The focus has been on the baldness. Have you considered what they meant by go up?
Some have noted that it's difficult to picture bears mauling 42 people, a thought which also crossed my mind some time ago. It turns out that the word translated tore is translated elsewhere as divide (as in Moses and the Red Sea) and breach (as in the wall of a city). Bears charging through a group of 42 and making a passage is easier to picture.
Other alternatives:
- they weren't killed. Each person's wounds were relatively minor for a bear attack, which means the bears would have been able to wound more of them.
- there were hundreds of people there, making a quick retreat difficult.
Some have noted that it's difficult to picture bears mauling 42 people, a thought which also crossed my mind some time ago. It turns out that the word translated tore is translated elsewhere as divide (as in Moses and the Red Sea) and breach (as in the wall of a city). Bears charging through a group of 42 and making a passage is easier to picture.
Other alternatives:
- they weren't killed. Each person's wounds were relatively minor for a bear attack, which means the bears would have been able to wound more of them.
- there were hundreds of people there, making a quick retreat difficult.
