Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 2:24

"And he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Jehovah. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two lads of them." — 2 Kings 2:24 (ASV)

He turned back. — The boys were following him with their jeers. Thenius says, “The wanton young people, who did not have the courage to attack except from the rear, had stolen around him.”

Cursed them. — “To avenge the honour of Jehovah, violated in his person” (Keil). (Acts 5:4.)

And there came forth. — Whether at once, and in the presence of Elisha, or not, is uncertain. Thenius supposes that on some occasion or other a terrible calamity had fallen on some person or persons after such a mockery of Elisha, or of some other prophet (!); and that in the desire to magnify the divinely maintained inviolability of the prophetic office, the author of the above narrative has overlooked the immoral character of cursing, especially in the case of wanton children. He then contrasts the behaviour of the “historical” David (2 Samuel 16:10).

But:

1. The curse of a prophet was an inspired prediction of punitive disaster.
2. Beth-el was a chief seat of idolatry (1 Kings 12:29 and following; Amos 4:4; Amos 5:5; Amos 7:10), and the mobbing of the new prophetic leader may have been premeditated.
3. At all events, the narrative is too brief to enable us to judge the merits of the case.
4. What is related belongs to that dispensation in which judgment was made more prominent than mercy, and directly fulfils the menace of Leviticus 26:21 and following.

Two she-bears. —Hosea 13:8; Proverbs 17:12; Amos 5:19. (Compare to 2 Kings 17:25.) Wild beasts were common in Palestine in those days.

Forty and two. — This may be a definite for an indefinite number. It shows that the mob of young persons who beset the prophet was considerable.