2:23 He went up from there to Bethel. 1 As he was traveling up the road, some young boys 2 came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!” 2:24 When he turned around and saw them, he called God’s judgment down on them. 3 Two female bears came out of the woods and ripped forty-two of the boys to pieces.
1 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
2 tn The word נַעַר (na’ar), here translated “boy,” can refer to a broad age range, including infants as well as young men. But the qualifying term “young” (or “small”) suggests these youths were relatively young. The phrase in question (“young boy”) occurs elsewhere in 1 Sam 20:35; 1 Kgs 3:7 (used by Solomon in an hyperbolic manner); 11:17; 2 Kgs 5:14; and Isa 11:6.
3 tn Heb “he cursed them in the name of the