The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-17
ON THE WING
Search the Scriptures
by JAMES H. HARD

as it was given to me-" as the old darby
said. If it was my story | would set it
to music and sing it, and call it a song,
for the idea which it seems it was IN
tended to convey was one bordering on
poetic justice, but let us hurry on, as
said the young lady who was on her way
to the church to get married
Along about 1861 l saw a picture in the
Sunday school catchechsm which 1 was
supposed to study of those identical bears,
with Elisha in the foreground with the
children pointing at him and recommend
ing him to go up. 1t occurre dto me at
that time that judging from the picture
the children were clearly within the truth
in describing him as a baldhead for there
was a notable absence of hirsute adorn-
ment on his Uranium. 1t also appeared to
me, as recall my sentiments at the
time. that the punishment did not fit the
crime, but that it seemed too large, and
that 1t was unconstitutional in that it
was a cruel and unusual punishment.
However, to locate the bears is the pur-
pose of this letter and / must proceed.
The story may be found in II Kings,
2:23-24, of the King James version of the
Bible, which reads as follows:
| "And he 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 Knocked 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 woods, and tare 40 and
2 children of them
In the revised version of the Bible the
story may be found in Second Kings
second chapter and twenty-third and
twenty fourth verses as follows
| And he went up from thence unto
! Bethel and as he was going up by the
way there came forth young lads out
| OF the city and mocke him and said
| unto him, Go up thou bald head. Go up
| thou bald head, 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 woods
! and tare forty and two lads OF them"
| In the Catholic Bible, or Douay YER
| sion, in Fourth Kings, twenty-third and
twenty fourth verses may be found the
! following:
"And he went up from thence to
| Bethel, and as he was going up by the
way little boys came out of the city
and Knocked him saying. go up thou
bald head, go up thou bald head.
/ And looking back. he saw them and
cursed them in the name of the Lord,
and there came forth two bears out OF
the forest, and tore of them two and
forty boys"
J Now you can take your choice The
Douay version is the Oldest, 1T says
bears without mentioning the sex.
The st. James version says two she
bears, and the revised version, which
is the latest translation, also says two
!, she bears. therefore the preponderance
, OF the testimony seems to establish the
fact that the bears were of the female
! persuas sion.
l would also say that the thoroughnes:
with which the task undertaken was
carried out, indicates that females and
not males had had hand or more In IT,
MY conviction is that whatever fe-
males start out to do in real earnest
they do better than males, and 1t is es-
pecially true that in defending their