SermonIndex

Home
Bible
YLT
2 Kings
Chapter 5

2 Kings 5

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

¹And Naaman, head of the host of the king of Aram, was a great man before his lord, and accepted of face, for by him had Jehovah given salvation to Aram, and the man was mighty in valour — leprous.

²And the Aramaeans have gone out [by] troops, and they take captive out of the land of Israel a little damsel, and she is before the wife of Naaman,

³and she saith unto her mistress, 'O that my lord [were] before the prophet who [is] in Samaria; then he doth recover him from his leprosy.'

⁴And [one] goeth in and declareth to his lord, saying, 'Thus and thus she hath spoken, the damsel who [is] from the land of Israel.'

⁵And the king of Aram saith, 'Go thou, enter, and I send a letter unto the king of Israel;' and he goeth and taketh in his hand ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of garments.

⁶And he bringeth in the letter unto the king of Israel, saying, 'And now, at the coming in of this letter unto thee, lo, I have sent unto thee Naaman my servant, and thou hast recovered him from his leprosy.'

⁷And it cometh to pass, at the king of Israel's reading the letter, that he rendeth his garments, and saith, 'Am I God, to put to death and to keep alive, that this [one] is sending unto me to recover a man from his leprosy? for surely know, I pray you, and see, for he is presenting himself to me.'

⁸And it cometh to pass, at Elisha the man of God's hearing that the king of Israel hath rent his garments, that he sendeth unto the king, saying, 'Why hast thou rent thy garments? let him come, I pray thee, unto me, and he doth know that there is a prophet in Israel.'

⁹And Naaman cometh, with his horses and with his chariot, and standeth at the opening of the house for Elisha;

¹⁰and Elisha sendeth unto him a messenger, saying, 'Go, and thou hast washed seven times in Jordan, and thy flesh doth turn back to thee — and be thou clean.

¹¹And Naaman is wroth, and goeth on, and saith, 'Lo, I said, Unto me he doth certainly come out, and hath stood and called in the name of Jehovah his God, and waved his hand over the place, and recovered the leper.

¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? do I not wash in them and I have been clean?' and he turneth and goeth on in fury.

¹³And his servants come nigh, and speak unto him, and say, 'My father, a great thing had the prophet spoken unto thee — dost thou not do [it]? and surely, when he hath said unto thee, Wash, and be clean.'

¹⁴And he goeth down and dippeth in Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh doth turn back as the flesh of a little youth, and is clean.

¹⁵And he turneth back unto the man of God, he and all his camp, and cometh in, and standeth before him, and saith, 'Lo, I pray thee, I have known that there is not a God in all the earth except in Israel; and now, take, I pray thee, a blessing from thy servant.'

¹⁶And he saith, 'Jehovah liveth, before whom I have stood — if I take [it];' and he presseth on him to take, and he refuseth.

¹⁷And Naaman saith, 'If not — let be given, I pray thee, to thy servant, a couple of mules' burden of earth, for thy servant doth make no more burnt-offering and sacrifice to other gods, but to Jehovah.

¹⁸For this thing Jehovah be propitious to thy servant, in the coming in of my lord into the house of Rimmon to bow himself there, and he was supported by my hand, and I bowed myself [in] the house of Rimmon; for my bowing myself in the house of Rimmon Jehovah be propitious, I pray thee, to thy servant in this thing.'

¹⁹And he saith to him, 'Go in peace.' And he goeth from him a kibrath of land,

²⁰And Gehazi, servant of Elisha the man of God, saith, 'Lo, my lord hath spared Naaman this Aramaean, not to receive from his hand that which he brought; Jehovah liveth; surely if I have run after him, then I have taken from him something.'

²¹And Gehazi pursueth after Naaman, and Naaman seeth one running after him, and alighteth from off the chariot to meet him, and saith, 'Is there peace?'

²²And he saith, 'Peace; my lord hath sent me, saying, Lo, now, this, come unto me have two young men from the hill-country of Ephraim, of the sons of the prophets; give, I pray thee, to them, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.'

²³And Naaman saith, 'Be pleased, take two talents;' and he urgeth on him, and bindeth two talents of silver in two purses, and two changes of garments, and giveth unto two of his young men, and they bear before him;

²⁴and he cometh in unto the high place, and taketh out of their hand, and layeth up in the house, and sendeth away the men, and they go.

²⁵And he hath come in, and doth stand by his lord, and Elisha saith unto him, 'Whence — Gehazi?' and he saith, 'Thy servant went not hither or thither.'

²⁶And he saith unto him, 'My heart went not when the man turned from off his chariot to meet thee; is it a time to take silver, and to take garments, and olives, and vines, and flock, and herd, and men-servants, and maid-servants?

²⁷yea, the leprosy of Naaman doth cleave to thee, and to thy seed, — to the age;' and he goeth out from before him — leprous as snow.

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Keil-Delitzsch
Matthew Henry
Tyndale

Introduction

The history of Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, a leper; who was informed by a little Israelitish captive maid that a prophet of the Lord, in Samaria, could cure him, Kg2 5:1-4. The king of Syria sends him, with a letter and rich presents, to the king of Israel, that he should recover him of his leprosy, Kg2 5:5, Kg2 5:6. On receiving the letter, the king of Israel is greatly distressed, supposing that the Syrian king designed to seek a quarrel with him; in desiring him to cleanse a leper, when it was well known that none could cure that disorder but God, Kg2 5:7. Elisha, hearing this, orders Naaman to be sent to him, Kg2 5:8. He comes to Elisha's house in great state, Kg2 5:9. And the prophet sends a messenger to him, ordering him to wash in Jordan seven times, and he should be made clean, Kg2 5:10. Naaman is displeased that he is received with so little ceremony, and departs in a rage, Kg2 5:11, Kg2 5:12. His servants reason with him; he is persuaded, goes to Jordan, washes, and is made clean, Kg2 5:13, Kg2 5:14. He returns to Elisha; acknowledges the true God; and offers him a present, which the prophet refuses, Kg2 5:15, Kg2 5:16. He asks directions, promises never to sacrifice to any other god, and is dismissed, Kg2 5:17-19. Gehazi runs after him, pretends he is sent by his master for a talent of silver and two changes of raiment; which he receives, brings home, and hides, Kg2 5:20-24. Elisha questions him; convicts him of his wickedness; pronounces a curse of leprosy upon him, with which he is immediately afflicted; and departs from his master a leper, as white as snow, Kg2 5:25-27.

Verse 1

Naaman, captain of the host - Of Naaman we know nothing more than is related here. Jarchi and some others say that he was the man who drew the bow at a venture, as we term it, and slew Ahab: see Kg1 22:34 (note), and the notes there. He is not mentioned by Josephus, nor has he any reference to this history; which is very strange, as it exists in the Chaldee, Septuagint, and Syriac. King of Syria - The Hebrew is מלך ארם melech Aram, king of Aram; which is followed by the Chaldee and Arabic. The Syriac has Adom; but as the Syriac dolath is the same element as the Syriac rish, differing only in the position of the diacritic point, it may have been originally Aram. The Septuagint and Vulgate have Syria, and this is a common meaning of the term in Scripture. If the king of Syria be meant, it must be Ben-hadad; and the contemporary king of Israel was Jehoram. A great man - He was held in the highest esteem. And honorable - Had the peculiar favor and confidence of his master; and was promoted to the highest trusts. Had given deliverance unto Syria - That is, as the rabbins state, by his slaying Ahab, king of Israel; in consequence of which the Syrians got the victory. A mighty man in valor - He was a giant, and very strong, according to the Arabic. He had, in a word, all the qualifications of an able general. But he was a leper - Here was a heavy tax upon his grandeur; he was afflicted with a disorder the most loathsome and the most humiliating that could possibly disgrace a human being. God often, in the course of his providence, permits great defects to be associated with great eminence, that he may hide pride from man; and cause him to think soberly of himself and his acquirements.

Verse 2

The Syrians had gone out by companies - גדודים gedudim, troops. When one hundred or two hundred men go out by themselves to make prey of whatever they can get, that is called, says Jarchi, גדוד gedud, a troop. They had gone out in marauding parties; and on such occasions they bring away grain, cattle, and such of the inhabitants as are proper to make slaves. A little maid - Who, it appears, had pious parents, who brought her up in the knowledge of the true God. Behold the goodness and the severity of the Divine providence! affectionate parents are deprived of their promising daughter by a set of lawless freebooters, without the smallest prospect that she should have any lot in life but that of misery, infamy, and wo. Waited on Naaman's wife - Her decent orderly behavior, the consequence of her sober and pious education, entitled her to this place of distinction; in which her servitude was at least easy, and her person safe. If God permitted the parents to be deprived of their pious child by the hands of ruffians, he did not permit the child to be without a guardian. In such a case, were even the father and mother to forsake her, God would take her up.

Verse 3

Would God my lord - אחלי achaley, I wish; or, as the Chaldee, Syrian, and Arabic have, "Happy would it be for my master if he were with the prophet," etc. Here the mystery of the Divine providence begins to develop itself. By the captivity of this little maid, one Syrian family at least, and that one of the most considerable in the Syrian empire, is brought to the knowledge of the true God.

Verse 4

Thus and thus said the maid - So well had this little pious maid conducted herself, that her words are credited; and credited so fully, that an embassy from the king of Syria to the king of Israel is founded upon them!

Verse 5

The king of Syria said - He judged it the best mode of proceeding to send immediately to the king, under whose control he supposed the prophet must be, that he would order the prophet to cure his general. Ten talents of silver - This, at 353 11s. 10 1/2d. the talent, would amount to 3,535 18s. 9d. Six thousand pieces of gold - If shekels are here meant, as the Arabic has it, then the six thousand shekels, at 1 16s. 5d. will amount to 10,925; and the whole, to 14,460 18s. 9d. sterling: besides the value of the ten caftans, or changes of raiment. This was a princely present, and shows us at once how high Naaman stood in the esteem of his master.

Verse 7

Am I God, to kill and to make alive - He spoke thus under the conviction that God alone could cure the leprosy; which, indeed, was universally acknowledged: and must have been as much a maxim among the Syrians as among the Israelites, for the disorder was equally prevalent in both countries; and in both equally incurable. See the notes on Leviticus 13 (note) and Leviticus 14 (note). And it was this that led the king of Israel to infer that the Syrian king sought a quarrel with him, in desiring him to do a work which God only could do; and then declaring war upon him because he did not do it.

Verse 8

Let him come now to me - Do not be afflicted; the matter belongs to me, as the prophet of the Most High; send him to me, and he shall know that I am such.

Verse 9

Came with his horses and with his chariot - In very great pomp and state. Closely inspected, this was preposterous enough; a leper sitting in state, and affecting it!

Verse 10

Sent a messenger - Did not come out to speak with him: he had got his orders from God, and he transmitted them to Naaman by his servant. Wash in Jordan seven times - The waters of Jordan had no tendency to remove this disorder but God chose to make them the means by which he would convey his healing power. He who is the author of life, health, and salvation, has a right to dispense, convey, and maintain them, by whatsoever means he pleases.

Verse 11

Naaman was wroth - And why? Because the prophet treated him without ceremony; and because he appointed him an expenseless and simple mode of cure. Behold, I thought - God's ways are not as our ways; he appoints that mode of cure which he knows to be best. Naaman expected to be treated with great ceremony; and instead of humbling himself before the Lord's prophet, he expected the prophet of the Lord to humble himself before him! Behold I thought; - and what did he think? Hear his words, for they are all very emphatic: - 1. "I thought, He will surely come Out to Me. He will never make his servant the medium of communication between Me and himself. 2. And stand - present himself before me, and stand as a servant to hear the orders of his God. 3. And call on the name of Jehovah his God; so that both his God and himself shall appear to do me service and honor. 4. And strike his hand over the place; for can it be supposed that any healing virtue can be conveyed without contact? Had he done these things, then the leper might have been recovered."

Verse 12

Are not Abana and Pharpar - At present these rivers do not exist by these names; and where they are we know not; nor whether they were the Orontes and Chrysorroes. Mr. Maundrell, who traveled over all this ground, could find no vestige of the names Abana and Pharpar. The river Barrady he accurately describes: it has its source in Antilibanus; and, after having plentifully watered the city of Damascus and the gardens, dividing into three branches, (one of which goes through the city, and the two others are distributed among the gardens), it is lost in the marshy country about five or six leagues from Damascus. Two of these branches were doubtless called in the time of Elisha Abana, or Amana, as many copies have it; and Pharpar. And in the time in which the Arabic version was made, one of these branches were called Barda and Toura, for these are the names by which this version translates those of the text. May I not wash in them, and be clean? - No, for God has directed thee to Jordan! and by its waters, or none, shalt thou be cleansed. Abana and Pharpar may be as good as Jordan; and in respect to thy cleansing, the simple difference is, God will convey his influence by the latter, and not by the former. There is often contention among the people of Bengal and other places, concerning the superior efficacy of rivers; though the Ganges bears the bell in Bengal, as the Thames does in England, and the Nile in Egypt.

Verse 13

My father - A title of the highest respect and affection. Had bid thee do some great thing - If the prophet had appointed thee to do something very difficult in itself, and very expensive to thee, wouldst thou not have done it? With much greater reason shouldst thou do what will occupy little time, be no expense, and is easy to be performed.

Verse 14

Then went he down - He felt the force of this reasoning, and made a trial, probably expecting little success. Like unto the flesh of a little child - The loathsome scurf was now entirely removed; his flesh assumed the appearance and health of youth; and the whole mass of his blood, and other juices, became purified, refined, and exalted! How mighty is God! What great things can he do by the simplest and feeblest of means!

Verse 15

He returned to the man of God - He saw that the hand of the Lord was upon him; he felt gratitude for his cleansing; and came back to acknowledge, in the most public way, his obligation to God and his servant. Stood before him - He was now truly humbled, and left all his state behind him. It is often the case that those who have least to value themselves on are proud and haughty; whereas the most excellent of the earth are the most humble, knowing that they have nothing but what they have received. Naaman, the leper, was more proud and dictatorial than he was when cleansed of his leprosy. There is no God in all the earth - Those termed gods are no gods; the God of Israel is sole God in all the earth. See my sermon on this subject. Take a blessing - Accept a present. Take an expiatory gift. - Arabic. He desired to offer something for his cleansing. He thought it right thus to acknowledge the hand from which he had received his healing, and thus honor the Lord by giving something to his servant.

Verse 16

I will receive none - It was very common to give presents to all great and official men; and among these, prophets were always included: but as it might have appeared to the Syrians that he had taken the offered presents as a remuneration for the cure performed, he refused; for as God alone did the work, he alone should have all the glory.

Verse 17

Shall there not then, I pray thee - This verse is understood two different ways. I will give them both in a paraphrase: - 1. Shall there not then be given unto thy servant [viz., Naaman] two mules' burden of this Israelitish earth, that I may build an altar with it, on which I may offer sacrifices to the God of Israel? For thy servant, etc. 2. Shall there not be given to thy [Elisha's] servant [Gehazi] two mules' burden of this earth? i.e., the gold and silver which he brought with him; and which he esteemed as earth, or dust, in comparison of the cure he received. For thy servant [Naaman] will henceforth, etc. Each of these interpretations has its difficulties. Why Naaman should ask for two mules' burden of earth, which he might have taken up any where on the confines of the land, without any such liberty, is not easy to see. As to the prophet's permission, though the boon was ever so small, it was not his to give; only the king of Israel could give such a permission: and what sort of an altar could he build with two mules' burden of earth, carried from Samaria to Damascus? If this be really the meaning of the place, the request was exceedingly foolish, and never could have come from a person enjoying the right use of his reason. The second opinion, not without its difficulties, seems less embarrassed than the former. It was natural for Naaman to wish to give something to the prophet's servant, as the master had refused his present. Again, impressed with the vast importance of the cure he had received, to take away all feeling of obligation, he might call two or ten talents of silver by the name of earth, as well as Habakkuk, Hab 2:6, calls silver and gold thick clay; and by terms of this kind it has been frequently denominated, both by prophets and heathen writers: "Tyrus heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets;" Zac 9:3. And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as stones; Ch2 1:15. Which is agreeable to the sentiments of the heathen: Χρυσος τις κονις εστι, και αργυρος, Gold and silver are only a certain kind of earth. - Arist. Eth. Nicomach. Should it be said, The gold and silver could not be two mules' burden; I answer, Let the quantity that Naaman brought with him be only considered, and it will be found to be as much, when put into two bags, as could be well lifted upon the backs of two mules, or as those beasts could conveniently carry. The silver itself would weigh 233lbs. 9oz. 15 1/2dwts., and the gold 1,140lbs. 7oz. 10dwts.; in the whole 1,3741bs. 50Z. 5 1/2dwts. Troy weight. Should it be objected that, taken in this sense, there is no visible connection between the former and latter clauses of the verse, I answer that there is as much connection between the words taken in this sense as in the other, for something must be brought in to supply both; besides, this makes a more complete sense than the other: "Shall there not, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of this silver and gold, [to apply it as he may think proper; I regard it not], for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, [for the cure he has now received; or by way of worship at any time]; but unto Jehovah." The reader may choose which of these interpretations he pleases.

Verse 18

In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant - It is useless to enter into the controversy concerning this verse. By no rule of right reasoning, nor by any legitimate mode of interpretation, can it be stated that Naaman is asking pardon for offenses which he may commit, or that he could ask or the prophet grant indulgence to bow himself in the temple of Rimmon, thus performing a decided act of homage, the very essence of that worship which immediately before he solemnly assured the prophet he would never practice. The original may legitimately be read, and ought to be read, in the past, and not in the future tense. "For this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, for that when my master Hath Gone into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he Hath Leaned upon mine hand, that I also Have Bowed myself in the house of Rimmon; for my worshipping in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing." This is the translation of Dr. Lightfoot, the most able Hebraist of his time in Christendom. To admit the common interpretation is to admit, in effect, the doctrine of indulgences; and that we may do evil that good may come of it; that the end sanctifies the means; and that for political purposes we may do unlawful acts.

Verse 19

And he said unto him - There is a most singular and important reading in one of De Rossi's MSS., which he numbers 191. It has in the margin לא ק that is, "read לא lo, not, instead of לו lo, to him." Now this reading supposes that Naaman did ask permission from the prophet to worship in Rimmon's temple; to which the prophet answers, No; go in peace: that is, maintain thy holy resolutions, be a consistent worshipper of the true God, and avoid all idolatrous practices. Another MS., No. 383, appears first to have written לו to him, but to have corrected it immediately by inserting an א aleph after the ו vau; and thus, instead of making it לא no, it has made it לוא lu, which is no word.

Verse 20

My master hath spared - this Syrian - He has neither taken any thing from him for himself, nor permitted him to give any thing to me.

Verse 21

He lighted down from the chariot - He treats even the prophet's servant with the profoundest respect, alights from his chariot, and goes to meet him. Is all well? - השלום hashalom; Is it peace, or prosperity?

Verse 22

And he said - שלום shalom. It is peace; all is right. This was a common mode of address and answer. There be come to me from mount Ephraim - There was probably a school of the prophets at this mount.

Verse 23

He - bound two talents of silver - It required two servants to carry these two talents, for, according to the computation above, each talent was about 120lbs. weight.

Verse 24

When he came to the tower - The Chaldee, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic understand the word עפל ophel, which we translate tower, as signifying a secret, dark, or hiding place. He was doing a deed of darkness, and he sought darkness to conceal it. He no doubt put them in a place little frequented, or one to which few had access besides himself. But the prophet's discerning spirit found him out.

Verse 26

Went not mine heart with thee - The Chaldee gives this a good turn: By the prophetic spirit it was shown unto me, when the man returned from his chariot to meet thee. Is it a time to receive money - He gave him farther proof of this all-discerning prophetic spirit in telling him what he designed to do with the money; he intended to set up a splendid establishment, to have men-servants and maid-servants, to have oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, This, as the Chaldee says, he had thought in his heart to do.

Verse 27

The leprosy of Naaman - shall cleave unto thee - Thou hast got much money, and thou shalt have much to do with it. Thou hast got Naaman's silver, and thou shalt have Naaman's leprosy. Gehazi is not the last who has got money in an unlawful way, and has got God's curse with it. A leper as white as snow - The moment the curse was pronounced, that moment the signs of the leprosy began to appear. The white shining spot was the sign that the infection had taken place. See on Lev 13:2 (note), and the notes at Lev 13:58 (note). 1. Some have thought, because of the prophet's curse, The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and thy seed for ever, that there are persons still alive who are this man's real descendants, and afflicted with this horrible disease. Mr. Maundrell when he was in Judea made diligent inquiry concerning this, but could not ascertain the truth of the supposition. To me it appears absurd; the denunciation took place in the posterity of Gehazi till it should become extinct, and under the influence of this disorder this must soon have taken place. The for ever implies as long as any of his posterity should remain. This is the import of the word לעולם leolam. It takes in the whole extent or duration of the thing to which it is applied. The for ever of Gehazi was till his posterity became extinct. 2. The god Rimmon, mentioned Kg2 5:18, we meet with nowhere else in the Scriptures, unless it be the same which Stephen calls Remphan. See Act 7:43 (note), and the note there. Selden thinks that Rimmon is the same with Elion, a god of the Phoenicians, borrowed undoubtedly from the עליון Elion, the Most High, of the Hebrews, one of the names of the supreme God, which attribute became a god of the Phoenicians. Hesychius has the word Ῥαμας Ramas, which he translates ὁ ὑψιστος Θεος, the Most High God, which agrees very well with the Hebrew רמון Rimmon, from רמה ramah, to make high or exalt. And all these agree with the sun, as being the highest or most exalted in what is called the solar system. Some think Saturn is intended, and others Venus. Much may be seen on this subject in Selden De Diis Syris. 3. Let us not suppose that the offense of Gehazi was too severely punished. 1. Look at the principle, covetousness. 2. Pride and vanity; he wished to become a great man. 3, His lying, in order to impose on Naaman: Behold even now there be come to me, etc. 4. He in effect sells the cure of Naaman for so much money; for if Naaman had not been cured, could he have pretended to ask the silver and raiment? 5. It was an act of theft; he applied that to his own use which Naaman gave him for his master. 6. He dishonored his master by getting the money and raiment in his name, who had before so solemnly refused it. 7. He closed the whole by lying to his master, denying that he had gone after Naaman, or that he had received any thing from him. But was it not severe to extend the punishment of his crime to his innocent posterity? I answer, it does not appear that any of Gehazi's children, if he had any prior to this, were smitten with the leprosy; and as to those whom he might beget after this time, their leprosy must be the necessary consequence of their being engendered by a leprous father. Reader, see the end of avarice and ambition; and see the truth of those words, "He that Will be rich, shall fall into temptation, and a snare, and into divers hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition." - St. Paul. 4. We have already remarked the apparently severe and manifestly kind providence of God in this business. 1. A marauding party was permitted to spoil the confines of the land of Israel. 2. They brought away, to reduce to captivity, a little maid, probably the hope of her father's house. 3. She became Naaman's property, and waited on his wife. 4. She announced God and his prophet. 5. Naaman, on the faith of her account, took a journey to Samaria. 6. Gets healed of his leprosy. 7. Is converted to the Lord; and, doubtless, brought at least his whole family to believe to the saving of their souls. What was severe to the parents of the little maid was most kind to Naaman and his family; and the parents lost their child only a little time, that they might again receive her with honor and glory for ever. How true are the words of the poet! "Behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face." And see the benefits of a religious education! Had not this little maid been brought up in the knowledge of the true God, she had not been the instrument of so great a salvation. See my sermon on this subject Kg2 5:12 (note).

Introduction

NAAMAN'S LEPROSY. (Kg2 5:1-7) Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master--highly esteemed for his military character and success. and honourable--rather, "very rich." but he was a leper--This leprosy, which, in Israel, would have excluded him from society, did not affect his free intercourse in the court of Syria.

Verse 2

a little maid--who had been captured in one of the many predatory incursions which were then made by the Syrians on the northern border of Israel (see Sa1 30:8; Kg2 13:21; Kg2 24:2). By this young Hebrew slave of his wife, Naaman's attention was directed to the prophet of Israel, as the person who would remove his leprosy. Naaman, on communicating the matter to his royal master, was immediately furnished with a letter to the king of Israel, and set out for Samaria, carrying with him, as an indispensable preliminary in the East, very costly presents.

Verse 5

ten talents of silver--Â£3421; 6000 shekels of gold; a large sum of uncertain value. ten changes of raiment--splendid dresses, for festive occasions--the honor being thought to consist not only in the beauty and fineness of the material, but on having a variety to put on one after another, in the same night.

Verse 7

when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes--According to an ancient practice among the Eastern people, the main object only was stated in the letter that was carried by the party concerned, while other circumstances were left to be explained at the interview. This explains Jehoram's burst of emotion--not horror at supposed blasphemy, but alarm and suspicion that this was merely made an occasion for a quarrel. Such a prince as he was would not readily think of Elisha, or, perhaps, have heard of his miraculous deeds.

Verse 8

ELISHA SENDS HIM TO JORDAN, AND HE IS HEALED. (Kg2 5:8-15) when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, . . . let him come now to me--This was the grand and ultimate object to which, in the providence of God, the journey of Naaman was subservient. When the Syrian general, with his imposing retinue, arrived at the prophet's house, Elisha sent him a message to "go and wash in Jordan seven times." This apparently rude reception to a foreigner of so high dignity incensed Naaman to such a degree that he resolved to depart, scornfully boasting that the rivers of Damascus were better than all the waters of Israel.

Verse 11

strike his hand over the place--that is, wave it over the diseased parts of his body. It was anciently, and still continues to be, a very prevalent superstition in the East that the hand of a king, or person of great reputed sanctity, touching, or waved over a sore, will heal it.

Verse 12

Abana and Pharpar--the Barrady and one of its five tributaries--uncertain which. The waters of Damascus are still highly extolled by their inhabitants for their purity and coldness.

Verse 14

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan--Persuaded by his calmer and more reflecting attendants to try a method so simple and easy, he followed their instructions, and was cured. The cure was performed on the basis of God's covenant with Israel, by which the land, and all pertaining to it, was blessed. Seven was the symbol of the covenant [KEIL].

Verse 15

ELISHA REFUSES NAAMAN'S GIFTS. (Kg2 5:15-19) he returned to the man of God--After the miraculous cure, Naaman returned to Elisha, to whom he acknowledged his full belief in the sole supremacy of the God of Israel and offered him a liberal reward. But to show that he was not actuated by the mercenary motives of the heathen priests and prophets, Elisha, though he accepted presents on other occasions (Kg2 4:42), respectfully but firmly declined them on this, being desirous that the Syrians should see the piety of God's servants, and their superiority to all worldly and selfish motives in promoting the honor of God and the interests of true religion.

Verse 17

two mules' burden of earth--with which to make an altar (Exo 20:24) to the God of Israel. What his motive or his purpose was in this proposal--whether he thought that God could be acceptably worshipped only on his own soil; or whether he wished, when far away from the Jordan, to have the earth of Palestine to rub himself with, which the Orientals use as a substitute for water; or whether, by making such a request of Elisha, he thought the prophet's grant of it would impart some virtue; or whether, like the modern Jews and Mohammedans, he resolved to have a portion of this holy earth for his nightly pillow--it is not easy to say. It is not strange to find such notions in so newly a converted heathen.

Verse 18

goeth into the house of Rimmon--a Syrian deity; probably the sun, or the planetary system, of which a pomegranate (Hebrew, Rimmon) was the symbol. leaneth on my hand--that is, meaning the service which Naaman rendered as the attendant of his sovereign. Elisha's prophetic commission not extending to any but the conversion of Israel from idolatry, he makes no remark, either approving or disapproving, on the declared course of Naaman, but simply gives the parting benediction (Kg2 5:19).

Verse 20

GEHAZI, BY A LIE, OBTAINS A PRESENT, BUT IS SMITTEN WITH LEPROSY. (Kg2 5:20-27) I will run after him, and take somewhat of him--The respectful courtesy to Elisha, shown in the person of his servant, and the open-handed liberality of his gifts, attest the fulness of Naaman's gratitude; while the lie--the artful management is dismissing the bearers of the treasure, and the deceitful appearance before his master, as if he had not left the house--give a most unfavorable impression of Gehazi's character.

Verse 23

in two bags--People in the East, when travelling, have their money, in certain sums, put up in bags.

Verse 27

leper as white as snow--(See on Lev 13:3). This heavy infliction was not too severe for the crime of Gehazi. For it was not the covetousness alone that was punished; but, at the same time, it was the ill use made of the prophet's name to gain an object prompted by a mean covetousness, and the attempt to conceal it by lying [KEIL]. Next: 2 Kings Chapter 6

Introduction

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 5 This chapter gives an account of the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian, and of the cure of it by Elisha; how he came to hear of him, and the recommendation he had from the king of Syria to the king of Israel, Kg2 5:1, who, coming to Elisha's house, was ordered to dip himself seven times in Jordan, which made him depart in wrath; but one of his servants persuaded him to do it, and he did, and was cured, Kg2 5:9, upon which he returned to Elisha, and offered him a present, which he refused, Kg2 5:15 but Gehazi, his servant, ran after him with a lie in his mouth, and obtained it, and returned to his master with another, for which he was smitten with the leprosy of Naaman, Kg2 5:20.

Verse 1

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria,.... The general of Benhadad's army; for he was now king of Syria, though some think Hazael his successor was: was a great man with his master; high in his favour and esteem: and honourable; not only acceptable to the king, and loaded with honours by him, but greatly respected by all ranks and degrees among the people: because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria; out of the hands of their enemies, and victory over them, and particularly in the last battle with Israel, in which Ahab was slain, and, as the Jews suppose, by the hands of Naaman; see Gill on Kg1 22:34 however, when any salvation was wrought, or victory obtained, even by Heathens, and by them over Israel, the people of God, it was of the Lord: he was also a mighty man in valour; a very courageous valiant man: but he was a leper; was stricken with the leprosy, which had deformed and disgraced his person, and weakened his strength, and dispirited him; all his grandeur and honour could not protect him from this loathsome disease.

Verse 2

And the Syrians had gone out by companies,.... Not regular troops, but a sort of banditti of robbers, which made excursions into the land of Israel, to plunder and carry off what booty they could: and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; for boys and girls were a part of the booty of such robbers, whom they could sell for money, see Joe 3:1. Jarchi and Kimchi say she was a girl of Naaron, a city so called: and she waited on Naaman's wife; being either made a present of to the general by those plunderers, or was bought by him of them for his wife's service.

Verse 3

And she said unto her mistress,.... As she was waiting upon her at a certain time, and perhaps her mistress was lamenting the case of her husband as desperate and incurable: would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria; meaning Elisha, who, though sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another, yet often at Samaria, and it seems was there when this girl was taken captive: for he would recover him of his leprosy; the maid had heard of the miracles wrought by Elisha, and doubted not that at the request of her lord he would be willing, as she believed he was able, to cure him of this disease.

Verse 4

And one went in and told his lord,.... What the girl had said to her mistress; one of the servants of the house that overheard it; or rather, Naaman went and told his lord the king of Syria; for as this was said to his wife, no doubt she told it to her husband, and not a servant; and the following words require this sense, and is the sense of most Jewish commentators: saying, thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel; who for her wit and beauty might be well known at court by the name of the Israelitish girl.

Verse 5

And the king of Syria said, go to, go,.... On what Naaman related to him from what the maid had said, he urged him by all means to go directly to Samaria: and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel; recommending him to use his interest in his behalf; this was Jehoram the son of Ahab: and he departed; set out on his journey immediately, as soon as he could conveniently: and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold; partly for the expenses of his journey, and partly to make presents to the king of Israel's servants, and especially to the prophet; a talent of silver, according to Brerewood (d), was three hundred and seventy five pounds of our money; but, according to Bishop Cumberland's (e) exact calculation, it was three hundred and fifty and three pounds eleven shillings and ten and an half pence the pieces of gold are, by the Targum, called golden pence, and a golden penny, according to the first of the above writers (f), was of the value of our money fifteen shillings; so that these amounted to 4500 pounds sterling: and ten changes of raiment; both for his own use, and presents. (d) De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4. (e) Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 4. p. 120. (f) Ut supra, (De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num.) c. 3.

Verse 6

And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying,.... The contents of which were, so far as it concerned Naaman and his case, which are only observed, these: now when this letter is come unto thee; was received by him: behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant unto thee; the bearer of it: that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy; meaning not he himself, but that he would recommend him to the care of a proper person, his prophet, and enjoin him to do the best he could for him; but the king of Israel mistook his meaning, as appears by what follows.

Verse 7

And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes,.... As one in great distress, being thrown into perplexity of mind by it, not knowing what to do; or, as some think, at the blasphemy he supposed to be in it, requiring that of him which only God could do: and said, am I God, to kill and to make alive; or have the power of life and death, which only belongs to the Supreme Being: that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy; for a leper was reckoned as one dead, his disease incurable, his flesh upon him being mortified by it, see Num 12:12 and therefore not supposed to be in the power of man, only of God, to cure; and therefore, in Israel, none had anything to do with the leper but the priest, in the name of God: wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me; to pick a quarrel with him, in order to go to war with him as he supposed. This seems to have been spoken to his lords and courtiers about him.

Verse 8

And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes,.... And upon what account: that he sent to the king, saying, wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? and thereby expressed so much concern and distress: let him come now to me: meaning Naaman the Syrian leper: and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel; able in the name of the Lord to work miracles, which he should be sensible of and acknowledge, to the glory of the God of Israel, by the cure that should be wrought upon him; and hereby he taxed the king of Israel with ignorance or neglect of him as a prophet.

Verse 9

So Naaman came with his horses, and with his chariot,.... In his chariot drawn by horses; or "with horsemen and chariots", a great retinue, both for his own grandeur, and for the honour of the prophet, and to make him the more respectable by him: and stood at the door of the house of Elisha; who now dwelt at Gilgal, as is probable, see Kg2 4:38, hither Naaman was directed, and here he stopped; and having sent a messenger to Elisha to acquaint him who he was, and what was his business, he stayed waiting for an answer.

Verse 10

And Elisha sent a messenger unto him,.... Or returned an answer by Naaman's messenger; he did not go out to him, choosing to be retired, as he commonly did; and being perhaps employed in prayer for the cure; and it may be also to show his contempt of or little regard he had to worldly grandeur and honour, as well as to mortify the pride of Naaman: saying, go and wash in Jordan seven times; so, according to the law of the cleansing the leper, he was to be sprinkled seven times, and on the seventh day his flesh was to be bathed or dipped all over in water, which is meant by washing here, Lev 14:7. and thy flesh shall come again to thee; which was eaten and consumed by the disease on him: and thou shalt be clean; freed from this pollution, or filthy disease, with which he was defiled; for a leper was reckoned unclean, Lev 13:3.

Verse 11

But Naaman was wroth with him,.... On more accounts than one: and went away; not to Jordan, but from the prophet's house, with an intention to return to his own country: behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me this he said within himself, making no doubt of it but that he would show him so much respect and civility as to come out of his house to him, and converse with him, or invite him into it and not doing this was one thing made him wroth: and stand; he supposed that he would not only come out, but stand before him, as inferiors before their superiors in reverence, but instead of that he remained sitting within doors: and call on the name of the Lord his God: he expected, that as he was a prophet of the Lord, that he would have prayed to him for the cure of him: and strike his hand over the place; wave his hand to and fro, as the word signifies, over the place of the leprosy, as the Targum, over the place affected with it; or towards the place where he worshipped the Lord, as Ben Gersom, toward the temple at Jerusalem; or towards Jordan, the place where he bid him go and wash, as Abarbinel; but the first sense seems best: "and recover the leper"; meaning himself, heal him by the use of such means and rites.

Verse 12

Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?.... Abana is, in the marginal reading, called Amana, and so the Targum; perhaps from the Mount Amana, from whence it sprung, a mountain in Syria (g), mentioned with Lebanon, Sol 4:8. This river is thought to be the Chrysorrhoas of Pliny (h), and other writers; there are no traces of its name, or of the following, to be met with now; the only river by Damascus is called Barrady, which supplies Damascus and its gardens, and makes them so fruitful and pleasant as they be; it pours down from the mountains, as Mr. Maundrell (i) describes it, and is divided into three streams, of which the middlemost and biggest runs directly to Damascus, through a large field, called the field of Damascus; and the other two are drawn round, the one to the right hand, and the other to the left, on the borders of the gardens. Pharpar is thought (k) to be the river Orontes, which runs close to the walls of Antioch, and courses through its large and spacious plain, being numbered among the rivers of Syria; it takes its rise from Lebanon, and, sliding through the said plain, falls into the Syrian sea. Benjamin of Tudela (l) speaks of these rivers under their Scripture names; Abana or Amana as he says, passes through the city and supplies the houses of great men with water through wooden pipes; and Pharpar is without the city and runs among the gardens and orchards, and waters them. Farfar is also the name of a river in Italy (m): may I not wash in them, and be clean? as well as in Jordan; or rather, since they are better waters, and so not have been at this trouble and expense to come hither; or have I not washed in them every day? I have, and am I clean? I am not; which is the sense the several Jewish writers give (n): so he turned, and went away in a rage; in a great passion, swearing and cursing perhaps, ordering his chariot driver to turn and be gone at once. (g) Tacit. Annal. l. 2. c. 83. (h) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18. (i) Journey from Aleppo, p. 122, 123. (k) Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 7, 8. Hiller. Onomast. Sacr. p. 908. (l) Itinerar. p. 55. (m) Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 7. p. 1243. (n) Ben Gersom in loc. & R. Joseph Kimchi, & R. Jonah in Ben Melech in. loc.

Verse 13

And his servant came near, and spake unto him, and said, my father,.... Or my lord, as the Targum; this being not a familiar and affectionate expression, but a term of honour, reverence, and submission: if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? something that was hard and difficult to done, or painful to bear, to go through some severe operation, or disagreeable course of physic: how much rather then when he saith to thee, wash, and be clean? which is so easy to be done; though Abarbinel observes it may be interpreted, the prophet has bid thee do a great thing, and which is wonderful; for though he has said, wash and be clean, consider it a great thing, and which is a wonderful mystery, and therefore do not despise his cure.

Verse 14

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God,.... He listened to the reasoning of his servant, and his passion subsided, and did as the prophet ordered him: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child; clear and fresh, soft and tender as an infant, quite new flesh: and he was clean; from the leprosy, and all the filthy symptoms of it.

Verse 15

And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company,.... To give him thanks for the advice he had given him, and by him to give thanks to God for the cure he had received; for he was sensible it was from the Lord, his words show: and came and stood before him; for being admitted into the prophet's house, instead of the prophet standing before him, as he before expected, he now stood before the prophet in veneration of him, and sensible of his obligation to him: behold, now I know there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; though he did not before, but his cure fully convinced him of it: I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant; not a wish of health and happiness, which the prophet would not have refused, but a present; the Targum calls it an offering.

Verse 16

But he said, as the Lord liveth, before whom I stand,.... Whose minister and prophet he was, and by whom he swears: I will receive none: to let him know that this cure was not to be attributed to him, but the Lord only; and that what concern he had in it was not for the sake of money, but for the glory of the God of Israel: and he urged him to take it, but he refused it; Naaman was very pressing upon him to receive a gift from him, but he could not be prevailed upon to accept it.

Verse 17

And Naaman said, shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth..... Not that he desired of Elisha that he would suffer his servant Gehazi to receive a present as much as two mules could carry; but inasmuch as the prophet refused a present from him, his servant, he asks a favour of him, that he would permit him to take with him, out of the land of Israel, as much earth two mules could carry, that is, to make an altar of earth, as the next words indicate: but as he might have this any where without the prophet's leave, some Jewish writers (o) think he requested it from his own house, and from the place his feet trod on, as conceiving in a superstitious way that there was a sort of holiness in it; or however, that wheresoever he had it, if with the prophet's leave, a blessing would go with it, or that would be a sort of a consecration of it; and having an altar made of the earth of this land, would show that he was in the faith of the same God, and performed the same worship to him Israel did: for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord: hence the Jews say, he became a proselyte of righteousness (p), embraced the true religion, and the worship of the true God, according to the laws given to Israel; and the following words, rightly understood, confirm the same. (o) Ben Gersom & Abarbinel in loc. (p) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 2.

Verse 18

In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant,.... Which he next mentions, and on account of which he desires the prayers of Elisha for him, as the Vulgate Latin version; or it may be, this is a prayer of his own, put up at this time to the true Jehovah, in whom he believed: that when my master: meaning the king of Syria: goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon; the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing; the house of Rimmon was a temple of an idol of that name; what idol it was is not easy to say; the Septuagint version calls it Remman, thought by some to be the same with Remphan, Act 7:43, a name of Saturn, said to be given him from a Greek word, which signifies to "wander" (q), he being placed among the wandering stars in the supreme heavens; which is not likely, for the word is certainly of a Syriac signification, and comes either from which signifies "high", and so the same with Elioun, the Phoenician deity, called the most high (r); or, as "Rimmon" is used for a pomegranate, this is thought to design the Syrian goddess, to whom this sort of fruit was sacred; or Juno, whose statue, in her temple at Mycenas (s), had a pomegranate in one hand; or rather this Rimmon was Jupiter Cassius, so called from Mount Cassius, which divided Syria from Egypt, who is painted with his hand stretched out, and a pomegranate in it (t); and may be the same with Caphtor, the father of the Caphtorim, Gen 10:14 who might be deified after his death, their names, Rimmon and Caphtor, being of the same signification (u). But be this deity as it may, it was worshipped by the Syrians; and when the king of Syria went in to worship, he used to lean upon the hand of one of his officers, either being lame, or for state sake, in which office Naaman was; and his request to the prophet, or to the Lord, is, not for pardon for a sin to be committed; nor to be indulged in his continuance of it; not to worship the idol along with his master; nor to dissemble the worship of it, when he really worshipped it not; nor to be excused any evil in the discharge of his post and office; but for the pardon of the sin of idolatry he had been guilty of, of which he was truly sensible, now sincerely acknowledges, and desires forgiveness of; and so Dr. Lightfoot (w), and some others (x), interpret it; and to this sense the words may be rendered: when my master went in to the house of Rimmon to worship there; which was his usual custom; and he leaned on my hand, which was the common form in which he was introduced into it: and I worshipped in the house of Rimmon, as his master did, for the same word is used here as before: in as much, or seeing I have worshipped in the house of Rimmon, have been guilty of such gross idolatry: the Lord, I pray, forgive thy servant in this thing; the language of a true penitent. (q) A "vagari", Hesychius. (r) Vid. Selden. de Dis Syris Syntagm. 2. c. 10. (s) Pausan. Corinthiac. sive, l. 2. p. 114. (t) Achilles Tatius, l. 3. Vid. Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 2. p. 934. (u) See Clayton's Origin of Hieroglyphics, p. 113. (w) Works, vol. 1. p. 86. (x) Vid. Quenstedt. Dissert. de. Petit. Naaman. sect. 21, 22.

Verse 19

And he said unto him,.... That is, the prophet said to Naaman: go in peace: in peace of mind; be assured that God has pardoned this and all other transgressions: so he departed from him a little way; about a mile, as the Targum, and so other Jewish writers; of this phrase; see Gill on Gen 35:16, some say a land's length, that is, about one hundred and twenty feet; rather it was a thousand cubits, or half a mile.

Verse 20

But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God said,.... Within himself, observing what had passed: behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: he speaks contemptibly of Naaman, as an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and reproaches his master for letting him go free, without paying for his cure; when he thought he should have taken what he brought and offered, and given it to needy Israelites, and especially to the sons of the prophets, that wanted it; and perhaps it mostly disturbed him, that he had no share of it himself: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him; the word for "somewhat", wanting a letter usually in it, is what is sometimes used for a blot; and Jarchi observes, that Gehazi taking something from Naaman, was a blot unto him, and indeed such an one that he could not wipe off.

Verse 21

So Gehazi followed after Naaman,.... As fast as he could: and when Naaman saw him running after him; which he might observe, looking back, or be informed of by some of his servants: he lighted down from the chariot to meet him; in honour to the prophet, whose servant he was: and said, is all well? fearing something ill had befallen Elisha; or he himself had done something wrong, which occasioned the servant to run after him.

Verse 22

And he said, all is well,.... He need give himself no uneasiness at the coming and sight of him: my master hath sent me, saying, behold, even now there be come to me; just then, since he departed from him: from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: where perhaps was a school of them: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments: which, as it was a downright lie, so highly improbable that Elisha should ask so large a sum of money, with two changes of raiment, for two young scholars, see Kg2 5:5 and which Naaman, with a little reflection, might have seen through; but his heart was so filled with gratitude for the benefit received, that he was glad of an opportunity, at any rate, of showing respect to the prophet.

Verse 23

And Naaman said, be content,.... Or be pleased; do not object to it: take two talents: a talent for each young man, which amounted to between three hundred and four hundred pounds apiece: and he urged; pressed him hard, insisted upon his taking them, who might pretend a great deal of modesty, and a strict regard to his master's orders: and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments; for each young man: and laid them upon two of his servants, the servants of Naaman, not choosing to burden Elisha's servant with them; for such a quantity of money and clothes was pretty heavy: and they bare them before him; both for his ease, and for his honour.

Verse 24

And when he came to the tower,.... Of Samaria, or which was near it; a fortified place, and where was a watch, to whom he could safely commit the money and clothes: he took them from their hand; not willing they should go any further with him, lest the affair should be discovered to his master: and bestowed them in the house; deposited them there in the hands of some person whom he could trust; or laid them out, or ordered them to be laid out, in the purchase of houses, lands, vineyards, &c. see Kg2 5:26. and he let the men go, and they departed; to their master.

Verse 25

But he went in, and stood before his master,.... To know his will, and minister to him, as he had used to do, and as if he had never been from the house: and Elisha said unto him, whence comest thou, Gehazi? where had he been, and where was he last? and he said, thy servant went no whither; he pretended he had never been out of doors, which was another impudent lie; one would have thought that he who had lived so long with the prophet, and had seen the miracles wrought by him, and knew with what a spirit of prophecy he was endowed, would never have ventured to tell such an untruth, since he might expect to be detected; but covetousness had blinded his eyes and hardened his heart.

Verse 26

And he said unto him, went not mine heart with thee?.... Did my heart or knowledge go from me, that what thou hast done should be hid from me? so Ben Gersom and others; or my heart did not go with thee, it was contrary to my mind and will what thou didst; so Abendana; or rather, as the Targum, by a spirit of prophecy it was shown unto me, &c. I knew full well what thou wentest for, and hast done; and so Maimonides (y); was not I employed in my thoughts? or, did I not think that so it was as thou hast done? I did: when the man turned again from chariot to meet thee? meaning Naaman the Syrian: is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments: as Gehazi had now done: and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? that is, to purchase those with the two talents of silver he had received, as he thought in his heart, or intended to do, as the Targum; or had given orders to purchase such for him to the persons to whom he had committed the care of them in the tower; this was not a proper time, when the honour of the prophet, and the credit of religion, and the good of this man, as a new proselyte, were in danger thereby. (y) Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 39.

Verse 27

The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever,.... As long as any of his race remained; as through his covetousness he had his money, so for his punishment he should have his disease: and he went out from his presence; as one ashamed and confounded, and discharged from his master's service: a leper as white as snow; a leprosy of which colour is the worst, and is incurable. Next: 2 Kings Chapter 6

Verse 1

Curing of Naaman from Leprosy. - Kg2 5:1. Naaman, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian king, who was a very great man before his lord, i.e., who held a high place in the service of his king and was greatly distinguished (פּנים נשׂא, cf. Isa 3:3; Isa 9:14), because God had given the Syrians salvation (victory) through him, was as a warrior afflicted with leprosy. The ו has not dropped out before מצרע, nor has the copula been omitted for the purpose of sharpening the antithesis (Thenius), for the appeal to Ewald, 354, a., proves nothing, since the passages quoted there are of a totally different kind; but חיל גּבּור is a second predicate: the man was as a brave warrior leprous. There is an allusion here to the difference between the Syrians and the Israelites in their views of leprosy. Whereas in Israel lepers were excluded from human society (see at Lev 13 and 14), in Syria a man afflicted with leprosy could hold a very high state-office in the closest association with the king. Kg2 5:2-3 And in Naaman's house before his wife, i.e., in her service, there was an Israelitish maiden, whom the Syrians had carried off in a marauding expedition (גדוּדים יצאוּ: they had gone out in (as) marauding bands). She said to her mistress: "O that my lord were before the prophet at Samaria! (where Elisha had a house, Kg2 6:32), he would free him from his leprosy." מצּרעת אסף, to receive (again) from leprosy, in the sense of "to heal," may be explained from Num 12:14-15, where אסף is applied to the reception of Miriam into the camp again, from which she had been excluded on account of her leprosy. Kg2 5:4-5 When Naaman related this to his lord (the king), he told him to go to Samaria furnished with a letter to the king of Israel; and he took with him rich presents as compensation for the cure he was to receive, viz., ten talents of silver, about 25,000 thalers (3750 - Tr.); 600 shekels (= two talents) of gold, about 50,000 thalers (7500); and ten changes of clothes, a present still highly valued in the East (see the Comm. on Gen 45:22). This very large present was quite in keeping with Naaman's position, and was not too great for the object in view, namely, his deliverance from a malady which would be certainly, even if slowly, fatal. Kg2 5:6-7 When the king of Israel (Joram) received the letter of the Syrian king on Naaman's arrival, and read therein that he was to cure Naaman of his leprosy (ועתּה, and now, - showing in the letter the transition to the main point, which is the only thing communicated here; cf. Ewald, 353, b.), he rent his clothes in alarm, and exclaimed, "Am I God, to be able to kill and make alive?" i.e., am I omnipotent like God? (cf. Deu 32:39; Sa1 2:6); "for he sends to me to cure a man of his leprosy." The words of the letter ואספתּו, "so cure him," were certainly not so insolent in their meaning as Joram supposed, but simply meant: have him cured, as thou hast a wonder-working prophet; the Syrian king imagining, according to his heathen notions of priests and gotes, that Joram could do what he liked with his prophets and their miraculous powers. There was no ground, therefore, for the suspicion which Joram expressed: "for only observe and see, that he seeks occasion against me." התאנּה to seek occasion, sc. for a quarrel (cf. Jdg 14:4). Kg2 5:8 When Elisha heard of this, he reproved the king for his unbelieving alarm, and told him to send the man to him, "that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel." Kg2 5:9-12 When Naaman stopped with his horses and chariot before the house of Elisha, the prophet sent a messenger out to him to say, "Go and wash thyself seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh will return to thee, i.e., become sound, and thou wilt be clean." ישׁב, return, inasmuch as the flesh had been changed through the leprosy into festering matter and putrefaction. The reason why Elisha did not go out to Naaman himself, is not to be sought for in the legal prohibition of intercourse with lepers, as Ephraem Syrus and many others suppose, nor in his fear of the leper, as Thenius thinks, nor even in the wish to magnify the miracle in the eyes of Naaman, as C. a Lapide imagines, but simply in Naaman's state of mind. This is evident from his exclamation concerning the way in which he was treated. Enraged at his treatment, he said to his servant (Kg2 5:11, Kg2 5:12): "I thought, he will come out to me and stand and call upon the name of Jehovah his God, and go with his hand over the place (i.e., move his hand to and fro over the diseased places), and take away the leprosy." המּצורע, the leprous = the disease of leprosy, the scabs and ulcers of leprosy. "Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? (for the combination of טּוב with נהרות, see Ewald, 174f.) Should I not bathe in them, and become clean?" With these words he turned back, going away in a rage. Naaman had been greatly strengthened in the pride, which is innate in every natural man, by the exalted position which he held in the state, and in which every one bowed before him, and served him in the most reverential manner, with the exception of his lord the king; and he was therefore to receive a salutary lesson of humiliation, and at the same time was also to learn that he owed his cure not to any magic touch from the prophet, but solely to the power of God working through him. - Of the two rivers of Damascus, Abana or Amana (the reading of the Keri with the interchange of the labials ב and מ, see Sol 4:8) is no doubt the present Barada or Barady (Arab. brd, i.e., the cold river), the Chrysorrhoas (Strabo, xvi. p. 755; Plin. h. n. 18 or 16), which rises in the table-land to the south of Zebedany, and flows through this city itself, and then dividing into two arms, enters two small lakes about 4 3/4 hours to the east of the city. The Pharpar is probably the only other independent river of any importance in the district of Damascus, namely, the Avaj, which arises from the union of several brooks around Sa'sa', and flows through the plain to the south of Damascus into the lake Heijny (see Rob. Bibl. Researches, p. 444). The water of the Barada is beautiful, clear and transparent (Rob.), whereas the water of the Jordan is turbid, "of a clayey colour" (Rob. Pal. ii. p. 256); and therefore Naaman might very naturally think that his own native rivers were better than the Jordan. Kg2 5:13 His servants then addressed him in a friendly manner, and said, "My father, if the prophet had said to thee a great thing (i.e., a thing difficult to carry out), shouldst thou not have done it? how much more then, since he has said to thee, Wash, and thou wilt be clean?" אבי, my father, is a confidential expression arising from childlike piety, as in Kg2 6:21 and Sa1 24:12; and the etymological jugglery which traces אבי from לבי = לוי = לוּ (Ewald, Gr. 358, Anm.), or from אם (Thenius), is quite superfluous (see Delitzsch on Job, vol. ii. p. 265, transl.). - דּבּר...גּדול דּבר is a conditional clause without אם (see Ewald, 357, b.), and the object is placed first for the sake of emphasis (according to Ewald, 309, a.). כּי אף, how much more (see Ewald, 354, c.), sc. shouldst thou do what is required, since he has ordered thee so small and easy a thing. Kg2 5:14 Naaman then went down (from Samaria to the Jordan) and dipped in Jordan seven times, and his flesh became sound (ישׁב as in Kg2 5:10) like the flesh of a little boy. Seven times, to show that the healing was a work of God, for seven is the stamp of the works of God. Kg2 5:15-16 After the cure had been effected, he returned with all his train to the man of God with this acknowledgment: "Behold, I have found that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel," and with the request that he would accept a blessing (a present, בּרכה, as in Gen 33:11; Sa1 25:27, etc.) from him, which the prophet, however, stedfastly refused, notwithstanding all his urging, that he might avoid all appearance of selfishness, by which the false prophets were actuated. Kg2 5:17-18 Then Naaman said: ולא, "and not" = and if not, καὶ ει ̓ μή (lxx; not "and O," according to Ewald, 358, b., Anm.), "let there be given to thy servant (= to me) two mules' burden of earth (on the construction see Ewald, 287, h.), for thy servant will no more make (offer) burnt-offerings and slain-offerings to any other gods than Jehovah. May Jehovah forgive thy servant in this thing, when my lord (the king of Syria) goeth into the house of Rimmon, to fall down (worship) there, and he supports himself upon my hand, that I fall down (with him) in the house of Rimmon; if I (thus) fall down in the house of Rimmon, may," etc. It is very evident from Naaman's explanation, "for thy servant," etc., that he wanted to take a load of earth with him out of the land of Israel, that he might be able to offer sacrifice upon it to the God of Israel, because he was still a slave to the polytheistic superstition, that no god could be worshipped in a proper and acceptable manner except in his own land, or upon an altar built of the earth of his own land. And because Naaman's knowledge of God was still adulterated with superstition, he was not yet prepared to make an unreserved confession before men of his faith in Jehovah as the only true God, but hoped that Jehovah would forgive him if he still continued to join outwardly in the worship of idols, so far as his official duty required. Rimmon (i.e., the pomegranate) is here, and probably also in the local name Hadad-rimmon (Zac 12:11), the name of the supreme deity of the Damascene Syrians, and probably only a contracted form of Hadad-rimmon, since Hadad was the supreme deity or sun-god of the Syrians (see at Sa2 8:3), signifying the sun-god with the modification expressed by Rimmon, which has been differently interpreted according to the supposed derivation of the word. Some derive the name from רמם = רוּם, as the supreme god of heaven, like the Ἐλιοῦν of Sanchun. (Cler., Seld., Ges. thes. p. 1292); others from רמּון, a pomegranate, as a faecundantis, since the pomegranate with its abundance of seeds is used in the symbolism of both Oriental and Greek mythology along with the Phallus as a symbol of the generative power (vid., Bhr, Symbolik, ii. pp. 122,123), and is also found upon Assyrian monuments (vid., Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, p. 343); others again, with less probability, from רמה, jaculari, as the sun-god who vivifies and fertilizes the earth with his rays, like the ἑκηβόλος Ἀπόλλων; and others from רמם = Arab. rmm, computruit, as the dying winter sun (according to Movers and Hitzig; see Leyrer in Herzog's Cyclopaedia). - The words "and he supports himself upon my hand" are not to be understood literally, but are a general expressly denoting the service which Naaman had to render as the aide-de-camp to his king (cf. Kg2 7:2, Kg2 7:17). For the Chaldaic form השׁתּחויתי, see Ewald, 156, a. - In the repetition of the words "if I fall down in the temple of Rimmon," etc., he expresses the urgency of his wish. Kg2 5:19 Elisha answered, "Go in peace," wishing the departing Syrian the peace of God upon the road, without thereby either approving or disapproving the religious conviction which he had expressed. For as Naaman had not asked permission to go with his king into the temple of Rimmon, but had simply said, might Jehovah forgive him or be indulgent with him in this matter, Elisha could do nothing more, without a special command from God, than commend the heathen, who had been brought to belief in the God of Israel as the true God by the miraculous cure of his leprosy, to the further guidance of the Lord and of His grace. (Note: Most of the earlier theologians found in Elisha's words a direct approval of the religious conviction expressed by Naaman and his attitude towards idolatry; and since they could not admit that a prophet would have permitted a heathen alone to participate in idolatrous ceremonies, endeavoured to get rid of the consequence resulting from it, viz., licitam ergo esse Christianis συμφώνησιν πιστοῦ μετὰ ἀπιστοῦ, seu symbolizationem et communicationem cum ceremonia idololatrica, either by appealing to the use of השׁתּחות and to the distinction between incurvatio regis voluntaria et religiosa (real worship) and incurvatio servilis et coacta Naemani, quae erat politica et civilis (mere prostration from civil connivance), or by the ungrammatical explanation that Naaman merely spoke of what he had already done, not of what he would do in future (vid., Pfeiffer, Dub. vex. p. 445ff., and J. Meyer, ad Seder Olam, p. 904ff., Budd., and others). - Both are unsatisfactory. The dreaded consequence falls of itself if we only distinguish between the times of the old covenant and those of the new. Under the old covenant the time had not yet come in which the heathen, who came to the knowledge of the true deity of the God of Israel, could be required to break off from all their heathen ways, unless they would formally enter into fellowship with the covenant nation.)

Verse 20

Punishment of Gehazi. - Kg2 5:20-22. When Naaman had gone a stretch of the way (ארץ כּברת, Kg2 5:19; see at Gen 35:16), there arose in Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the desire for a portion of the presents of the Syrian which his master had refused (אם כּי יי חי, as truly as Jehovah liveth, assuredly I run after him; אם כּי as in Sa1 25:34). He therefore hastened after him; and as Naaman no sooner saw Gehazi running after him than he sprang quickly down from his chariot in reverential gratitude to the prophet (יפּל as in Gen 24:64), he asked in the name of Elisha for a talent of silver and two changes of raiment, professedly for two poor pupils of the prophets, who had come to the prophet from Mount Ephraim.

Verse 23

But Naaman forced him to accept two talents (קח הואל, be pleased to take; and כּכּרים, with the dual ending, ne pereat indicium numeri - Winer) in two purses, and two changes of raiment, and out of politeness had these presents carried by two of his servants before Gehazi.

Verse 24

When Gehazi came to the hill (העפל, the well-known hill before the city) he took the presents from the bearers, and dismissing the men, laid them up in the house. בּ פּקד, to bring into safe custody.

Verse 25

But when he entered his master's presence again, he asked him, "Whence (comest thou), Gehazi?" and on his returning the lying answer that he had not been anywhere, charged him with all that he had done. הלך לבּי לא, "had not my heart gone, when the man turned from his chariot to meet thee?" This is the simplest and the only correct interpretation of these difficult words, which have been explained in very different ways. Theodoret (οὐχὶ ἡ καρδία μου ἦ μετὰ σοῦ) and the Vulgate (nonne cor meum in praesenti erat, quando, etc.) have already given the same explanation, and so far as the sense is concerned it agrees with that adopted by Thenius: was I not (in spirit) away (from here) and present (there)? הלך stands in a distinct relation to the הלך לא of Gehazi. - וגו האת: "is it time to take silver, and clothes, and olive-trees, and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and servants and maidens?" i.e., is this the time, when so many hypocrites pretend to be prophets from selfishness and avarice, and bring the prophetic office into contempt with unbelievers, for a servant of the true God to take money and goods from a non-Israelite for that which God has done through him, that he may acquire property and luxury for himself?

Verse 27

"And let the leprosy of Naaman cleave to thee and to thy seed for ever." This punishment took effect immediately. Gehazi went out from Elisha covered with leprosy as if with snow (cf. ex. Kg2 4:6; Num 12:10). It was not too harsh a punishment that the leprosy taken from Naaman on account of his faith in the living God, should pass to Gehazi on account of his departure from the true God. For it was not his avarice only that was to be punished, but the abuse of the prophet's name for the purpose of carrying out his selfish purpose, and his misrepresentation of the prophet. (Note: "This was not the punishment of his immoderate δωροδοκίας (receiving of gifts) merely, but most of all of his lying. For he who seeks to deceive the prophet in relation to the things which belong to his office, is said to lie to the Holy Ghost, whose instruments the prophets are" (vid., Act 5:3). - Grotius.)

Introduction

Two more of Elisha's miracles are recorded in this chapter. I. The cleansing of Naaman, a Syrian, a stranger, from his leprosy, and there, 1. The badness of his case (Kg2 5:1). 2. The providence that brought him to Elisha, the intelligence given him by a captive maid (Kg2 5:2-4). A letter from the king of Syria to the king of Israel, to introduce him (Kg2 5:5-7). And the invitation Elisha sent him (Kg2 5:8). 3. The method prescribed for his cure, his submission, with much ado, to that method, and his cure thereby (Kg2 5:9-14). 4. The grateful acknowledgments he made to Elisha hereupon (Kg2 5:15-19). II. The smiting of Gehazi, his own servant, with that leprosy. 1. Gehazi's sins, which were belying his master to Naaman (Kg2 5:20-24), and lying to his master when he examined him (Kg2 5:25). 2. His punishment for these sins. Naaman's leprosy was entailed on his family (Kg2 5:26, Kg2 5:27). And, if Naaman's cure was typical of the calling of the Gentiles, as our Saviour seems to make it (Luk 4:27), Gehazi's stroke may be looked upon as typical of the blinding and rejecting of the Jews, who envied God's grace to the Gentiles, as Gehazi envied Elisha's favour to Naaman.

Verse 1

Our saviour's miracles were intended for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet one, like a crumb, fell from the table to a woman of Canaan; so this one miracle Elisha wrought for Naaman, a Syrian; for God does good to all, and will have all men to be saved. Here is, I. The great affliction Naaman was under, in the midst of all his honours, Kg2 5:1. He was a great man, in a great place; not only rich and raised, but particularly happy for two things: - 1. That he had been very serviceable to his country. God made him so: By him the Lord had often given deliverance to Syria, success in their wars even with Israel. The preservation and prosperity even of those that do not know God and serve him must be ascribed to him, for he is the Saviour of all men, but especially of those that believe. Let Israel know that when the Syrians prevailed it was from the Lord. 2. That he was very acceptable to his prince, was his favourite, and prime-minister of state; so great was he, so high, so honourable, and a mighty man of valour; but he was a leper, was under that loathsome disease, which made him a burden to himself. Note, (1.) No man's greatness, or honour, or interest, or valour, or victory, can set him out of the reach of the sorest calamities of human life; there is many a sickly crazy body under rich and gay clothing. (2.) Every man has some but or other in his character, something that blemishes and diminishes him, some allay to his grandeur, some damp to his joy; he may be very happy, very good, yet, in something or other, not so good as he should be nor so happy as he would be. Naaman was a great as the world could make him, and yet (as bishop Hall expresses it) the basest slave in Syria would not change skins with him. II. The notice that was given him of Elisha's power, by a little maid that waited on his lady, Kg2 5:2, Kg2 5:3. This maid was, by birth, an Israelite, providentially carried captive into Syria, and there preferred into Naaman's family, where she published Elisha's fame to the honour of Israel and Israel's God. The unhappy dispersing of the people of God has sometimes proved the happy occasion of the diffusion of the knowledge of God, Act 8:4. This little maid, 1. As became a true-born Israelite, consulted the honour of her country, and could give an account, though but a girl, of the famous prophet they had among them. Children should betimes acquaint themselves with the wondrous works of God, that, wherever they go, they may have them to talk of. See Psa 8:2. 2. As became a good servant, she desired the health and welfare of her master, though she was a captive, a servant by force; much more should servants of choice seek their masters' good. The Jews in Babylon were to seek the peace of the land of their captivity. Jer 29:7. Elisha had not cleansed any leper in Israel (Luk 4:27), yet this little maid, from the other miracles he had wrought, inferred that he could cure her master, and from his common beneficence inferred that he would do it, though he was a Syrian. Servants may be blessings to the families where they are, by telling what they know of the glory of God and the honour of his prophets. III. The application which the king of Syria hereupon made to the king of Israel on Naaman's behalf. Naaman took notice of the intelligence, though given by a simple maid, and did not despise it for the sake of her meanness, when it tended to his bodily health. he did not say, "The girl talks like a fool; how can any prophet of Israel do that for me which all the physicians of Syria have attempted in vain?" Though he neither loved nor honoured the Jewish nation, yet, if one of that nation can but cure him of his leprosy, he will thankfully acknowledge the obligation. O that those who are spiritually diseased would hearken thus readily to the tidings brought them of the great Physician! See what Naaman did upon this little hint. 1. He would not send for the prophet to come to him, but such honour would he pay to one that had so much of a divine power with him as to be able to cure diseases that he would go to him himself, though he himself was sickly, unfit for society, the journey long, and the country an enemy's; princes, he thinks, must stoop to prophets when they need them. 2. He would not go incognito - in disguise, though his errand proclaimed his loathsome disease, but went in state, and with a great retinue, to do the more honour to the prophet. 3. He would not go empty-handed, but took with him gold, silver, and raiment, to present to his physician. Those that have wealth, and want health show which they reckon the more valuable blessing; what will they not give for ease, and strength, and soundness of body? 4. He would not go without a letter to the king of Israel from the king his master, who did himself earnestly desire his recovery. He knows not where in Samaria to find this wonder-working prophet, but takes it for granted the king knows where to find him; and, to engage the prophet to do his utmost for Naaman, he will go to him supported with the interest of two kings. If the king of Syria must entreat his help, he hopes the king of Israel, being his liege-lord, may command it. The gifts of the subject must all be (he thinks) for the service and honour of the prince, and therefore he desires the king that he would recover the leper (Kg2 5:6), taking it for granted that there was a greater intimacy between the king and the prophet than really there was. IV. The alarm this gave to the king of Israel, Kg2 5:7. He apprehended there was in this letter, 1. A great affront upon God, and therefore he rent his clothes, according to the custom of the Jews when they heard or read that which they thought blasphemous; and what less could it be than to attribute to him a divine power? "Am I a God, to kill whom I will, and make alive whom I will? No, I pretend not to such an authority." Nebuchadnezzar did, as we find, Dan 5:19. "Am I a God, to kill with a word, and make alive with a word? No, I pretend not to such a power;" thus this great man, this bad man, is made to own that he is but a man. Why did he not, with this consideration, correct himself for his idolatry, and reason thus: - Shall I worship those as gods that can neither kill nor make alive, can do neither good nor evil? 2. A bad design upon himself. He appeals to those about him for this: "See how he seeketh a quarrel against me; he requires me to recover the leper, and if I do not, though I cannot, he will make that a pretence to wage war with me," which he suspects the rather because Naaman is his general. had he rightly understood the meaning of the letter, that when the king wrote to him to recover the leper he meant that he would take care he might be recovered, he would not have been in this fright. Note, We often create a great deal of uneasiness to ourselves by misinterpreting the words and actions of others that are well intended: it is charity to ourselves to think no evil. If he had bethought himself of Elisha, and his power, he would easily have understood the letter, and have known what he had to do; but he is put into this confusion by making himself a stranger to the prophet: the captive maid had him more in her thoughts than the king had. V. The proffer which Elisha made of his services. He was willing to do any thing to make his prince easy, though he was neglected and his former good services were forgotten by him. Hearing on which occasion the king had rent his clothes, he sent to him to let him know that if his patient would come to him he should not lose his labour (Kg2 5:8): He shall know that there is a prophet in Israel (and it were sad with Israel if there were not), that there is a prophet in Israel who can do that which the king of Israel dares not attempt, which the prophets of Syria cannot pretend to. It was not for his own honour, but for the honour of God, that he coveted to make them all know that there was a prophet in Israel, though obscure and overlooked.

Verse 9

We have here the cure of Naaman's leprosy. I. The short and plain direction which the prophet gave him, with assurance of success. Naaman designed to do honour to Elisha when he came in his chariot, and with all his retinue, to Elisha's door, Kg2 5:9. Those that showed little respect to prophets at other times were very complaisant to them when they needed them. He attended at Elisha's door as a beggar for an alms. Those that would be cleansed from the spiritual leprosy must wait at Wisdom's gate, and watch at the posts of her doors. Naaman expected to have his compliment returned, but Elisha gave him his answer without any formality, would not go to the door to him, lest he should seem too much pleased with the honour done him, but sent a messenger to him, saying, Go wash in Jordan seven times, and promising him that if he did so his disease should be cured. The promise was express: Thou shalt be clean. The method prescribed was plain: Go wash in Jordan. This was not intended as any means of the cure; for, though cold bathing is recommended by many as a very wholesome thing, yet some think that in the case of a leprosy it was rather hurtful. But it was intended as a sign of the cure, and a trial of his obedience. Those that will be helped of God must do as they are bidden. But why did Elisha send a messenger to him with these directions? 1. Because he had retired, at this time, for devotion, was intent upon his prayers for the cure, and would not be diverted; or, 2. Because he knew Naaman to be a proud man, and he would let him know that before the great God all men stand upon the same level. II. Naaman's disgust at the method prescribed, because it was not what he expected. Two things disgusted him: - 1. That Elisha, as he thought, put a slight upon his person, in sending him orders by a servant, and not coming to him himself, Kg2 5:11. Being big with the expectation of a cure, he had been fancying how this cure would be wrought, and the scheme he had laid was this: "He will surely come out to me, that is the least he can do to me, a peer of Syria, to me that have come to him in all this state, to me that have so often been victorious over Israel. He will stand, and call on the name of his God, and name me in his prayer, and then he will wave his hand over the place, and so effect the cure." And, because the thing was not done just thus, he fell into a passion, forgetting, (1.) That he was a leper, and the law of Moses, which Elisha would religiously observe, shut lepers out from society - a leper, and therefore he ought not to insist upon the punctilios of honor. Note, Many have hearts unhumbled under humbling providences; see Num 12:14. (2.) That he was a petitioner, suing for a favour which he could not demand; and beggars must not be choosers, patients must not prescribe to their physicians. See in Naaman the folly of pride. A cure will not content him unless he be cured with ceremony, with a great deal of pomp and parade; he scorns to be healed, unless he be humoured. 2. That Elisha, as he thought, put a slight upon his country. He took it hard that he must be sent to wash in Jordan, a river of Israel, when he thought Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel. How magnificently does he speak of these two rivers that watered Damascus, which soon after fell into one, called by geographers Chrysoroas - the golden stream! How scornfully does he speak of all the waters of Israel, though God had called the land of Israel the glory of all lands, and particularly for its brooks of water! Deu 8:7. So common it is for God and man to differ in their judgments. How slightly does he speak of the prophet's directions! May I not wash in them and be clean? He might wash in them and be clean from dirt, but not wash in them and be clean from leprosy. He was angry that the prophet bade him wash and be clean; he thought that the prophet must do all and was not pleased that he was bidden to do any thing, - or he thought this too cheap, too plain, too common a thing for so great a man to be cured by, - or he did not believe it would at all effect the cure, or, if it would, what medicinal virtue was there in Jordan more than in the rivers of Damascus? But he did not consider, (1.) That Jordan belonged to Israel's God, from whom he was to expect the cure, and not from the gods of Damascus; it watered the Lord's land, the holy land, and, in a miraculous cure, relation to God was much more considerable than the depth of the channel or the beauty of the stream. (2.) That Jordan had more than once before this obeyed the commands of omnipotence. It had of old yielded a passage to Israel, and of late to Elijah and Elisha, and therefore was fitter for such a purpose than those rivers which had only observed the common law of their creation, and had never been thus distinguished; but, above all, (3.) Jordan was the river appointed, and, if he expected a cure from the divine power, he ought to acquiesce in the divine will, without asking why or wherefore. Note, It is common for those that are wise in their own conceit to look with contempt on the dictates and prescriptions of divine wisdom and to prefer their own fancies before them; those that are for establishing their own righteousness will not submit to the righteousness of God, Rom 10:3. Naaman talked himself into such a heat (as passionate men usually do) that he turned away from the prophet's door in a rage, ready to swear he would never have any thing more to say to Elisha; and who then would be the loser? Note, Those that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercies. Jon 2:8. Proud men are the worst enemies to themselves and forego their own redemption. III. The modest advice which his servants gave him, to observe the prophet's prescriptions, with a tacit reproof of his resentments, Kg2 5:13. Though at other times they kept their distance, and now saw him in a passion, yet, knowing him to be a man that would hear reason at any time, and from any body (a good character of great men, and a very rare one), they drew near, and made bold to argue the matter a little with him. They had conceived a great opinion of the prophet (having, perhaps, heard more of him from the common people, whom they had conversed with, than Naaman had heard from the king and courtiers, whom he had conversed with), and therefore begged of him to consider: "If the prophet had bidden thee to do some great thing, had ordered thee into a tedious course of physic, or to submit to some painful operation, blistering, or cupping, or salivating, Wouldst thou not have done it? No doubt thou wouldst. And wilt thou not submit to so easy a method as this, Wash and be clean?" Observe, 1. His own servants gave him this reproof and counsel, which was no more disparagement to him than that he had intelligence of one that could cure him from his wife's maid, Kg2 5:3. Note, It is a great mercy to have those about us that will be free with us, and faithfully tell us of our faults and follies, though they be our inferiors. Masters must be willing to hear reason from their servants, Job 31:13, Job 31:14. As we should be deaf to the counsel of the ungodly, though given by the greatest and most venerable names, so we should have our ear open to good advice, though brought us by those who are much below us: no matter who speaks, if the thing be well said. 2. The reproof was very modest and respectful. They call him Father; for servants must honour and obey their masters with a kind of filial affection. In giving reproof or counsel we must make it appear that it comes from love and true honour, and that we intend, not reproach, but reformation. 3. It was very rational and considerate. If the rude and unthinking servants had stirred up their master's angry resentment, and offered to avenge his quarrel upon the prophet, who (he thought) affronted him, how mischievous would the consequences have been! Fire from heaven, probably, upon them all! But they, to our great surprise, took the prophet's part. Elisha, though it is likely he perceived that what he had said had put Naaman out of humour, did not care to pacify him: it was at his peril if he persisted in his wrath. But his servants were made use of by Providence to reduce him to temper. They reasoned with him, (1.) From his earnest desire of a cure: Wouldst thou not do any thing? Note, When diseased sinners come to this, that they are content to do any thing, to submit to any thing, to part with any thing, for a cure, then, and not till then, there begin to be some hopes of them. Then they will take Christ on his own terms when they are made willing to have Christ upon any terms. (2.) From the easiness of the method prescribed: "It is but, Wash and be clean. It is but trying; the experiment is cheap and easy, it can do no hurt, but may do good." Note, the methods prescribed for the healing of the leprosy of sin are so plain that we are utterly inexcusable if we do not observe them. It is but, "Believe, and be saved" - "Repent, and be pardoned" - "Wash, and be clean." IV. The cure effected, in the use of the means prescribed, Kg2 5:14. Naaman, upon second thoughts, yielded to make the experiment, yet, it should seem, with no great faith and resolution; for, whereas the prophet bade him wash in Jordan seven times, he did but dip himself so many times, as lightly as he could. However God was pleased so far to honour himself and his word as to make that effectual. His flesh came again, like the flesh of a child. to his great surprise and joy. This men get by yielding to the will of God, by attending to his institutions. His being cleansed by washing put an honour on the law for cleansing lepers. God will magnify his word above all his name.

Verse 15

Of the ten lepers that our Saviour cleansed, the only one that returned to give thanks was a Samaritan, Luk 17:16. This Syrian did so, and here expresses himself. I. Convinced of the power of the God of Israel, not only that he is God, but that he is God alone, and that indeed there is no God in all the earth but in Israel (Kg2 5:15) - a noble confession, but such as intimates the misery of the Gentile world; for the nations that had many gods really had no God, but were without God in the world. He had formerly thought the gods of Syria gods indeed, but now experience had rectified his mistake, and he knew Israel's God was God alone, the sovereign Lord of all. Had he seen other lepers cleansed, perhaps the sight would not have convinced him, but the mercy of the cure affected him more than the miracle of it. Those are best able to speak of the power of divine grace who have themselves experienced it. II. Grateful to Elisha the prophet: "Therefore, for his sake whose servant thou art, I have a present for thee, silver, and gold, and raiment, whatever thou wilt please to accept." He valued the cure, not by the easiness of it to the prophet, but the acceptableness of it to himself, and would gladly pay for it accordingly. But Elisha generously refused the fee, though urged to accept it; and, to prevent further importunity, backed his refusal with an oath: As the Lord liveth, I will receive none (Kg2 5:16), not because he did not need it, for he was poor enough, and knew what to do with it, and how to bestow it among the sons of the prophets, nor because he thought it unlawful, for he received presents from others; but he would not be beholden to this Syrian, nor should he say, I have made Elisha rich, Gen 14:23. It would be much for the honour of God to show this new convert that the servants of the God of Israel were taught to look upon the wealth of this world with a holy contempt, which would confirm him in his belief that there was no God but in Israel. See Co1 9:18; Co2 11:9. III. Proselyted to the worship of the God of Israel. He will not only offer a sacrifice to the Lord, in thanks for his present cure, but he resolves he will never offer sacrifice to any other gods, Kg2 5:17. It was a happy cure of his leprosy which cured him of his idolatry, a more dangerous disease. But here are two instances of his weakness and infirmity in his conversion: - 1. In one instance he over-did it, that he would not only worship the God of Israel, but he would have clods of earth out of the prophet's garden, or at least of the prophet's ordering, to make an altar of, Kg2 5:17. He that awhile ago had spoken very slightly of the waters of Israel (Kg2 5:12) now is in another extreme, and over-values the earth of Israel, supposing (since God has appointed altars of earth, Exo 20:24) that an altar of that earth would be most acceptable to him, not considering that all the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. Or perhaps the transport of his affection and veneration for the prophet, not only upon the account of his power, but of his virtue and generosity, made him, as we say, love the very ground he went upon and desire to have some of it home with him. The modern compliment equivalent to this would be, "Pray, sir, let me have your picture." 2. In another instance he under-did it, that he reserved to himself a liberty to bow in the house of Rimmon, in complaisance to the king his master, and according to the duty of his place at court (Kg2 5:18), in this thing he must be excused. He owns he ought not to do it, but that he cannot otherwise not do it, but that he cannot otherwise keep his place, - protests that his bowing is not, nor ever shall be, as it had been, in honour to the idol, but only in honour to the king, - and therefore he hopes God will forgive him. Perhaps, all things considered, this might admit of some apology, though it was not justifiable. But, as to us, I am sure, (1.) If, in covenanting with God, we make a reservation for any known sin, which we will continue to indulge ourselves in, that reservation is a defeasance of his covenant. We must cast away all our transgressions and not except any house of Rimmon. (2.) Though we are encouraged to pray for the remission of the sins we have committed, yet, if we ask for a dispensation to go on in any sin for the future, we mock God, and deceive ourselves. (3.) Those that know not how to quit a place at court when they cannot keep it without sinning against God, and wronging their consciences, do not rightly value the divine favour. (4.) Those that truly hate evil will make conscience of abstaining from all appearances of evil. Though Naaman's dissembling his religion cannot be approved, yet because his promise to offer no sacrifice to any god but the God of Israel only was a great point gained with a Syrian, and because, by asking pardon in this matter, he showed such a degree of conviction and ingenuousness as gave hopes of improvement, the prophet took fair leave of him, and bade him Go in peace, Kg2 5:19. Young converts must be tenderly dealt with.

Verse 20

Naaman, a Syrian, a courtier, a soldier, had many servants, and we read how wise and good they were, Kg2 5:13. Elisha, a holy prophet, a man of God, has but one servant, and he proves a base, lying, naughty fellow. Those that heard of Elisha at a distance honoured him, and got good by what they heard; but he that stood continually before him, to hear his wisdom, had no good impressions made upon him either by his doctrine or miracles. One would have expected that Elisha's servant should be a saint (even Ahab's servant, Obadiah, was), but even Christ himself had a Judas among his followers. The means of grace cannot give grace. The best men, the best ministers have often had those about them that have been their grief and shame. The nearer the church the further from God. Many come from the east and west to sit down with Abraham when the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. Here is, I. Gehazi's sin. It was a complicated sin. 1. The love of money, that root of all evil, was at the bottom of it. His master contemned Naaman's treasures, but he coveted them, Kg2 5:20. His heart (says bishop Hall) was packed up in Naaman's chests, and he must run after him to fetch it. Multitudes, by coveting worldly wealth, have erred from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 2. He blamed his master for refusing Naaman's present, condemned him as foolish in not taking gold when he might have it, envied and grudged his kindness and generosity to this stranger, though it was for the good of his soul. In short, he thought himself wiser than his master. 3. When Naaman, like a person of accomplished manners, alighted from his chariot to meet him (Kg2 5:21), he told him a deliberate lie, that his master sent him to him, and so he received that courtesy to himself that Naaman intended to his master. 4. He abused his master, and basely misrepresented him to Naaman as one that had soon repented of his generosity, that was fickle, and did not know his own mind, that would say and unsay, swear and unswear, that would not do an honourable thing but he must presently undo it again. his story of the two sons of the prophets was as silly as it was false; if he would have begged a token for two young scholars, surely less than a talent of silver might serve them. 5. There was danger of his alienating Naaman from that holy religion which he had espoused, and lessening his good opinion of it. he would be ready to say, as Paul's enemies suggested concerning him (Co2 12:16, Co2 12:17), that, though Elisha himself did not burden him, yet being crafty he caught him with guile, sending those that made a gain of him. We hope that he understood afterwards that Elisha's hand was not in it, and that Gehazi was forced to restore what he had unjustly got, else it might have driven him to his idols again. 6. His seeking to conceal what he had unjustly got added much to his sin. (1.) He hid it, as Achan did his gain, by sacrilege, in the tower, a secret place, a strong place, till he should have an opportunity of laying it out, Kg2 5:24. Now he thought himself sure of it, and applauded his own management of a fraud by which he had imposed, not only upon the prudence of Naaman, but upon Elisha's spirit of discerning, as Ananias and Sapphira upon the apostles. (2.) He denied it: He went in, and stood before his master, ready to receive his orders. None looked more observant of his master, though really none more injurious to him; he thought, as Ephraim, I have become rich, but they shall find no iniquity in me, Hos 12:8. His master asked him where he had been, "Nowhere, sir" (said he), "out of the house." Note, One lie commonly begets another: the way of that sin is down-hill; therefore dare to be true. II. The punishment of this sin. Elisha immediately called him to an account for it; and observe, 1. How he was convicted. he thought to impose upon the prophet, but was soon given to understand that the Spirit of prophecy could not be deceived, and that it was in vain to lie to the Holy Ghost. Elisha could tell him, (1.) What he had done, though he had denied it. "Thou sayest thou wentest nowhere, but went not my heart with thee?" Kg2 5:26. Had Gehazi yet to learn that prophets had spiritual eyes? or could he think to hide any thing from a seer, from him with whom the secret of the Lord was? Note, It is folly to presume upon sin in hopes of secresy. When thou goest aside into any by-path does not thy own conscience go with thee? Does not the eye of God go with thee? He that covers his sin shall not prosper, particularly a lying tongue is but for a moment, Pro 12:19. Truth will transpire, and often comes to light strangely, to the confusion of those that make lies their refuge. (2.) What he designed, though he kept that in his own breast. He could tell him the very thoughts and intents of his heart, that he was projecting, now that he had got these two talents, to purchase ground and cattle, to leave Elisha's service, and to set up for himself. Note, All the foolish hopes and contrivances of carnal worldlings are open before God. And he tells him also the evil of it: "Is it a time to receive money? Is this an opportunity of enriching thyself? Couldst thou find no better way of getting money than by belying thy master and laying a stumbling-block before a young convert?" Note, Those that are for getting wealth at any time, and by any ways and means whatsoever, right or wrong, lay themselves open to a great deal of temptation. Those that will be rich (per fas, per nefas; rem, rem, quocunque modo rem - by fair means, by foul means; careless of principle, intent only on money) drown themselves in destruction and perdition, Ti1 6:9. War, and fire, and plague, and shipwreck, are not, as many make them, things to get money by. It is not a time to increase our wealth when we cannot do it but in such ways as are dishonourable to God and religion or injurious to our brethren or the public. 2. How he was punished for it: The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to thee, Kg2 5:27. If he will have his money, he shall take his disease with it, Transit cum onere - It passes with this incumbrance. He was contriving to entail lands upon his posterity; but, instead of them, he entails a loathsome disease on the heirs of his body, from generation to generation. The sentence was immediately executed on himself; no sooner said than done: He went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. Thus he is stigmatized and made infamous, and carries the mark of his shame wherever he goes: thus he loads himself and family with a curse, which shall not only for the present proclaim his villany, but for ever perpetuate the remembrance of it. Note, The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of those that seek death, Pro 21:6. Those who get wealth by fraud and injustice cannot expect either the comfort or the continuance of it. What was Gehazi profited, though he gained his two talents, when thereby he lost his health, his honour, his peace, his service, and, if repentance prevented not, his soul for ever? See Job 20:12, etc.

Verse 1

5:1 The king of Aram was probably Ben-hadad II (860–843 BC). • the Lord had given Aram great victories: The Lord is sovereign over all nations (Pss 47:8; 99:1-2; Rom 13:1). • from leprosy: Naaman’s access to society and Gehazi’s later social freedom (2 Kgs 8:4-5) suggest that the problem was not Hansen’s disease but another incurable skin disease (see Lev 13:10-11, 45-46).

Verse 2

5:2-3 During Joram’s reign, strained relations between Israel and the Arameans led to incursions by Aramean raiders into the northern kingdom (see 6:8, 24).

Verse 5

5:5-6 The lavish gifts and the royal letter of introduction, common practices in the ancient Near East, underscored Naaman’s wealth, his value to the Aramean king, and Elisha’s reputation. Unlike Ahaziah, who sent his messengers directly to the temple of Baal-zebub in Philistia (1:2), the Aramean king followed diplomatic protocol by sending Naaman first to King Joram.

Verse 7

5:7 tore his clothes: This action was often a sign of intense agitation (11:4), grief (Gen 37:34; 2 Sam 13:31), or sorrow (2 Kgs 6:30; Job 1:20; 2:12). Due to the perennial distrust and hostilities between the Arameans and the Israelites, Joram assumed that the Aramean king was trying to pick a fight, as had occurred in the days of his father Ahab (1 Kgs 20:1-12).

Verse 8

5:8 Elisha had no respect for King Joram (3:14), but he sent the message because of the opportunity for a testimony to the Lord’s power.

Verse 9

5:9-12 Rather than receiving Naaman, who came to buy his healing, Elisha left him standing at the door and communicated with him by messenger. Naaman expected special treatment befitting his station and was disappointed both in Elisha’s failure to receive him and at his instructions to wash . . . seven times in the Jordan River, which he considered inferior to the rivers of Aram. Washing in the Jordan would be a visible reminder that only Yahweh, the God of Israel, could heal Naaman.

Verse 13

5:13-14 Naaman swallowed his pride. He did as the man of God had instructed him and experienced God’s healing power. Obedience to God brings God’s blessings and purity (Ps 119:9-11).

Verse 15

5:15-16 No God . . . except in Israel: Naaman’s physical healing led to spiritual conversion. Like the Samaritan leper healed by Jesus, Naaman returned to give thanks to his benefactor (Luke 17:15-16). • Naaman offered a gift out of gratitude, but Elisha refused; God’s grace and blessings were not to be obtained through money, gifts, or favors (Isa 55:1-5; Rom 2:4; 1 Cor 2:12; Eph 4:8).

Verse 17

5:17 earth from this place: Ancient Near Eastern custom identified a nation’s god with the soil of the country where he was worshiped; Naaman apparently believed he needed Israelite soil in order to build an altar to properly worship Israel’s God.

Verse 18

5:18 The name Rimmon appears in the name Tabrimmon (1 Kgs 15:18), the father of Ben-hadad I. In Aramean, the god’s name is properly Ramman (the thunderer), a storm-god noted in Assyrian inscriptions. The spelling Rimmon (which means pomegranate) may reflect a deliberate pun belittling the deity.

Verse 22

5:22-23 Naaman believed Gehazi’s fabricated story to be genuine and was happy to repay Elisha.

Verse 24

5:24 the citadel: The Hebrew word means hill or high point in a city. Citadels were often erected in such places (2 Chr 27:3).

Verse 25

5:25-27 Gehazi could not conceal his deed from Elisha. Gehazi’s deception and misuse of his privileged position earned his master’s disapproval and the loss of his status as Elisha’s servant. But it also brought on him the penalty of Naaman’s leprosy, a sign that Gehazi had traded places with Naaman spiritually as well.

The Complacency of Fools

A Serious Remonstrance

(Men Who Saw God) 5. Our Vision for Others

Through the Bible - 2 Kings

Sovereignty and Salvation

Profiteering Christianity

Matthew 5:44

Where Christianity Becomes Profiteering

(2 Kings) Two Lepers and the Blind Men

Naaman Healed of Leprosy [Part 1]

God Uses the Weak and the Foolish

The Little Maid

Week of Meetings 1986-05

The Purposes of Confession

Elijah and Elisha 08 ~ Keswick Conference 1970

(Through the Bible) 2 Kings

Faith to Give and Receive

Contentment - Ii Kings 5

Gods Way or My Way

"Go, Return!"

Letter 103

The Story of the Leper

Motives to Love Jesus

Naaman and Gehazi

The Ways of God

Introduction

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 26

Verse 27

Introduction

Verse 2

Verse 5

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 20

Verse 23

Verse 27

Introduction

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14