Edward T. Babinski

I also see that "gangbanger" is just slang for a member of a violent street gang. So yes, J.P. Holding and the other site were implying such a thing without using that exact slang term.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gangbanger

Jayrok

"Gangbanger" was just a term I used as I was paraphrasing what I remembered reading from Holding and Miller. Miller used the phrase "youth gangs that roam the ghetto sections of our modern American cities."

Holding may have used "street gangs", but it's all the same in context. They inform their readers that the youths were likely older than mere "children" and very well may have been dangerous to Elisha and the town in general.

Sheshbazzar

esegesis, as the narrative does not provide details, Fundies feel compelled to invent explanations that are based on what they imagine the text might mean.

But, one must consider, If, an all powerful and loving god were in control, why would he not simply and compassionately temporarily disable this alleged gang?
Certainly only taunting or threatening is not reasonably responded to by the devising a wholesale slaughter of young men, even "thugs" or "gangbangers".
There must have been a thousand more compassionate, and reasonable responses that an all-powerful being could have employed to compassionately teach these miscreants a "lesson that they would never forget", and to reform, and reconcile them into being useful contributing members of society.
A smack-down by such a supposedly far superior being is so utterly unbalanced, as could only be equated to the disdain that men might employ in swatting nuisance flies, it reflects a total lack of compassion for children, or young men, who have gone astray.

And again, just WHO WAS IT that so arranged these young men's lives and circumstances so that they would be led and tempted into such conduct?

Ah yes, the old string-puller Himself;
"If there be evil in the city, isn't it because YHWH caused it?"
"Shall the clay say to The Potter, why hast Thou made me thus?"
If there be vessels to made for dishonor and fitted for destruction, Who has made them so?
And whom among men could at all resist the workings of an All-powerful god?
We are after all, only men, can men defeat or overcome the machinations of the will of an irresistable god?

Comes down to only -One- to be at blame, and at fault, for any evil wrought among the children of men. If He so abuses, and fore-knowingly arranges the murder of the weak, even the work of His own hands, as He has -made- them, the sin thereof lies at His own door.

Toto

I didn't realize that term was not universal. Maybe its an LA thing.

bacht

True enough, but it's conceivable that old stories can be misunderstood by later generations, especially if the language has evolved or the text has suffered in transmission. The KJV has commonly used words whose meaning has changed since 1611.

Maybe the fig tree story was borrowed, and had more sense in its original context (?)

Toto

The story of the fig tree makes complete sense as symbolism and allegory.

Amaleq13

No, it is a common term in all big (US) cities.

jon-eli

Strangeness is a subjective judgment. It makes perfect sense, so long as the audience understands that the fig tree represents via allegory something entirely different.

Cf. Tacitus:

andrewcriddle

In British English gangbangers can mean rapists
See for discussion gang bangers

At first I thought this was the implication in this thread.

Andrew Criddle

Toto

Gangbanger defined on wiktionary