03 December 2006

Biblical Episode Least Likely to Make a Good Picture Book

The Second Book of Kings, chapter 2, verses 23-24, in the translation commissioned by King James I of the Great Britain:

And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: 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.

And 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 tare forty and two children of them.

2 comments:

Kevin Spear said...

I remember a Wednesday night prayer service where my grandfather, the minster made quite an impression with this story.

For weeks, nobody mentioned his receding hairline. I wasn't about to either!

J. L. Bell said...

Back before he was one of the UK's leading playwrights, Alan Bennett performed a hilarious and touching Beyond the Fringe sketch about a vicar sermonizing on the Genesis verse:

"And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man."

Another difficult passage for parsons to parse, and also, surprisingly, about hair.