁰Then remove discontent from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for childhood and youth are vanity. (Eccl. 11:10)

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Isa. 1:4• ⁴Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that corrupt themselves! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they are turned away backward. (Isa. 1:4)

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Isa. 3:5• ⁵And the people shall be oppressed one by the other, and each by his neighbour; the child will be insolent against the elder, and the base against the honourable. (Isa. 3:5)

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Jer. 7:18• 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 unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. (Jer. 7:18)

mocked.

Gen. 21:9• ⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. (Gen. 21:9)

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2 Chron. 36:16• ¹⁶But they mocked at the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the fury of Jehovah rose against his people, and there was no remedy. (2 Chron. 36:16)

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Job 30:1,8‑9• ¹But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
⁸Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.
⁹And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword. (Job 30:1,8‑9)

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Psa. 35:15• ¹⁵But at my halting they rejoiced, and gathered together: the slanderers gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not: (Psa. 35:15)

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Isa. 57:3‑4• ³But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
⁴Against whom do ye sport yourselves? Against whom do ye make a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, (Isa. 57:3‑4)

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Gal. 4:29• ²⁹But as then he that was born according to flesh persecuted him that was born according to Spirit, so also it is now. (Gal. 4:29)

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Heb. 11:36• ³⁶and others underwent trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, and of bonds and imprisonment. (Heb. 11:36)

Go up.

2 Kings 2:11• ¹¹And it came to pass as they went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire; and they parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into the heavens. (2 Kings 2:11)

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Matt. 27:29‑31,40‑43• ²⁹and having woven a crown out of thorns, they put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and, bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
³⁰And having spit upon him, they took the reed and beat him on his head.
³¹And when they had mocked him, they took the cloak off him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify.
⁴⁰and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou art Son of God, descend from the cross.
⁴¹And in like manner the chief priests also, mocking, with the scribes and elders, said,
⁴²He saved others, himself he cannot save. He is King of Israel: let him descend now from the cross, and we will believe on him.
⁴³He trusted upon God; let him save him now if he will have him. For he said, I am Son of God. (Matt. 27:29‑31,40‑43)

• Little boys, representing unintelligent, mocking, unbelieving people, come forth from Bethel just at the moment when the prophet is going to meet God in His house, in the place of His unchangeable promises. What an anomaly! Children, created to give praise, mock the man of God! those of an age characterized according to God’s thoughts by trust and respect for such who are above them insult the prophet! (“Elisha, or Christ in the Spirit: 2 Kings 2:13-25” by H.L. Rossier)

• “Go up, bald head!” they cry out to him, because in his person he is showing signs of decrepitude, of old age (just as the remnant in the Psalms, Psa. 71:9,18), and of reproach. Yet nonetheless the law declares such a man to be clean and not defiled (Lev. 13:40-41). Those of whom God should have expected simplicity of faith reject the representative and witness of the Messiah, identified with the feeble, bowed down remnant, and make fun of his appearance. (“Elisha, or Christ in the Spirit: 2 Kings 2:13-25” by H.L. Rossier)

• “Go up, bald head!” they say. They do not believe in Elijah’s having been taken up. Folly like this is not even proper for children! Where is the promise of His coming? Is not the world the same today? These insults are so much the more odious in that they are directed at the Spirit of Christ, come back in grace and not in judgment as Elijah. (“Elisha, or Christ in the Spirit: 2 Kings 2:13-25” by H.L. Rossier)

J. N. Darby Translation

And he went up from thence to Bethel, and as he went up by the way, there came forth little boys out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go upa, bald head; go up, bald head!

JND Translation Notes

Others, "Come up."