Eric, in 2 Kings 2:23-24, the word the King James Version translates from Hebrew as “little children” is “na’ar”. “Na’ar” is a general term for unmarried males whose ages are anywhere from an infant to 30 years old. How old were they exactly? I don’t know, but I wager that neither did those who translated the KJV. I guess the real question is how does one interpret those difficult passages in the Bible? The technical term is called hermeneutics, which is defined as the science of interpretation. Certain factors need to be taken into consideration before anyone can make absolute statements about the Scriptures. The most obvious is the context of the passage, but one of which many don’t think about is the original language. Any linguist would tell you that when translating one language to another, you always lose some meaning. Also, consider that the Bible is a collection of books and each book needs to be interpreted according to its author’s purpose. Psalms are written like poetry, Luke and Acts are written like history. Generally anyone can read the Bible plainly and discover what it means, but occasionally there are those difficult passages that cause us to say, “Huh?” An excellent book that gives a basic view of scriptural interpretation is “Knowing Scripture” by R.C. Sproul.

Jason Woehl