Few accounts in the Bible have been more misunderstood than this one (2 Ki. 2:23-25), due to the rendering “little children” in v. 23 (kjv). It should be translated “youths” or “young men,” the word in the singular being used of Joseph at 17 (Gen. 37:2, “lad”).
Bethel was the home of Jeroboam’s “calf” and also of a group of the sons of the prophets. As a result, there must have been quite a religious tension at Bethel, and it would seem likely that it was by deliberate design that these youths taunted Elisha. What they said was not just childish rudeness.
It is evident that there was a specially insulting point to the phrase “bald head.” At any rate, the expression was intended as a sneer at Elisha, God’s servant. By saying, “Go up,” they were scoffing at Elijah’s translation, taunting him to “go up” as Elijah had…Some critics have declared the punishment disproportionate to the offense, but the passage does not say that the bears killed the young men. The Hebrew word for “tare” does not mean kill or destroy.
Even today judgment sometimes comes quickly on those who reject God and despise His servants. However, it is not for us to call down a curse on any who oppose the truth (Mt. 5:44; Lk. 23:34), although present-day mockers and rejectors of the gospel of God’s grace will eventually receive just punishment if they do not repent and believe (2 Pet. 3:3-7).