calue7173@gmail.com

Did Elisha Really Massacre Children? – Revision (3)

Leave a Comment / Scholarly Essays /

The people who confronted Elisha at Bethel may not have been small children at all. The Hebrew words qāṭān and naʿar can describe adults and even men serving in military roles, while Bethel itself was a strategically important political and religious stronghold of the Northern Kingdom. Taken together, the evidence strongly suggests that the group may have consisted of young men associated with the city’s defense or security.

Did Elisha Really Massacre Children? – Revision (3) Read More »

Did Elisha Really Massacre Children? – Revision (2)

Leave a Comment / Scholarly Essays /

The traditional reading of 2 Kings 2:23–25 assumes that Elisha was mocked by small children. Yet the Hebrew words qāṭān and naʿar have a much broader range of meaning. They can describe people considerably older than the children modern readers normally imagine. The Hebrew text therefore does not, by itself, require the traditional picture of innocent children.

Did Elisha Really Massacre Children? – Revision (2) Read More »

Did Elisha Really Massacre Children? – Revision (1)

Leave a Comment / Scholarly Essays /

The story of Elisha and the bears is often read as a simple account of a prophet punishing children for mocking his baldness. But the event took place at Bethel, a city with a deeply significant religious and political history. Once that setting is taken seriously, the story raises a different question: who were the people who confronted Elisha?

Did Elisha Really Massacre Children? – Revision (1) Read More »

Psalm 1 – What Does It Mean to Be Blessed? / part (1)

Leave a Comment / Theological Reflections /

Psalm 1 opens with the familiar words, “Blessed is the one.” Yet the Hebrew word translated as “blessed” is not the one most readers expect. By choosing ashrei rather than barak, the psalmist introduces a profound theological vision: true blessedness is found not merely in receiving God’s gifts, but in living in a personal relationship with God Himself.

Psalm 1 – What Does It Mean to Be Blessed? / part (1) Read More »

Repeating Patterns — Why Does America Struggle to Understand Asia?

Leave a Comment / PERSONAL NOTES /

For decades, the United States has demonstrated overwhelming military superiority across Asia and the Middle East. Yet history raises an uncomfortable question: Why does military victory so often fail to become political success? From Korea to Vietnam, Afghanistan to Iran, are repeating patterns quietly reshaping global instability?

Repeating Patterns — Why Does America Struggle to Understand Asia? Read More »