Bald Head
In the East to call a man a "bald-head" does not mean he hasn't any hair, it means fool. Bald Head The twelfth chapter of II Kings describes the translation of Elijah and the beginning of the ministry of Elisha, his successor. Elijah had just been taken up to heaven by a whirlwind. I want to just indicate the true Oriental meaning of verses 23 which has caused the Western people to error much. II Kings 2:23: 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 mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head: go up, thou bald head. Elisha was on his way to Bethel. The word Bethel means "House of God." Elisha was going up to worship God, and while he was on the way "there came forth little children out of the city and mocked him" (verse 23). The words "little children" does not mean children in the sense we in the West interpret it, 6 or 7 years of age. Grown up people in the East are many times referred to affectionately as children, and more especially as "little children" when grown-ups show their stupidity. These were all adults who came out of the city after Elisha and said to him, "Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head" (verse 23). When you understand what had transpired you can't miss the importance and greatness of this happening. Elijah the great prophet of God had just been taken away and here was a "little nobody" called Elisha who was going to try to fill the shoes of that great man of God. How foolish could a man get, a man like Elisha, to think that he could now go to Bethel, the House of God, and take up where Elijah had left off. To them it was conceit and folly on the part of Elisha, therefore, they said "Go up, bald-head, go up, but it won’t do you any good. You are a fool." In the East to call a man a "bald-head" does not mean he hasn't any hair, it means fool. To call a man this is a great insult and more especially so here because Elisha had been called of God
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Format: Verified Digitized Pages: 2 As a convert to Christianity from Hinduism, Bishop K.C. Pillai came to the Western world on a singular mission: to teach the Eastern culture of the Bible. Although Christianity is generally considered a western religion, the Bible itself was written and set in the Orient, and it must be viewed through the light of that eastern window. The Bible is filled with passages that perplex the Western mind, and yet they were readily understood by the Easterner. When the reader becomes knowledgeable of the oriental idioms, customs, and traditions of the Biblical setting, these Scriptures become clear. God called Bishop K.C. Pillai to reveal these Biblical truths he called Orientalisms. At the time of the Bishop’s early life, his native India had remained an isolated country for thousands of years. Therefore, the customs and manners of the people were still align