2 Kings 2:24

Bible in Basic English (1941)

And turning back, he saw them, and put a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the wood and put forty-two of the children to death.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּ֤פֶן אַֽחֲרָיו֙ וַיִּרְאֵ֔ם וַֽיְקַלְלֵ֖ם בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהוָ֑ה וַתֵּצֶ֨אנָה שְׁתַּ֤יִם דֻּבִּים֙ מִן־הַיַּ֔עַר וַתְּבַקַּ֣עְנָה מֵהֶ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֥ים וּשְׁנֵ֖י יְלָדִֽים׃

Transliteration

And wayyipen 'aḥărāyw and wayyir'ēm, and wayqalləlēm in-šēm YHWH; and wattēṣe'nâ šəttayim dubbîm from-the-ya'ar, and wattəbaqqa'nâ from-them forty and-two yəlādîm.

Grammar Details

• *wayyipen*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular of *pānâ* - and he turned
• *'aḥărāyw*: preposition + 3rd masculine singular suffix - behind him
• *wayyir'ēm*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix of *rā'â* - and he saw them
• *wayqalləlēm*: waw-consecutive + piel imperfect 3rd masculine singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix of *qālal* - and he cursed them
• *šēm*: masculine singular construct of *šēm* - name of
• *wattēṣe'nâ*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd feminine plural of *yāṣā'* - and they came out
• *šəttayim*: feminine numeral - two
• *dubbîm*: feminine plural noun - bears
• *ya'ar*: masculine singular noun - forest
• *wattəbaqqa'nâ*: waw-consecutive + piel imperfect 3rd feminine plural of *bāqa'* - and they tore/mauled
• *yəlādîm*: masculine plural noun - children/boys

Word Meanings

• *wayyipen* *'aḥărāyw*: he turned around/he looked behind him
• *wayqalləlēm* in-*šēm* *YHWH*: he cursed them in the name of YHWH
• *dubbîm*: bears/she-bears
• *wattəbaqqa'nâ*: they tore apart/mauled/ripped open
• *yəlādîm*: children/boys/youths

Referenced Verses

• Gen 9:25 : 25 Cursed be Canaan; let him be a servant of servants to his brothers.
• Exod 20:5 : 5 You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters;
• Deut 28:15-26 : 15 But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and take care to do all his orders and his laws which I give you today, then all these curses will come on you and overtake you: 16 You will be cursed in the town and cursed in the field. 17 A curse will be on your basket and on your bread-basin. 18 A curse will be on the fruit of your body, and on the fruit of your land, on the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock. 19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 20 The Lord will send on you cursing and trouble and punishment in everything to which you put your hand, till sudden destruction overtakes you; because of your evil ways in which you have been false to me. 21 The Lord will send disease after disease on you, till you have been cut off by death from the land to which you are going. 22 The Lord will send wasting disease, and burning pain, and flaming heat against you, keeping back the rain till your land is waste and dead; so will it be till your destruction is complete. 23 And the heaven over your heads will be brass, and the earth under you hard as iron. 24 The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust, sending it down on you from heaven till your destruction is complete. 25 The Lord will let you be overcome by your haters: you will go out against them one way, and you will go in flight before them seven ways: you will be the cause of fear among all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your bodies will be meat for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth; there will be no one to send them away.
• Judg 9:20 : 20 But if not, may fire come out from Abimelech, burning up the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the townsmen of Shechem and Beth-millo, for the destruction of Abimelech.
• Judg 9:57 : 57 And God sent back on to the heads of the men of Shechem all the evil they had done, and the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal, came on them.
• 2 Sam 17:8 : 8 Hushai said further, You have knowledge of your father and his men, that they are men of war, and that their feelings are bitter, like those of a bear in the field whose young ones have been taken from her: and your father is a man of war, and will not take his night's rest with the people;
• 1 Kgs 13:24 : 24 And he went on his way; but on the road a lion came rushing at him and put him to death; and his dead body was stretched in the road with the ass by its side, and the lion was there by the body.
• 1 Kgs 19:17 : 17 And it will come about that the man who gets away safe from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will put to death; and whoever gets away safe from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will put to death.
• 1 Kgs 20:36 : 36 Then he said to him, Because you have not given ear to the voice of the Lord, straight away when you have gone from me a lion will put you to death. And when he had gone, straight away a lion came rushing at him and put him to death.
• 2 Kgs 1:10-12 : 10 And Elijah in answer said to the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven on you and on your fifty men, and put an end to you. Then fire came down from heaven and put an end to him and his fifty men. 11 Then the king sent another captain of fifty with his fifty men; and he said to Elijah, O man of God, the king says, Come down quickly. 12 And Elijah in answer said, If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven on you and on your fifty men, and put an end to you. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and put an end to him and his fifty men.
• Neh 13:25-27 : 25 And I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair; and I made them take an oath by God, saying, You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Was it not in these things that Solomon, king of Israel, did wrong? among a number of nations there was no king like him, and he was dear to his God, and God made him king over all Israel: but even he was made to do evil by strange women. 27 Are we then without protest to let you do all this great evil, sinning against our God by taking strange women for your wives?
• Prov 17:12 : 12 It is better to come face to face with a bear whose young ones have been taken away than with a foolish man acting foolishly.
• Prov 28:15 : 15 Like a loud-voiced lion and a wandering bear, is an evil ruler over a poor people.
• Jer 28:16 : 16 For this reason the Lord has said, See, I will send you away from off the face of the earth: this year death will overtake you, because you have said words against the Lord.
• Jer 29:21-23 : 21 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said about Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are saying to you what is false in my name: See, I will give them up into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your eyes. 22 And their fate will be used as a curse by all the prisoners of Judah who are in Babylon, who will say, May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, who were burned in the fire by the king of Babylon; 23 Because they have done shame in Israel, and have taken their neighbours' wives, and in my name have said false words, which I did not give them orders to say; and I myself am the witness, says the Lord.
• Lam 3:65 : 65 You will let their hearts be covered over with your curse on them.
• Hos 13:8 : 8 I will come face to face with them like a bear whose young ones have been taken from her, and their inmost hearts will be broken; there the dogs will make a meal of them; they will be wounded by the beasts of the field.
• Amos 7:17 : 17 So this is what the Lord has said: Your wife will be a loose woman in the town, and your sons and your daughters will be put to the sword, and your land will be cut up into parts by a line; and you yourself will come to your end in an unclean land, and Israel will certainly be taken away a prisoner out of his land.
• Mark 11:14 : 14 And he said to it, Let no man take fruit from you for ever. And his disciples took note of his words.
• Mark 11:21 : 21 And Peter, having a memory of it, said to him, Master, see, the tree which was cursed by you is dead.
• Acts 5:5 : 5 And at these words, Ananias went down on the earth, and his life went from him: and great fear came on all who were present.
• Acts 5:9 : 9 But Peter said to her, Why have you made an agreement together to be false to the Spirit of the Lord? See, the feet of the young men who have put the body of your husband in the earth, are at the door, and they will take you out.
• Acts 8:20 : 20 But Peter said, May your money come to destruction with you, because you had the idea that what is freely given by God may be got for a price.
• Acts 13:9-9 : 9 But Saul, whose other name is Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, looking hard at him, said, 10 O you, who are full of false tricks and evil ways, a son of the Evil One, hating all righteousness, will you for ever be turning people from the right ways of the Lord? 11 And now, see, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind and not able to see the sun for a time. And straight away a dark mist came down on him; and he went about looking for a guide.
• 2 Cor 10:6 : 6 Being ready to give punishment to whatever is against his authority, after you have made it clear that you are completely under his control.