2 Kings 2:23 (DRB)

Passage

And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 2:21 He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there shall be no more in them death or barrenness.

2 Kings 2:22 And the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Eliseus, which he spoke.

2 Kings 2:23 And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head.

2 Kings 2:24 And looking back, he saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord: and there came forth two bears out of the forest, and tore of them, two and forty boys.

2 Kings 2:25 And from thence he went to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "went", "thence", "bethel", "going", "little", "boys", "came", and "city". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "went" and "thence", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "And the waters were healed unto this..." into verse 24's "And looking back he saw them and...", so "went" and "thence" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "went" and "thence" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.